UTC assets climb by 34 percent to $2.9B

In spite of a series of upheavals in the second half of 2003 that threatened the stability of its operations, the Unit Trust Corporation (UTC) recorded another year of success, registering an increase of $2.9 billion or 34.1 percent in total assets under management, closing at $11.3 billion for the period ended December 31, 2003. Funds under management, on the other hand, grew by $2.8 billion to $10.6 billion, a figure which, according to chairman Ainsworth Harewood, is ahead of the $10 billion target projected for the end of fiscal 2005. Harewood delivered his first financial report as UTC chairman at the Corporation’s 22nd annual general meeting, which was held at Queen’s Hall on Monday night.

Fiscal 2003, he said, saw the UTC achieve a number of the critical targets outlined in the Corporation’s medium-term strategic planning framework. Other achievements for 2003 included the expansion of the unitholder base to 443,176 accounts, as well as an increase in net income by 35.4 percent to $87.3 million. Additionally, the Corporation’s retained earnings jumped from $217.3 million to $231.9 million. Harewood linked the Corporation’s significant performance to a number of economic and financial developments which took place during the year, including the recovery of the world economy and activity in a number of stock markets which saw investors recording substantial gains in equity.

He said the Board and management of the UTC had undertaken a number of measures last year, which included a consolidation between the UTC and the Agricultural Development Bank to allow workers of Caroni (1975) Ltd to deposit their VSEP payments in order to yield certain benefits. These measures had also served to facilitate the Corporation’s performance, he noted. Giving an overview of the performance of the Corporation’s equity based funds — the Growth and Income Fund and the Universal Retirement Fund — recently appointed executive director of the Corporation, Michael Alexander, predicted the continued success of both funds. This, he said, could be attributed to the continuing period of economic growth that Trinidad and Tobago was now facing.

He said, “My view is that both equity funds are going to do well. It is my firm belief that investors have picked up on this cyclical arrangement that as long as the country continues on the growth path it is on, the UTC, particularly the Growth and Income Fund and the Universal Retirement Fund, are going to do well.” However, he continued, this prediction did not stand for the US dollar funds, since impending elections in the United States had placed the fund on shaky ground. Interest rates, Alexander said, were rising and the US was currently faced with the task of feeding confidence back into its economy. “One thing I would say is that the rate of their economic growth is not likely to parallel ours so I do not expect the US funds to do as well as the TT funds are doing,” he said.