LEADERSHIP CROSSROADS
JSE gets ready for new managing director as Street Forrest prepares to depart
Now in its 55th year of operation, the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) has started to usher in top-level management changes as expired tenures and retirement take effect at the Harbour Street-based institution.
Outgoing chairman Julian Mair, in responding to shareholder queries about plans for the replacement of Managing Director Marlene Street Forrest at the company’s 47th annual general meeting (AGM) last Thursday, said discussions around succession have begun, though concrete details are not yet available.
“It’s going well, but I don’t have anything to report to the shareholders right now… what I can however say is that it is an important year in our 55th anniversary… it’s a transformative year for leadership and we take it very seriously,” he stated.
Street Forrest, after a more-than-two-decade run at the JSE, is set to depart within a matter of months after joining the organisation in 2000. Under her leadership the JSE was ranked best performing stock exchange in 2015 and 2018.
At a board meeting convened at the end of the AGM, directors of the JSE elected Steven Whittingham and Steven Gooden to serve as chairman and deputy chairman, respectively. This, as the immediate past chairman Julian Mair who, having served his full five-term limit, became ineligible for reappointment in accordance with JSE corporate governance policies.
Whittingham, who previously held the role of deputy chairman, is also the deputy CEO of the GraceKennedy Financial Group (GKFG). Gooden, the former CEO of NCB Capital Markets, who returned to the JSE board only recently, has served the JSE as a director for more than a decade.
Pleased with the appointment, Whittingham told the Jamaica Observer that as the new chairman he will continue to lay the pathway for the JSE’s renowned excellence in the market.
“It is an honour to be selected by my fellow directors to serve in the capacity of chairman. I welcome the opportunity to lead the JSE’s board of directors and to support the organisation on its journey towards continued excellence,” he commented.
“For 55 years, the JSE has played an integral role in the development of Jamaica’s financial sector and its real economy. It has been a source of capital to fund growth for businesses and a platform which has created generational wealth for many Jamaicans,” he added.
The JSE, which its directors said continues to be resilient despite persistent challenges, is now actively engaged in the process of diversifying its revenue streams as the entity also undertakes a number of technological advancements to improve efficiencies across all its platforms.
For 2024 and beyond, the organisation in sharpening its focus around several other objectives, hopes to further drive growth for the once-prolific stock exchange. Falling below pre-COVID levels, combined market capitalisation for the JSE in 2023 totalled $1.87 trillion — $88.98 billion less than that of the corresponding period in 2022. Total income which also fell to 485.5 million was almost 24 per cent below the $636 million recorded in the prior year.
Welcoming some 14 listings in 2023, the JSE has this year, so far only seen one listing, following the launch of a successful initial public offer by thermoplastic and industrial products supplier Omni Industries Limited earlier this month.
As the platform looks to add at least two of its much awaited initiatives for which investors have long been clamoring, the start of trading for government securities and shorting, its managing director said is now being readied to come to market this year.
Talks about a possible listing of government securities which came to the fore a few years ago, has for a while remained as only that, delayed by a finalisation of the requisite regulatory approvals. As the various stakeholders however move closer to realising the objective, the expected launch of an initial public offer for the Jamaica Mortgage Bank (JMB) and the listing of government shares in the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) sit atop those most likely to get off the ground first.
As it relates to shorting, the JSE after months of finalising the rules of engagement should begin to roll out the feature which will allow investors to leverage gains from depressed stocks, especially now as market volatility continues to impact the performance of stocks and the stock exchange.
“What we are doing is ensuring that due diligence is exercised prior to us launching shorting. We have been working consistently in order to deliver on this and we want to do so before the end of the year,” Street Forrest said.
“All things being equal we should also begin the trade of government securities before the end of this year,” she added.