Ross adds new line of business as deal arranger
Published:Friday | March 2, 2012 | 12:00 AM
Marcella Scarlett, Business Reporter
Sterling Asset Management is in the process of creating a new subsidiary as the vehicle through which it will launch a new service, project financing, starting in June.
Managing Director Charles Ross says his company will look to Jamaica and the eastern Caribbean for clients who want their projects bank-rolled.
The company, whose core business is bond trading, plans to structure financing primarily for real estate investors, an area in which Ross has some expertise as a trained engineer.
Ross says he has five real estate development projects under consideration but that it would be premature to give details as they are yet to be signed off on.
"We have outlined the agreements. We know what the projects will look like. We have all the details about the projects. We know what the financing will look like. It is just for everything to get together," he told the Financial Gleaner.
He said Sterling could start structuring the financing for at least one of the projects by June of this year, but said the company would act only as deal arranger and would not be risking its own capital. That may change with future deals, Ross said.
Sterling is a private and relatively small company with expertise in foreign exchange trading and bonds. Its accounts are not disclosed but the company has said it has US$100 million (J$8.7 billion) under management, which makes it a minnow in the market relative to the approximate J$800-billion sector in which it operates.
The new project financing business, said Sterling, will require the approval of the Financial Services Commission (FSC).
"There are some issues that we need to sort out. The FSC approval is going to come after we get the vehicle underway," said Eugene Stanley, manager of fixed income trading and foreign exchange services, referring to the new subsidiary.
Ross said he will likely have to increase staffing for his new venture but that for now he had a competent start-up team comprising himself, Stanley, Business Development Officer Marion Ross and Manager of Securities Trading Dave Cameron.
The team's expertise is concentrated in finance with hardly any exposure in real estate, development or construction, except for Ross, who was an engineer prior to his nine years as executive director of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica.
Additionally, Ross said his company has seen an uptick in business over the recession with investors choosing safety in global bonds and foreign-exchange securities. Sterling, he said, has been adding clients to its portfolio, especially in Montego Bay, where the company is now considering opening up additional office space.