Manning: UTC for people, not politics

PRIME MINISTER Patrick Manning said the Unit Trust Corporation (UTC) of Trini-dad and Tobago is a “people’s institution” and Government would do its utmost to ensure that the company is never hijacked by individuals or groups with a political agenda. Addressing the opening ceremony for UTC’s Chaguanas branch yesterday, the Prime Minister said the company had achieved phenomenal successes since its inception. “From its comparatively humble beginnings in 1982 with funds under management of $42.2 million, the funds have now passed the $12 billion mark. From a unitholder base of 8,000 in 1982, account holders have now soared to 480,129.

“What we now have here in the UTC is easily one of the largest mutual fund managers in the Caribbean, with one of the most versatile product ranges in the region,” Manning stated. Recalling that UTC’s mandate was to create and foster economic opportunities for “the ordinary man in the street,” the Prime Minister declared, “In large measure, the success of this institution has been because the UTC has kept faith with the people.  “Government has always had and continues to have the best interest of the UTC and its unitholders at heart. “I would like all to rest assured that it is the Government’s intention that it should remain a people’s institution. I can tell you just as well that it has and will also continue to remain an institution devoid of political interference, because in the view of the Government of TT, this has been a significant part of its success,” added Manning.

Last year, Manning evoked a storm of criticism when he said Government was considering a merger between UTC and First Citizens Bank. Certain management changes at UTC’s upper echelons led the Opposition UNC to allege that Government was attempting to seize control of the company’s financial assets. The Prime Minister said some persons did not view the UTC in the same way as other financial institutions in TT, and “we (Government) have had to take a lot of flak for the numerous concessions to the UTC from other players in the financial sector. “Of course, we have no apologies to make. We remained supportive, indeed appreciative of the establishment and development of the UTC as an institution aimed at bringing important changes to both the domestic economy and to the economic well-being of the small man, and aimed also at bringing added breath and scope to the financial system. “The establishment of the UTC has proven to be a masterstroke towards the social and economic empowerment of the citizenry,” Manning declared. The Prime Minister praised former UTC chairman Clarry Benn for his “tremendous contribution” to the organisation’s development.