A new private equity company, Delta Capital Partners Limited (DeltaCap), has been established in Jamaica with the promise of being a force in the Caribbean investment space.

Group chief executive officer (CEO) of Stocks and Securities Limited (SSL) Zachary Harding, and SSL founder Hugh Croskery Sr have partnered as equal owners of DeltaCap.

The move to establish DeltaCap is part of the ongoing restructuring at SSL, which started over a year ago with a change in ownership and management.

DeltaCap aims to harness the unique access that its leadership team has to regional and the wider international financial networks, establishing a high-value regional footprint.

The board of SSL has given its full support behind DeltaCap, which is a legally separate entity that will run parallel to SSL’s ongoing brokerage and private wealth management business. Harding, who will serve as executive chairman of DeltaCap while maintaining his role as group CEO of SSL, says the move marks a paradigm shift for SSL.

According to Harding, “we have been very transparent about our restructuring efforts over the last nine months. The fact is that the old model of being only a traditional stockbroker/dealer firm needs updating. The time has come to evolve, and DeltaCap is a new vehicle for private equity offerings.”

Harding, who took the helm of the SSL Group in October of 2019, was asked whether DeltaCap would be competing with SSL in the area of private equity, considering that this is an area in which it has done business. He answered in the negative while explaining that DeltaCap will complement the business of SSL.

However, he conceded to points raised that in the past, there were instances of SSL dabbling in private equity projects.

LEADERSHIP TEAM

Harding and Croskery Snr have brought in Ivan Carter, former chief finance officer at Sagicor Group Jamaica, as CEO. The new DeltaCap CEO has over 17 years of strategic leadership experience, and will also sit on the board.

Dr Justin Ram, director of economics at Caribbean Development Bank, has also joined the DeltaCap board. Dr Ram who, specialises in the energy sector, has consulted with World Bank, United Nations, and the International Labour Organization on numerous oil and gas projects in Central Asia and Africa.

On the legal side, the board has the services of Melanie Jones, managing partner of Lex Caribbean law firm. Jones is a past president of the Barbados International Business Association and is a member of its Business Facilitation Committee, which focuses on legislative and regulatory enhancement.

The board and the executive management team of DeltaCap are rounded out by team members of the existing SSL Group.

According to Croskery Sr, “we’ve always had solid institutional knowledge within the group, and we’ve ensured that some of these top performers will work with the new team to deliver our anticipated, above-market returns”.

Sarah Meany, who led SSL’s Montego Bay office for five years, joins the board while Sonia Nicholson, SSL’s head of compliance, will oversee compliance at DeltaCap.

Allison Hemmings, who continues as SSL Group CFO, will oversee all financial aspects of DeltaCap.

Anthony Dunn will serve as chief investment officer at DeltaCap after being with the SSL Group for one year. He served as group treasurer at GraceKennedy for 15 years, and has extensive private equity experience.

Nicki Franklin Grant completes the team, DeltaCap as of projects. Franklin Grant is a certified project manager.