Dec 2009 Financial News

RBTT CEO: Roytrin accounts safe

Dec 04, 2009

Responding to concerns raised by a few investors, RBTT group chief executive Suresh Sookoo moved yesterday to give assurances about the safety and sustainability of the bank’s Roytrin TT dollar and US dollar income funds. “We have not experienced what could be considered abnormal activity to the funds,” said Sookoo, in response to questions e-mailed to him on Tuesday. “We have had normal redemptions related to Christmas activities...There is no need for unitholders to panic,” Sookoo said in an interview last night.

He said there had not been a run on the funds, adding: “It is not our policy to discuss transactions related to the accounts of our unit holders.” The bank announced in newspaper advertisements on November 22 that its two income funds would be available on a floating net asset value (NAV) basis from January 4, 2010. Until then, the funds are fixed at $25 and US$25. Explaining the decision to introduce the floating NAV for the income funds, RBTT cited the fact that the new method would allow “greater transparency about the risk and value of investors’ holdings.” The funds would go up and down according to the true value of the funds’ underlying investment portfolio, RBTT said in the November 22 advertisement.

The bank has $7 billion in the TT dollar income fund and US$860 million in the US dollar fund. Asked whether the change from a fixed to a floating NAV would make the income funds more volatile, Sookoo said income funds were never a “risk-free product” as they are not covered by deposit insurance. But he added that the Roytrin income funds were designed to generate income while preserving capital. Questioned about why it was necessary for the parent company to inject US$23 million in the funds, Sookoo said: “The injection was made to provide the portfolio manager the time and liquidity to continue to effectively position the portfolio of underlying assets to offer strong income returns to unit holders going forward.”


Source:
Trinidad Guardian
Friday December 4, 2009

http://guardian.co.tt/business/business/2009/12/04/rbtt-ceo-roytrin-accounts-safe-lead-business