NEWLY capitalised investment house, Proven Management Limited will list on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) within six to 18 months, says PML CEO Chris Williams.

Williams says “now is the time for entrepreneurs to get into the capital markets”.

“We are in the right place and time to create wealth,” he said last Thursday at the Jamaica Stock Exchange’s Investor Outreach Forum held at the Knutsford Court Hotel.

Proven is a partnership of Jamaican investment bankers which successfully raised US$20 million in late January, when 150 private and institutional investors took up 200 million shares in the entity.

The economic signs that Williams finds encouraging include the stability in the foreign exchange rate and the success of the Jamaica Debt Exchange (JDX), which resulted in reduction in the yield curve and reduced Government appetite for borrowing.

“By next year, the US will be on its way to recovery and once they do, so will we. Already we see the signs in their country where they have started to claw back some of the jobs they lost. We need to position ourselves to benefit from this environment both at home and abroad,” he said.

“We need to look to the capital markets to satisfy our financial services needs. It is not necessary always to go to a bank to get your idea moving. The market is a fantastic way to create wealth. This is an alternative way to get projects off the ground.”

Williams believes the capital market is quite receptive to innovations and business models surrounding exports of assembly-type manufacturing.

“Because of the nature of the recession, projects exclusively dependent on the local economy are going to be difficult to sell,” he added. “Look for price competitive, low initial type start-up. The days of just building a business because you like it are gone.”

In terms of pricing too, he noted that the capital markets are very price sensitive and that the intangible of the businesses was going to be significantly discounted.

“The markets prefer to buy at book value.”

General Manager of the Jamaica Stock Exchange, Marlene Street-Forrest also pointed out that “now is a great time to look at the opportunities that the market affords for growing your business and for investing in the market”.

She revealed that for the first three months the average prices of the JSE stocks have increased by 14.4 per cent.

She also pointed to the success potential of companies listed on the JSE Junior Exchange. The only currently listed junior market company, Access Financial, has seen its investment increase in value by over 82 per cent in the five months since listing.