- CONTRIBUTED
Managing director of Sterling Asset Managemnt Limited, Charles Ross (left), shares a joke with a client, Donald Duff (centre). Also engaging in the pleasantries is the chief executive officer of Sterling, Mildred Moss. They were at Sterling's client appreciation function on Thursday at Heather's Garden Restaurant, St. Andrew.
Ashford W. Meikle, Staff Reporter
WITH A 15.8 per cent return on its US$ bond fund, clients and investors of Sterling Asset Management Limited had much to be pleased about in 2004. According to Managing Director Charles Ross, Sterling's US$ bond fund outperformed similar products offered by the Bank of Nova Scotia (3.36 per cent and Grace, Kennedy and Company (8.48 per cent). He was speaking at a client appreciation reception at Heather's Garden Restaurant, St. Andrew, on Thursday.
Emphasizing Sterling's commitment and belief in asset preservation and enhancement, Mr. Ross said that the fund's key success factors were:
Its focus on delivering a high level of total return by investing, primarily in investment-grade sovereign debt of varying maturities.
Concentration in AAA-rated U.S. government agency bonds.
And, importantly, the fund exceeded the benchmark international emerging market bond index (EMBI), which stood at 11.73 per cent last year.
CLIENTS' FAITH
The upbeat executive thanked Sterling's clients, noting that the latter "showed faith in [Sterling] when it was still in its developmental stages."
Mr. Ross assured Sterling's investors that the company would continue its prudent risk-management to militate against share price volatility, as well as realigning the portfolio to take advantage of rising interest rates in the United States. He also noted the fund would gradually diversify into other high-grade debt instruments.
The upbeat executive informed the gathering that Sterling
efficiency ratios "were possibly the highest in the financial sector nearly 80 per cent of our revenues go to the bottomline."
For its financial year ending March 31, 2004, Sterling returned a healthy performance, continuing on the commendable performance in 2003. Of note:
Assets grew by 345 per cent to $1.6 billion.
Total funds under management went up by 220 per cent, to $2.6 billion.
After-tax profits grew by 184 per cent, to $95.3 million.
Earnings per share grew from $36 to $98.98, an increase of almost 175 per cent.
Shareholders' equity increased by 257 per cent, moving from $42.6 million in 2003 to $152.7 million.
He pointed to the rapid growth of the company's capital base, which grew by 258 per cent in 2004.
In his statement accompanying the audited financials, Mr. Ross said. "Our first three years of operation focused on establishing our core business and increasing our size to a sustainable level. Having achieved this objective, over the next three years, we will seek to continue the rapid growth of the company without losing our focus on delivering personalised service of the highest quality to our customers."
FUTURE PLANS
The company says that its future plans include offering equity-linked products, as well as taking its mutual fund products into the Eastern Caribbean. Sterling is also looking to list on the Jamaica Stock Exchange in the near future.
Sterling Asset Management was established in 2001, with a capital base nearly four times the stipulated requirement.
According to chief operating officer, Mildred Moss, "Sterling Asset Management Limited is a boutique investment management firm, outfitted with a cadre of highly-talented professionals who manage billions of dollars in assets. We are focused on providing quality service in the areas of bond and mutual fund investments by accessing global capital markets."
