As Supreme Ventures Ltd’s (SVL) gears up for a more complete gaming strategy following its recent acquisition of Caymanas Track Ltd (CTL), it has appointed Brando Hayden as its chief operating officer (COO) for the ‘Park’.

Brando was appointed vice-president in charge of strategy last November. This put him in charge of developing medium- to long-term strategic plans for the diversification of the company’s revenue stream and other initiatives.

He comes to the position with more than two decades of diverse global experience, having specialised in the management of financial institutions and the trading of securities across asset classes and geographical regions.

Hayden is considered a significant new asset to the company, especially following the death of former President and CEO of SVL, Brian George, in October 2016.

So too is veteran racing administrator and commentator Chris Armond, who will return to local racing as part of the new SVL team in March.

Hayden’s career in financial services started with Emerging Markets Fixed Income and Foreign Exchange Group at Bankers Trust. While there he structured derivative products for Latin America, Eastern Europe and Africa regions.

He went on to manage portfolios in emerging market currencies at Morgan Stanley, energy derivatives at Enron Global Markets and equity derivatives at USB Warburg.

His experiences include executive positions with NCB Capital, JMMB and Greystone Capital partners in Jamaica. He was recently general manager for JN Fund Managers.

A graduate of New York University’s Leonard N Stern School of Business, Brando has an MBA in finance and international business, as well as a BBA in finance from City University of New York’s (CUNY) Baruch College.

He is also a registered IAAF athlete’s representative and a member of Munro College’s board of governors.

His appointment is very critical to SVL’s embarking on its expanded gaming network with the acquisition of CTL, which is the government agency responsible for local horse racing at Caymanas Park, St Catherine.

After 18 months of negotiating, SVL and the Government finally signed off on the deal to acquire CTL on Friday, February 10, 2017. The company submitted its bid in September 2015, with the government giving SVL the preferred bidder nod in March 2016.

In the meantime, SVL’s chairman Paul Hoo says the company is ready for a new challenge.

“We are going to continue to use the opportunity not only to shadow the operations of Caymanas Track Ltd while it continues, but also to start now to engage the stakeholders in order to understand some of the nuances, their challenges and how best we can move forward as a group,” said Hoo.

Supreme Ventures’ tenure as the new operators of the entity begins on March 7, under the name Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Ltd (SVREL).