Unit holders will vote in a matter of weeks on the proposed consolidation of five Sagicor Sigma Global Funds portfolios worth at least $24.4 billion.

Clients of Sagicor Investments Jamaica Limited (SIJL), fund manager of the Sagicor Sigma Global Funds, received a meeting invitation on a proposed rationalisation exercise to reduce the number of portfolios/funds from 18 to 13. The affected portfolios include Sigma Global Equity JMD, Sigma Real Growth, Sigma Money Market, Sigma Principal Protector, and Sigma Principal Protector (USD). Only investors that own units in the respective portfolios will be allowed to attend and vote on the respective extraordinary resolutions.

According to the letter by trustee JCSD Trustee Services Limited, this move is meant to improve liquidity, reduce concentration risks, and optimise the ability for each fund to achieve its relevant objective. The hybrid extraordinary unit holders meeting will be held at 10:00 am on February 24 by the Sagicor Auditorium at the R Danny Williams Building.

“After a strategic review of the portfolios of the Sigma Funds, the managers of the Sigma Funds have determined that there should be a rationalisation of the portfolios currently under management, by reducing the number of portfolios from eighteen (18) to thirteen (13) portfolios. The main objective is to realign the portfolios which share similar investment strategies and objectives to improve liquidity and reduce concentration risks,” stated the explanatory circular document e-mailed on Friday.

The document also explained that merging the selected portfolios would improve operational efficiency and allow for better allocation of resources.

If any extraordinary resolution for the five affected portfolios is passed by a majority of at least 75 per cent of unit holders, then the rationalisation process can continue. However, if any extraordinary resolution does not meet the necessary threshold or unit holders vote against the resolution, the conversion process would not proceed. The preliminary outcome of each resolution would be provided at the meeting, with the final voting results provided at a future date.

If the five extraordinary resolutions are approved, clients would be directed to an online portal (
sigmafunds.sagicorjamaica.com) to accept the options outlined. The unit holders in the approved portfolios to be converted would receive notice at least 30 days prior to the termination and conversion of the relevant portfolios. This notice would be placed in a daily newspaper and put on the fund manager’s website. The FSC would also receive 30 days prior notice as well, with an updated Sigma offering circular being published to reflect the reduced portfolios. Each unit holder in an affected portfolio would receive value in the other Sigma portfolio, commensurate to the value held in the affected portfolio.

For unit holders that own the Sigma Global Equity JMD portfolio which had a net asset value (NAV) of $1.9 billion as of December 31, they would be receive units in the Sigma Global Equity USD portfolio which has a NAV of $2.1 billion. For unit holders that own Sigma Real Growth JMD which has a NAV of $1.4 billion, they would receive units in the Sigma Global Corporate JMD portfolio which has a NAV of $5.2 billion. For unit holders that own Sigma Money Market JMD which has a NAV of $7.5 billion and Sigma Principal Protector JMD (NAV of $4.6 billion), they would receive units in the Sigma Income which has a NAV of $6.4 billion. For unit holders that own Sigma Principal Protector USD which has a NAV of $9 billion, they would receive units in the Sigma Global Income USD which has a NAV of $13.8 billion.

The result of this process is that the Sigma Global Funds should move from four to three equity portfolios and from 11 to seven fixed income portfolios.

“By combining the five funds with portfolios that share similar investment strategies and objectives, each consolidated fund will be better positioned to meet its investment goals. The consolidation is designed to improve liquidity, reduce concentration risk, and support greater operational efficiency regarding portfolio management and administration,” the explanatory circular noted on the impact to the remaining funds.

Unit Trust developments

The Sagicor Sigma Global Funds are collective investment schemes (CIS) which operate as unit trusts. Investors purchase or subscribe to units in a respective portfolio which gives investors exposure to a specific asset class or risk profile. The fund manager researches the best opportunities available and invests the money in assets which fit the theme of the portfolio while seeking to beat a specific benchmark. The fund manager (SIJL) receives management fees to handle the unit trust affairs while the trustee acts in the interest of unit holders by holding and overseeing the assets of the portfolio as outlined by the trust deed.

Sagicor Investments Jamaica manages the largest unit trust portfolio in Jamaica with total assets at the end of 2024 valued at $153.57 billion. That meant SIJL managed two-fifths of the $383.11 billion in CIS assets at the end of 2024. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) revealed that the total CIS assets increased to $409.72 billion as of September 2025.

According to the explanatory circular, the NAV of the 18 Sigma portfolios was $157 billion as of December 31, 2025, with the Sigma Real Estate portfolio having a NAV of $30.4 billion. The NAV is another way to express the net assets of a fund after deducting liabilities.

The move by Sagicor Investments Jamaica to propose a rationalisation of its unit trust portfolios takes place at the same time when Sagicor Select Funds Limited (SSFL) moves to complete the conversion of its two listed equity funds into unit trusts. SSFL returned to the Supreme Court on January 21 as it sought to have its scheme of arrangement sanctioned before the process returns to the FSC.

Sagicor Select Funds class B shares (SelectF) had an unaudited NAV of $0.567 per share or $2.89 billion while the class C shares (SelectMD) had an unaudited NAV of $1.261 per share or $4.81 billion.

There have been various developments in the CIS space over the last three years. The FSC’s new CIS concentration limits took effect in December 2024 and capped the maximum ownership of any unit holder to 20 per cent of any fund/portfolio.

VM Wealth Management Limited also changed the financial year end for its unit trust from December to May to better optimise its internal resources.

NCB Capital Markets Limited (NCBCM) raised $2.25 billion in new funds for its real estate fund during its September 2025 financial year. It has disbursed over $271 million across eight cash distributions for the real estate fund. NCBCM’s non-diversified unit trust scheme held $8.21 billion in assets in December 2024 while the diversified unit trust scheme held $12.88 billion in assets in December 2024.