Sygnus Capital Group Limited is expanding its asset management and advisory business in the United States of America and Puerto Rico as it moves closer to its US$1 billion assets under management (AUM) target while deepening its impact across the region.

Sygnus Capital Group got its start in August 2016 as it geared up to launch its asset management business through its subsidiary Sygnus Capital Limited (SCL). Sygnus Capital Limited got its securities dealer license in February 2017.

That event was followed up with a US$14-million capital raise via private placement for Sygnus Credit Investments Limited (SCI). SCI was the vehicle to build out its alternative investment strategy and provide flexible capital to medium-sized businesses across the Caribbean.

Expansion of Services & Advisory Units

Since then, Sygnus Capital Group (SCG) has expanded its presence to Puerto Rico and the United States of America with investment banking, asset management, investment advisory and the addition of a new advisory unit focused on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance advisory.

“The more viral recognition that the Sygnus brand name has, the better SCI will be. When international investors are doing due diligence, they are doing due diligence on Sygnus [Capital]. After they are satisfied with that, they will come now and say see this private credit firm Sygnus Credit Investments, let me do due diligence on them,” stated Jason Morris, co-founder and chief investment officer at Sygnus Capital, during SCI’s recent earnings call.

Morris also added, “Ultimately, any such expansion of the Sygnus footprint anywhere in [the] Caribbean/Latin America/USA will be net positive for Sygnus Credit Investments and shareholders of Sygnus Credit Investments.”

New Subsidiaries & Regulatory Registration

With an aim to tap into the larger world of high-net-worth clients, Sygnus Wealth PR LLC, Sygnus Capital PR LLC and Sygnus Capital SL Limited have registered as investment advisers with the United States Securities Commission (SEC). These filings revealed that Sygnus Capital PR had US$134.59 million in AUM at the end of 2024 while Sygnus Wealth PR LLC had US$12.30 million in AUM. Sygnus Capital USA LLC and Sygnus Capital PR LLC filed a single umbrella registration with Sygnus PR as the filing adviser while Sygnus USA is the relying advisor. Sygnus Capital PR and Sygnus Wealth PR are both Puerto Rican businesses while Sygnus Capital USA is a Delaware registered firm with offices in Brickell, Florida.

Sygnus Wealth PR was formed in November 2022 with a focus on providing investment advisory and management services to HNW individuals and their families, trusts and affiliated entities with a minimum account size of US$200,000. This management arrangement is done on a discretionary or non-discretionary basis. The company will onboard clients on a regular basis, through referral by its affiliate Sygnus Capital in Jamaica or other third-party advisers. Sygnus Wealth PR is owned by Sygnus Group PR, Inc.

Acquisitions & Fund Management

Sygnus Capital PR (formerly AIF Capital Management LLC) was acquired by Sygnus Group PR, Inc in early 2022 in conjunction with SCI’s 93.66 per cent acquisition of Sygnus Credit Investments Puerto Rico Fund LLC (formerly Acrecent Financial Corporation). It is currently run by James Connor, who oversees the management of other funds in Puerto Rico like Sygnus Credit Investments Puerto Rico Fund-Series II, LIFT I, LIFT II, and Acrecent Finance Partners. This is done through an investment advisory service where Sygnus Capital PR receives a management fee based on the net book value of each fund under management.

Sygnus Capital USA currently has an advisory business with the other activities of the new Sygnus business not as readily known which is owned by Sygnus Capital PR, Inc. Sygnus Capital SL had no regulatory AUM in November 2024. The St Lucian company will provide discretionary investment advisory services to private investment vehicles which will invest in businesses located across the Caribbean such as The Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Guyana and Jamaica.

Between June 2017 and March 2021, Sygnus Capital Management Limited was the investment manager for SCI and took advice from Sygnus Capital Limited which was its investment advisor. However, that Cayman management business was wound up to reduce an extra layer of costs in managing the various listed and private funds which Sygnus Capital Limited largely monitored.

Sygnus deepening Caribbean presence

Sygnus Capital Limited is the investment manager of Sygnus Credit Investments Limited and Sygnus Real Estate Finance Limited (SRF) which are the two publicly listed vehicles which focus on private credit and real estate. Sygnus Capital Limited also manages the Caribbean Community Resilience Fund which is a 10-year impact investment fund and Sygnus Deneb Investments Limited which is its private equity investment vehicle.

Financial Performance Highlights

SCI recorded a 21 per cent rise in total income to US$4.23 million for its third quarter (January to March) but saw its net profit dip 11 per cent to US$1.84 million due to a higher impairment charge related to a company in the mining and quarrying industry. However, the nine months period saw total income rise 52 per cent to US$12.36 million while net profit grew 60 per cent to US$6.97 million, a figure higher than its 2024 financial year. SCI’s balance sheet ended March 31 at US$228.41 million with US$214.63 million in investments and a capital base of US$75.86 million.

SCI completed a US$32.97 million perpetual preference share raise in December 2024 and is currently undergoing due diligence with different multilateral agencies to access more dry powder or cash. Although the company was approved for a US$10 million debt facility from WorldBusiness Capital, Inc (WBC), with a loan guaranty from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation’s (DFC) in late 2024, the recent change in administration has impacted the disbursement of those funds. It might be coming back online soon.

Real Estate Development & Sales

Sygnus Real Estate Finance is currently moving into its second investment lifecycle with a focus on developing its Mammee Bay, St Ann and Lakespen, St Catherine properties. Those properties are classified in the hospitality and industrial categories with SRF to expand into the Caribbean following due diligence by Sygnus Capital Limited. SRF recently completed the sale of 26 Seaview Avenue to Kingalarm Services Limited for US$1.849 million on May 8, nearly four years after it bought the 0.5-acre property for US$1.20 million. SRF is still completing the workout of the Ocean’s Edge Country Club project in Discovery Bay, St Ann.

SRF is currently moving to monetise the One Belmont property on Belmont Road, St. Andrew. SRF purchased an additional 16 per cent stake in its joint venture Audere Holdings Limited which brought its stake up to 86 per cent and result in a gain on acquisition of $162.20 million. Sygnus Capital was the first tenant to move into the 9-storey property in December 2024 with other tenants to occupy the building shortly.

SRF’s asset base ended February 28 at J$15.195 billion (US$96.58 million) with $9.89 billion in investment properties and $7.85 billion in equity/capital. SRF’s saw it record a net profit of $38.24 million in the second quarter (December to February) while its net loss improved to $197.45 million for the six months. Fair value adjustments are made at the end of each FY which ends on August 31.

“One of our mandates is to ensure that the real estate sector gets access to financing and Sygnus Real Estate Finance is in this business, but just to be clear, we’re not trying to compete with banks. What we want to do is co-developments, joint ventures or real estate investment notes. We provide this service to the market and we’re looking at quite a number of opportunities not just in Jamaica, but across the region,” Morris stated in a recent SRF earnings call.

Shareholdings & Equity Stakes

SCG received 20,707,342 ordinary shares in SRF which were listed on March 19. That pushed it to become SRF’s second largest shareholder with a 7.48 per cent equity stake while it owns 6.58 million ordinary shares or a 1.15 per cent stake in SCI as one of the top 25 shareholders. SCG also received 20 million ordinary shares in July 2024 in Tropical Battery Company Limited to become its fourth-largest shareholder with a 1.46 per cent stake. Sygnus Capital Limited is currently leading Tropical Battery’s near $2-billion equity raise.

Sygnus Capital Group Limited directly owns Sygnus Capital PR, Inc, Sygnus Capital SL Limited and Sygnus Capital Limited. The strategic moves by Sygnus Capital Group continues to put it at the forefront of the Caribbean alternative investment market, an area that it has pushed as pioneers. It is actively attracting capital into the region from international investors including multi-laterals, fund managers, family offices, and banks in order to deepen the pool of capital available for businesses across the region to drive economic growth and development in their respective markets.