Over the weekend I attended an investment forum hosted by Fortress Fund Managers. I had received an email “invitation” for the event a few weeks ago and I accepted. Sad to say, I almost forgot about it, but I was reminded by an ad in the newspaper. I wanted to attend this event because the featured speaker was going to focus on personal finance. And seeing that Odd Cents is all about personal finance it made sense to me.
I was a few minutes late for the event, but I was still able to see all of the presenters. They gave information on the risks of savings bonds, the benefits of saving for your retirement now and the importance of understanding what is going on in Barbados and the rest of the Caribbean.
Investment Forum Presenters
The presenters from Fortress Fund were Mr. Roger Cave, the Managing Director; Mr. Peter Arender, Chief Investment Officer; Mr. Rene Delmas, Pension Director and Mr. Chris Callender, Portfolio Manager. Mr. Wayne Dass, CEO of Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services, CariCRIS provided information of the European Debt Crisis and the importance of rating financial investment instruments.
Valerie Coleman Morris was the featured speaker of the event. Mrs. Morris is a former CNN Domestic and International Business Editor. She gave a wealth of advice and emphasized the importance of having control over one’s finances. I found myself nodding many times throughout her speech. In addition, many of the topics that she touched on, I have written posts about. She gave advice on saving for retirement, creating a budget and having a sound financial plan.
Key Takeaway from the Forum
This seminar made me realise that although the situations might be different, but the responses are similar. No matter which country you’re from, chances are your government has experienced debt, unemployment and job losses and inflation. And it’s not just the small developing countries that are struggling, it’s the large, developed countries to whom the smaller countries look for support.