Steven Gooden, Portfolio Manager of NCB Capital Markets Ltd., is the Jamaica Stock Exchange’s Market Research Competition Winner (2004). The competition’s winners were announced at an awards luncheon on Friday September 26, 2005 at the Knutsford Court Hotel.
Mr. Gooden received a cash prize of $100,000 which was donated by Capital & Credit Merchant Bank. Runner-up was Deon McLennon, Assistant Manager Research & Analysis, of Pan Caribbean Financial Services Ltd. (PCFS) who walked away with a $50,000 cash prize. The third place winner was Kevin Donaldson, also of PCFS the company which won the overall prize for winning three of the four quarterly prizes.
In his address, Chairman of Capital & Credit Financial Group Ltd. Mr. Ryland Campbell urged the analysts to strive to “possess the skills, the tools and the enthusiasm to deliver informed analysis and recommendations to the investing public which needs and deserves fair and balanced research to guide investment choices.”
“You must get the tools of modern technology and be first rate. You must not be blinkered by emotional and genetically linked relationships. You must not be blinded by tunnel vision and pre-conceived conclusions, nor make them contaminate the quality of your work in preference for personal gain, greed, animosity, enmity or corruption whether self-generated or induced and directed by any one else. You must scorn mediocrity and strive for excellence,” he said.
Turning to the importance of education, the Group Chairman questioned why there were so many unemployed Jamaicans with MBAs.
He said, “some pass the examinations and get the certification but they have not achieved the knowledge power for transformation and marketability of themselves other than going back to the same job. Think of it. We in Jamaica need to disenthrall ourselves from the dying past – Some professions and businesses are dying or are already dead”.
“We need more people who are High IQ, critical thinking, problem solving, and computer savvy to even keep apace with the rest of the world and enhance our country’s socio-economic development.”
Executive Chairman of the JSE Mr. Roy Johnson in his address pointed out that to the best of his knowledge, no research has been done on dividend policy in Jamaica, and how it affects the value of shares or how it attracts investors to the market. He said that dividend policy is one of the most important financial policies as it affects shareholders, consumers, workers, regulators and the government.
In his report Chairman of the Judging Panel, Harry Abrikian, Senior Lecturer at the Mona School of Business said that analysts must develop their research and analytical skills, not only to generate as wide a data base for analysis as possible, but to be able to create information from all this data.
The Competition was launched by the JSE in July 2002 to increase the involvement of stock market analysts and market watchers in the stock-market through deeper analysis of performance of listed companies over a one-year period and to enhance the individual research skills of the participants enabling them to better service their clients.
Through the competition the JSE also wished to stimulate listed companies to increase the content and timeliness of the information they give to shareholders.
