Black Immigrant Daily News

Parents and guardians are strongly encouraged to save for their children’s academic future.

Recognising the costs of tertiary education, portfolio manager of insurance leader – Sagicor Asset Management Inc -, Nicholas Neckles has advised guardians to put measures in place as early as possible,

He made the point that it is much easier to save over a period of years, as opposed to trying to find the finances when their child reaches the age of schooling.

“If we take the example of a parent of a new-born, it would be much more manageable for them to set aside funds over an 18-year period, instead of depleting their savings or taking out a loan when the time comes to pay tuition fees,” argued Neckles.

“Using this example, an individual who invests in our mutual fund products with the minimum initial BBD $500 and subsequently continues to add to the investment the minimum BBD $100 per month for 18 years, would accumulate a total of BBD $ 40, 203.70 based on an annual average return of six per cent,” explained the Sagicor portfolio manager.

Neckles maintained that the benefits of capital accumulation was reflected by examining the cost of tertiary level education in Barbados and the Caribbean and further afield in places like the United States, Canada and Europe.

“This cost puts considerable strain on households and their financial capacity to continue financing their children’s attendance at these institutions, without the assistance of loans, scholarships or grants. If the cost to enrol locally is seen to be prohibitive for some, then one can immediately see the difficulty of looking overseas where costs are significantly higher,” Neckles said.

He went on to urge parents and guardians are to explore the various financial options available to them to save for this critical period of their children’s lives, and to speak to a financial advisor or contact Sagicor Asset Management Inc for more information and guidance.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

LONDON (AP) — Novak Djokovic is still awaiting word on whether he will be allowed to return to the Australian Open in January after missing the tournament this year because he is not vaccinated against COVID-19.

“It’s really not in my hands right now,” Djokovic said Thursday at the Laver Cup. “So I’m hoping I will get some positive news.”

Djokovic is a 21-time Grand Slam champion — a total that stands second among men, behind only Rafael Nadal’s 22 and one ahead of Roger Federer’s 20 — and he has won a record nine of those trophies at Melbourne Park.

But he was deported from Australia last January after a 10-day legal saga that culminated with his visa being revoked; he originally was granted an exemption to strict vaccination rules by two medical panels and Tennis Australia in order to play in the Australian Open.

The 35-year-old Djokovic, who is from Serbia, has insisted he will not get the shots against the illness caused by the coronavirus, even if it means missing tennis events.

He was not able to enter two of this season’s four Grand Slam tournaments, including the U.S. Open that ended this month. The United States and Canada currently bar entry to foreign citizens who have not received COVID-19 vaccines, and so he also missed four other events in North America in 2022.

Djokovic was able to get into France, losing to Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals at the French Open in June, and England, winning the title at Wimbledon in July.

The Laver Cup, which begins Friday, is Djokovic’s first competition since Wimbledon.

“I don’t have any regrets. I mean, I do feel sad that I wasn’t able to play (at the U.S. Open), but that was a decision that I made and I knew what the consequences would be,” he said Thursday. “So I accepted them and that’s it.”

Djokovic has spent more weeks at No. 1 in the ATP rankings than anyone else, breaking Roger Federer’s record, and is No. 7 this week, in part because of a lack of activity and in part because there were no ranking points awarded to anyone at Wimbledon this year.

“I’m not used to making, obviously in the last 15-20 years, longer breaks between the tournaments, but it is what it is,” Djokovic said. “That’s kind of the situation I was in. I’m just excited to be able to play here now — and most of the other indoor (tournaments) for the rest of the season.”

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Investment banker Colando Hutchinson has joined investment firm Sterling Asset Management as an executive consultant.

Hutchinson will work alongside Sterling Asset Management’s leadership team to launch an investment banking business line to help companies optimise their financing solutions and achieve their strategic goals.

His long-standing career in the finance industry includes over a decade with Victoria Mutual Wealth Management Limited (VM Wealth). Moving up the ranks from asset management manager and head of capital markets to deputy CEO, where he established and grew the capital market and asset management businesses at VM Wealth and VMIL group’s expansion into several credit products.

His total 20 years of experience started at KPMG and Pan Caribbean Merchant Bank Limited, which spans accounting, finance, FX trading, treasury management, portfolio management, and investment banking.

“I’m excited to be a part of the Sterling Asset Management team, to help them create value for a new segment of the market. As more businesses look for innovative financing and exit options, it is important to stay agile and remain competitive,” said Hutchinson.

Sterling Asset Management President and CEO Charles Ross welcomed Hutchinson to the team.

“We are happy to have Colando join us at Sterling. For the past 20 years, we have focused on generating wealth for individual and institutional investors. Many of those investors have candidly shared problems they are facing in their business or corporate worlds. In that context, we are expanding our service offering to include solutions that can help businesses achieve the objectives of their owners and management.”

Sterling Asset Management recently celebrated its 20th year in operation. Founded in 2001, Sterling Asset Management is a full-service financial planner, fund manager, and securities dealer specialising in, but not limited to, US-dollar investments.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Some 40 field foremen attached to the Blairmont Sugar Estate took to the picket line today calling for fair treatment and equal opportunities.

Waving placards outside of the Estate Manager’s Office, the employees say they are peeved that a 5% salary increase which was given to three foremen who they consider their junior. This means that those three foremen, with lower years of experience, are now earning more than their colleagues.

Workers say they voiced their concerns with the Estate Manager on Tuesday but were not satisfied with the outcome of that engagement.

According to information received, out of all the foremen, only 12 were given an opportunity to take a test and from this, three obtained at least 80% passes. It is these three who were given the 5% salary increase.

The field foremen say they are unaware of what criteria was used to select the 12 who got the opportunity to take the test. Moreover, they say an opportunity like this was never presented to them in all their years of working with the estate.

In fact, the protestors said the 12 who took the test were trainee foremen, and after confirmation, earned equal salaries to them.

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