Who is Jacqueline Sharp?

JACQUELINE Sharp will replace Bruce Bowen as Scotia Group Jamaica boss on September 1.

“I am very pleased and honoured to be entrusted with this immense responsibility. Having been at Scotiabank for over 15 years, I am very aware and appreciative of the strength of our organisation and our team, who represent this great company each day,” Sharp said yesterday in a statement to Caribbean Business Report.

She joined Scotiabank in 1997 and has held progressively senior roles in the areas of treasury, finance, private banking and insurance. Prior to her appointment as president and CEO, effective September 1, 2013, Sharp was chief financial officer and chief administrator with responsibility for financial and regulatory reporting, financial risk management, strategic planning, legal, compliance and oversight of the systems control centre for Scotia Group.

Sharp has worked mostly behind the scenes, outside of the media spotlight, but she commands a lot of respect from her peers.

“She is a very private person but gets the work done; she is a team builder who doesn’t need the spotlight to be effective,” said one female executive in the banking industry, who asked not to be named.

Prior to being appointed CFO in 2009, Sharp spent six years as the general manager for Scotia Insurance, which, under her leadership, grew significantly in premium income, the banking group said at the time.

A past student of Campion College (high school), she holds a bachelor of science degree with honours in accounting from the University of the West Indies; has a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation; and has successfully completed the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) examinations. She is married with two children.

With the appointment, Sharp will become Scotia Jamaica’s first-ever female president and CEO, a historical moment that has appeared to be years in the making. Minna Israel, former number two to Bill Clarke at Scotia Jamaica, was widely tipped to succeed the long-serving CEO, but she opted to head the banking giant’s Bahamian operation in 2005. It was also felt by many that Anya Schnoor, another well-respected female executive, was being groomed for the position. Schnoor left Scotia Jamaica in 2011 to assume a development role at the parent company in Canada, and months later headed to Trinidad & Tobago to head up the banking group’s operations in the twin-island republic.

“I think Jackie’s appointment is absolutely wonderful. Scotiabank has always had a history of women in senior management positions and this is sort of a culmination of that,” said the female industry insider.

The insider does warn, however, that Sharp will be under a tremendous amount of pressure to produce in difficult market conditions, after three debt exchanges that will force local financial institutions to change their business model.

“This is one of the most challenging times facing banks. You are in a contracting economy, there’s less disposable economy, which also translates to savings, then you have the fact that you will also be having to manage your bad debt portfolio carefully,” she said.

“Jacqueline has come at a time when she has a lot of work to do. She has to energise the troops, keep the brand fresh, and has to ensure that she has the right people to hit targets while containing cost,” the industry insider continued. “Congratulations to her but ‘uneasy lies the head that wears the golden crown’.”

What’s more is that Sharp will be required to work “three times harder” being a female CEO in the industry, the source believes.

“But I don’t doubt that she can get the work done, and I really believe that she is going to surprise people by how well she does it,” she said.

Sharp stated that in the upcoming month, she will be working closely with Bowen and the management team to ensure a seamless transition.

“Over the longer term, our success as an institution will be based on focused attention to our strategic pillars: heightened customer experience, driving operational efficiencies and further developing our leadership capabilities, and that will be my driving force,” she said.

Scotia Group Jamaica made a $5.6-billion net profit for its six months ending April 2013 on $11.7 billion in net interest income. This beat the second-largest bank defined by profits, National Commercial Bank of Jamaica, which earned $4.5 billion net profit on $11.1 billion in net interest income for its half-year ending March 2013.

NCB, however, regains the top slot when defined by total assets at $414.1 billion, compared to Scotia at $382 billion, company financials indicate.

Sharp serves as a member of the boards of Scotia Asset Management (Ja) Ltd and Scotia MicroFinance Co Ltd, and is chair of the Board of Trustees of Scotiabank Jamaica’s Pension Plan. Sharp also serves as the treasurer of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica.