UTC, GraceKennedy launch GK Mutual Funds

GK Capital Management, the investment and advisory arm of GraceKennedy Ltd (GK), and TT Unit Trust Corporation (UTC) officially launched their new collective investment scheme, GK Mutual Funds, at the AC Hotel in Kingston on Monday.

The two giants in the regional financial services sector unveiled their latest innovations which include the GK US Dollar Income Fund, the GK Jamaican Dollar Money Market Fund, and the GK Jamaican Dollar Growth & Income Fund.

In a joint release, they said the funds will offer Jamaican investors innovative products focused on consistency and stability, with the goal of sustainable wealth creation.

GK Group CEO Don Wehby said, “GK Mutual Funds boasts a combined 141 years of experience and commitment to offering innovative solutions which add value at every level of society, (combining) GK’s 100-year legacy of service to the people of Jamaica and the communities we serve around the world with UTC’s 40 years of expertise in the Collective Investment Schemes (CIS) market, managing the largest unit trust portfolio in the Eastern Caribbean.

"I am happy to witness our organisations coming together in the interest of Jamaican investors as we further advance our financial inclusion strategy.”

Wehby said GK has several international partners, but what is most meaningful for him about this particular partnership is that UTC is a fellow Caribbean-based company, with a shared outlook and shared values.

UTC chairman Jo-Anne Julien drew a comparison between the organisation’s founding purpose and its new venture with GK.

“Just as the UTC was established 40 years ago in TT to create opportunities for collective investment that was accessible to the everyday citizen, the aim of this initiative is to bring similar opportunities for participation in the investment arena to every Jamaican household.”

In a symbolic display of the partnership's strength and shared interest in serving a new segment of the Jamaican financial service market, UTC executive director Nigel Edwards and deputy CEO of the GK Financial Group Steven Whittingham unveiled the new mutual funds products together.

Edwards said, “We're excited about what this will mean for the Jamaican people, the opportunities that it will open up, and what new vistas await. With this partnership, we are building a future and a legacy that will belong to all of us, and of which we can all be proud."

Whittingham said GK identified synergies in its operations that the organisation's management believes will deliver real value to their customers, "The main one being our shared core value of trust. Trust is the common ground on which we present to you today. It is the currency that has sustained our businesses and one that punctuates all that we do.”

Vice-president of business development and principal investments at GK Group Gregory Hines urged those present to visualise a beautiful mosaic with thousands of unique and complex pieces, which when assembled forms the most beautiful mural.

"Imagine all those unique pieces beings shaped and coloured by artists living in different regions, trained in different styles, and with different specialities.

"GK Mutual Funds Ltd is synonymous with this beautiful mosaic mural and our diverse, talented and professional team members are the artists dispersed across the two leading financial markets in the regions."

The GK Mutual Funds launch follows the signing of a joint venture agreement between GK and UTC in May 2022, making GK Capital the exclusive sales agent for all GK/UTC mutual funds/unit trusts in Jamaica.

GK Capital is a licensed securities dealer offering products and services regulated by the Jamaica Stock Exchange and Jamaica’s Financial Services Commission.

GK is one of the Caribbean’s largest conglomerates, with a network of 50 subsidiaries and associated companies, which operate in food trading and financial services in Jamaica, several other Caribbean islands, North and Central America, the United Kingdom and several European countries.

UTC is the largest mutual fund service provider in TT, with assets under management totalling US$3.7 billion as of September 2022.