NCB Capital Markets under its Stratus Alternative Funds has launched its Tourism Response Impact Portfolio (TRIP) fund, designed to meet specific needs of businesses that operate in the tourism sectors within the region.

TRIP will provide tourism players with creative funding solutions needed for retooling and sustaining their operations while facilitating broader investor participation in the fund. TRIP is the fourth fund being managed under the Stratus Alternative Funds, which provide investors with a broad range of non-traditional high-yielding alternative investment solutions.

Its launch comes against the backdrop of increased focus discussions on sustainable development, which was the central theme at the just concluded Island Finance Forum 2021, where the announcement about the TRIP fund was made. The forum was held virtually on April 13-16, 2021 for which NCB Capital Markets was a lead sponsor.

With the launch of TRIP, through Stratus, investors will be able to diversify their portfolios and to gain higher returns than traditional wealth products such as stocks and bonds. Simone Hudson, assistant vice-president, Alternatives & Fund Management at NCB Capital Markets, who spoke at the forum pointed to the importance of the tourism sector in the region.

Importance of tourism to the region

According to Hudson, “Tourism is a major contributor to GDP and employment within the Caribbean region. We understand that the industry has been hit hard by the pandemic, however, as vaccine penetration increases across the world, there is certainly light at the end of the tunnel. ”

She noted that the regional travel and tourism industry, which contributes up to about 33 per cent of GDP and over 52 per cent of export receipts, was hard hit by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. This has resulted in a 45 per cent decline in international arrivals, billions of dollars in lost revenues and more than a million job losses in 2020.

For his part, Timar Jackson, manager, Origination and Structuring, NCB Capital Markets, who also spoke at the forum highlighted that “financing a Blue-Green recovery for the Caribbean will require innovation in financing structures; the development of new risk assessment frameworks; and among other things, the lowering of the cost of funds as part of financing terms for players in the industry.”

In his presentation, CEO at NCB Capital Markets Steven Gooden told the forum that, “Stratus Alternative Investments is transformative; it represents the future of boutique investment banking and its creation tangibly demonstrates our commitment to the deepening of the regional capital markets.”

— Durrant Pate