Schnoor Anya Schnoor taking merchant banking to the next level
ANYA SCHNOOR, 30, has in a relatively short period, established herself as a shining star in the banking firmament of Jamaica and has been earmarked by many in the financial community as a future doyenne of merchant banking.
She is currently Pan Caribbean's Merchant Bank's general manager for capital markets and investment services. Born in Mandeville, Manchester, she attended St. Hilda's Girls' School in Brown's Town, St. Ann where her talent for figures was honed.
On graduating high school, she left Jamaica for Florida International University where she read for a degree in finance and international business and later acquired an MBA in finance and marketing from Florida's Barry University.
Returning home in October 1992, she began her career in banking at the now defunct Eagle Unit Trust as a management trainee. She swiftly moved up through the ranks becoming general manager in April 1995. At the time, Eagle Unit Trust was the number one money market fund in Jamaica with the largest unit trust.
When Eagle folded she joined Pan Caribbean Merchant Bank in 1998. The bank is run by Don Perkins and is a subsidiary of Pan Jamaican Investment Trust which registered the biggest increase in shareholder value last year among companies listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange.
On merchant banking in Jamaica, Miss Schnoor said: "I think it has evolved and become more fee based focusing more on investment advice, the capital markets and mergers and acquisitions. I do believe we will see further consolidation among the merchant banks presently in operation."
With Pan Jam securing a majority stake in Trafalgar Development Bank (TDB), a host of new opportunities will present itself to this young banker who is all set to play a part in the rehabilitation of the financial sector.
On the future of the financial sector she said: "We need to come out of this period of stagnation and begin to see banks making loans to companies. The lowering of interest rates has to be the goal for this year."
