TT: UTC going strong

PRIME MINISTER Patrick Manning said the Unit Trust Corporation (UTC) of Trini-dad and Tobago is a “people’s institution” and Government would do its utmost to ensure that the company is never hijacked by individuals or groups with a political agenda. Addressing the opening ceremony for UTC’s Chaguanas branch yesterday, the Prime Minister said the company had achieved phenomenal successes since its inception. “From its comparatively humble beginnings in 1982 with funds under management of $42.2 million, the funds have now passed the $12 billion mark. From a unitholder base of 8,000 in 1982, account holders have now soared to 480,129.

“What we now have here in the UTC is easily one of the largest mutual fund managers in the Caribbean, with one of the most versatile product ranges in the region,” Manning stated. Recalling that UTC’s mandate was to create and foster economic opportunities for “the ordinary man in the street,” the Prime Minister declared, “In large measure, the success of this institution has been because the UTC has kept faith with the people.  “Government has always had and continues to have the best interest of the UTC and its unitholders at heart. “I would like all to rest assured that it is the Government’s intention that it should remain a people’s institution. I can tell you just as well that it has and will also continue to remain an institution devoid of political interference, because in the view of the Government of TT, this has been a significant part of its success,” added Manning.

This is a shameless plug for Unit Trust Corporation, for I must disclose that I own shares in the company, and they've earned money when other companies were tanking.