CEO of Proven Management Christopher Williams will talk candidly to entrepreneurs about how Jamaica’s newest investment company’s start-up hit success in the midst of the world’s worst recession. He will be the main speaker at the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE)-organised Investor Outreach Forum on Thursday at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston.

The JSE’s event is aimed at warming business persons, potential listed companies, investors and others to the business and investment opportunities that the stock market offers.

The forum will share with entrepreneurs the pitfalls and victories Proven experienced when that company was raising capital a few months ago. Williams is the former Managing Director of NCB Capital Markets which he helped grow into one of Jamaica’s most successful investment houses. It was consistently ranked as one of the country’s leading stock brokerages and primary dealers.

The discussion will describe to entrepreneurs in a practical way how to raise funds successfully — from concept to capital and how to get their projects and their businesses off the ground. He said that there were fears but he wanted to show Jamaican entrepreneurs what worked and what did not from his experiences.

The JSE’s forum will give Williams the opportunity to discuss with the audience how as entrepreneurs they can emulate some of the proven capital raising strategies that he employed and will share with them the company’s progress to date.

Proven managed to raise US$20 million through a private placement in January — a commendable achiement in the current tough economic climate.

The new company is a partnership of pioneering investment banker Peter Bunting, Mark Golding, Garfield Sinclair and Williams. Proven’s 200 million shares priced at US 10 cents per share which opened on January 27, was quickly snapped up by 150 private and institutional investors. The deal which netted US$20 million was arranged by Proven Management Limited (PML).