BizCon unearths upcoming investment opportunities

Chairman and CEO of Blue Mahoe Capital Partners David Mullings shared plans to list equities on the US-based NASDAQ stock market and on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) during a fireside chat at the inaugural staging of BizCon: Innovation and Financing Conference for MSMEs held at the Jamaica Pegasus on April 23.

The Jamaican said the listings will offer unique investment opportunities to retail investors.

“The first is a US Property Fund, providing Caribbean residents unprecedented access to US real estate and income and an actively managed exchange traded fund with a concentrated portfolio using the same investment approach as the hedge fund I previously worked at in the USA,” Mullings said.

Blue Mahoe Capital Partners owns stakes in portfolio companies engaged in the areas of food and manufacturing, real estate, digital transformation, and innovative and disruptive technologies. Most recently, the company took a stake in the Junior Market-listed KLE Group, which is now completing its Bessa real estate project in the parish of St Mary.

Mullings explained that his company is doing more than taking advantage of investment opportunities within the Caribbean; it is also providing training for more investors so they can take advantage of these opportunities.

“It is critical that Caribbean retail investors get access to global investment opportunities and overcome their home bias in order to generate diversified returns,” he stated.

He added that with Jamaica’s Stock Exchange being celebrated by Bloomberg as the world’s best-performing stock exchange in 2018 and the best-performing stock exchange over the 5-year period from 2013 to 2018, besting Vietnam and the USA, investors are actively seeking a guide to help them navigate these lucrative waters.

“The perception is that the population of the region is very small, so there’s not much money to be made here, but that’s not true. The reality is billions of dollars are flowing through the region, so there’s an opportunity as multi-nationals are based in the Caribbean,” he stated.

‘Invaluable lessons’

Conceptualiser of the BizCon Conference Mohan Beckford, who is also chief vision officer of Next Step Digital Solutions, said he was “delighted to have shared the stage with successful entrepreneurs like Mullings, who freely imparted their knowledge, expertise and insights to fuel innovation and drive progress among MSMEs.

“Entrepreneurs also received invaluable learnings from those who have walked the path already and those poised to help move their businesses to new levels,” he added.

According to Beckford, the concept behind BizCon grew from a need to provide MSMEs with an ecosystem to grow and scale and to facilitate networking among businesses. He is confident that MSMEs have the potential to become the foundation of the domestic and global sustainability agenda.

“I wanted to grow as a budding entrepreneur, but I faced numerous challenges as I sought the information and resources I needed to be successful. I took the learnings I received from setting up similar business operations in Canada, which were supported by a robust ecosystem in the truest sense of the word, and moulded them into BizCon,” he shared.

“BizCon is a knowledge space to help Jamaican entrepreneurs stay in business beyond for years to come. After comparing the ecosystem that supported entrepreneurs here and in Canada, I realised that the Canadian policymakers and private sector leaders had come together and designed a set of services required for a small business to survive its first and second years. BizCon is one part of our local ecosystem and is a space to assist MSMEs to grow and scale,” he continued.

Beckford also highlighted the importance of MSMEs forging strategic relationships with successful entrepreneurs.

BizCon also featured presentations from local and international experts, including Mark Stewart, chief executive officer of Wentworth Strategy Group, Canada; Herbert Hall, founder and chief investment banking consultant of Ambassador Capital; Eldred Garcia, senior vice-president of business and partner development of First Atlantic Commerce; Dr Marlene Street Forrest, managing director, Jamaica Stock Exchange; Chukwuemeka Cameron, founder, Design Privacy; and Ricardo Durrant, export promotions manager, Jamaica Promotions Corporation, JAMPRO.

The next staging of BizCon is slated for 2025.

Source: https://our.today/david-mullings-plans-to-list-securities-on-nasdaq-jse/