May 2015 Financial News

Fortress Caribbean resumes trading on TTSE

May 21, 2015

BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS— The shares of the Fortress Caribbean Property Fund Ltd, SCC are once again trading on the T&T Stock Exchange (TTSE) after a nearly two-year break.

And with this move investors in both T&T and Barbados will benefit from a larger pool of potential traders that the resumption of trading on the TTSE is expected to generate.

This opportunity comes after the Fund was delisted from the TTSE in 2013 so that it could be converted into a segregated cell company (SCC) with two classes of shares—the Value Fund, to invest in income-producing properties and the Development Fund, to hold development properties.

This was done at the time so that each could pursue investment and dividend objectives independently.

Trading resumed on the Barbados Stock Exchange soon after the conversion and in T&T the TTSE issued authorisation for the resumption of the Fund’s trading on April 30.

Roger Cave, investment director of Fortress Fund Managers, managers of the property fund, in announcing the move explained: “With the Fortress Caribbean Property Fund’s shares resuming trading on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange there is now a wider pool of people who can trade. All investors can benefit from this, especially as twenty per cent of the property fund’s ownership is held in Trinidad and Tobago.”

In outlining other benefits available to shareholders, Cave said they are now able to trade at home in which ever of the two currencies they preferred.

“The fund not only allows investors to trade in Barbadian dollars, but also in the currency of Trinidad and Tobago, thereby making it more convenient, while also potentially increasing the liquidity of the shares,” he said.

The investment director said investors found the Fund’s shares attractive because of the opportunity to easily invest their savings in a portfolio of real estate assets.

“In addition, the Fund offers flexibility where investors can add to or sell all or part of their investment as needed. This type of access along with instant diversification and liquidity are not available when investing in real estate directly. With traditional real estate investments, for example, you can’t buy a piece of real estate for $20,000 then buy $5,000 more the week after, and then sell $7,000 the next year.”

With regard to the performance of the Fund, Cave said for the six-month period ending March 31, the Value Fund achieved a profit of $2.4 million compared to $2.0 million for 2014.

The Development Fund, while recording a loss of $350,638 for the period, did show improvement over a loss of $1.097 million recorded in 2014.

Fortress Caribbean Property Fund Ltd, SCC is a Barbados-based closed-end mutual fund comprised of two segregated cells (funds). It invests in real estate and other securities in the Caribbean and internationally.

In existence for more than 18 years, Fortress Fund Managers has developed a reputation of being a trusted manager of mutual funds, including the Fortress Caribbean Growth Fund and the Fortress High Interest Fund, which have generated annual compound returns of 9.1 per cent and 4.9 per cent since inception in 1996 and 2002 respectively, as at March 31.

Fortress is also a leading provider of pension management and administration services to companies of all sizes, and to individuals via the Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP).

Source:
Trinidad Guardian, A22
Thursday May 21, 2015