MFS Capital Partners Limited is set to expand its retail financial services operations with the upcoming opening of a new Monolith Financial Services branch on Windward Road, Kingston.

The new office, which was approved for operation last year, is part of a larger plan by MFS Capital to establish 10 Monolith locations across Jamaica over the next 24 months. Monolith already has two offices in Kingston; the Windward Road branch marks the third.

The company, formerly Micro-Financing Solutions, has made significant strides since its acquisition by MFS Capital Partners in March 2024. By targeting high-traffic areas MFS Capital Partners aims to build its network while enhancing its fee income and foreign exchange trading revenues. In addition to these services, Monolith offers private credit.

“Opening a branch on Windward Road is part of our broader strategy to bring our services closer to the people who need them most,” CEO Dino Hinds told shareholders during the company’s annual general meeting on Thursday.

“We’re strategically targeting areas with high retail traffic to ensure that Monolith’s financial services are easily accessible, especially as we expand our customer base in both the retail and corporate sectors.”

Monolith is just one component of the larger MFS Capital Partners portfolio of companies, but it stands out as the only entity in which MFS Capital holds 100 per cent ownership. MFS Capital Partners holds a 32 per cent stake in Capital Solutions, a licensed securities dealer. Its parent company, MFS Acquisition, owns several other entities within the group including a 51 per cent stake in online shipping business Postage Logistics, 25 per cent of real estate firm Hickey Grant Property Masters, and 50 per cent of Century Business Machines, a company with over 40 years of experience in selling office supplies and providing related services.

Alongside its retail and financial service expansion, MFS Capital Partners is also focused on real estate development — an area that is already contributing to its growing balance sheet. The company’s $405-million investment in property in Whitehouse, Westmoreland, is poised to generate substantial returns as MFS Capital pushes forward with a shovel-ready development.

According to Hinds, MFS Capital has already completed the bill of quantities (BQ) for the development, selected a project manager, and submitted the BQ to prospective developers. The plan is to develop 90 lots on this property, with each lot estimated to sell for $10 million — a conservative estimate when compared to neighbouring properties that are going for as much as $23 million per lot.

HINDS… we’re strategically targeting areas with high retail traffic

The estimated cost to complete the infrastructure for these 90 lots is $300 million.

Further, MFS Capital Partners is focused on expanding its private equity and private credit operations, particularly through acquisitions. The company is actively assessing a pipeline of potential acquisition targets, especially smaller money services companies, which could help accelerate its branch expansion and further diversify its revenue base.

“We are looking to acquire smaller money services companies. Recently, the Bank of Jamaica introduced a new rule requiring compliance officers in the money services sector to hold at least a first degree,” Hinds said.

“Smaller companies won’t be able to afford these compliance officers, which we see as a key challenge. As a result, we expect there will be some consolidation in the industry, and larger companies like ours, as well as other players, will be in a position to acquire these businesses. It’s an unfortunate situation for some operators, but we view it as an opportunity for us to rapidly expand our branch network and strengthen our market position,” he continued.

MFS Capital’s long-term strategy also includes building a more balanced revenue mix. Currently, the company generates 85 per cent of its revenue from trading gains, with interest income and fees making up a smaller portion. By 2026 MFS aims to shift this balance to reduce its reliance on volatile revenue streams, increasing the stability of its business operations.

Meanwhile, the global macroeconomic environment presents both opportunities and risks for MFS Capital. Hinds told shareholders that he has closely monitored global inflationary trends, the interest rate environment, and geopolitical factors — all of which will influence its strategic direction. While the company expects these conditions to improve in the coming months, particularly with lower interest rates, it remains committed to a conservative approach in managing risk.

“The global economic market is unstable. There are trade wars, which have shown volatile swings every day. Trillions of dollars are either generated or lost in the global stock market. The global bond market is also very unstable. Interest rates have gone up significantly, and one of the things that is happening is that, slowly but surely, people are saying that the United States might no longer be a safe haven as a trade,” he said.