Colin Hamilton/Freelance Photographer
Charles Ross, managing director of Sterling Asset Management, and Cathy Francis-McClure, at the investment company's annual customer appreciation cocktail reception Thursday, Mona Visitors' Lodge, University of the West Indies.

Susan Gordon, Business Reporter

Sterling Asset Management Limited registered a 20 per cent increase in business in 2007, with its principals attributing much of its growth to investments in its U.S. dollar portfolio, which was dominated by AAA-rated United States govern-ment agency bonds.

The company's gross assets under management grew to $7 billion last year, up from $5.6 billion, an increase which managing director Charles Ross said was on target with projections.

Notwithstanding its growth, Sterling remains a small player in a market where the biggest brokerages command more than $100 billion in funds under management.

Entering the Eastern Caribbean

For this year, the company plans to make a foray into the Eastern Caribbean by first registering its mutual-funds operations in Trinidad.

It is hoped, said Ross, that this would increase the company's assets under management by an additional 10 per cent for the financial year 2008-2009.

Ross said the move would not involve heavy expenditure, but some some capital injection would be necessary to market the product and upgrade its website.

Ross also said Sterling would be introducing new products to the market in the first three to six months of 2008. The offerings would be structured to counter the possible negative influence that a U.S. recession, if it were to happen, could have on investments.

Ross was addressing customers at Sterling's annual customer-appreciation cocktail reception Thursday at the Mona Visitors' Lodge, University of the West Indies.

"U.S. interest rates have fallen sharply, weakening the dollar, but benefiting are range notes and Sterling's high-yield U.S. government agency bond fund," he said.

"Sterling will continue to offer its clients the best risk-adjusted returns in the market with additional product offerings coming on stream to include investments that do well in recessionary times."

Ross told Sunday Business that his company would look to expand into securities, saying for now, the market remained closed to local mutual funds, pending the drafting of a legal framework by regulators.

He, however, declined to state the specifics of these offerings.

The company's global mutual fund (US$ bond fund) - a core product offering since July 2003 - would be offered initially in Trinidad, he said.

"We are planning to take our mutual funds into the Eastern Caribbean by this year and Trinidad is the initial foray," Ross told Sunday Business.

"It's difficult to say how much it will boost the assets under management, but the Trinidad economy is very buoyant and much disposable income is there, so I gather we'd get significant growth there," he said.

Sterling invested over 65 per cent of its US$ portfolio in AAA-rated U.S. government agency bonds last year, placing the remaining 31.2 per cent in Government of Jamaica US$ bonds and a small 3.1 per cent in GoJ eurobonds.

The company will also be relocating its Trafalgar Road office to Barbados Avenue in New Kingston on March 1, but this, said Mr. Ross, was not a step to expand the business physically.

susan.gordon@gleanerjm.com.