I was thrilled to receive such a warm welcome from the Deputy Prime Minister of the Bahamas and D’Arcy Rahming, CEO of ArawakX, the first pan-Caribbean securities exchange.
It was clear everyone wants to do business with our financial publishers & media groups.
ArawakX hosted our most recent Financial Publishing Accelerator members at the luxurious Bahamar Resort on Nassau.
Besides the obviously gorgeous location I was excited about how many new doors opened for both our members and our hosts.
Accelerator members connected with a wide variety of Bahamian and Caribbean investment executives, local founders, and government officials.
Topics of conversation included industry trends and the opportunities they represent; raising capital for a publishing business; Caribbean deal flow, both in private markets and real estate; regulatory issues for digital financial publishers; results of the first ever psychological study comparing top financial copywriters vs. low performers, and more.
About the FinPub Accelerator
The FinPub Accelerator is the only business accelerator focused on the digital investment subscription & media industry.
The Accelerator was a natural out growth of our work at The Financial Marketing Summit, the #1 marketing & networking event for the digital financial publishing industry.
Our members include founders, CEOs, and executives from, what are now, many of the largest & fastest growing trader education & investment newsletters publishers serving the individual retail investor, as well as financial focused media agencies and vertical advertising networks.
We focus on creating business opportunities, problem solving, strategic partnerships, and capital markets introductions for our Accelerator members.
Members of our Accelerator are consistently either THE fastest growing, or among the fastest growing companies in their individual verticals.
Transcript of remarks by the Deputy Prime Minster of the Bahamas, the Honourable I. Chester Cooper's at the January, 2022 Financial Publishers Accelerator, co-hosted by Pendry Cannon & ArawakX
I sincerely thank you inviting me to join you here today. I take this opportunity to welcome you on behalf of the Prime Minister and the people of the Bahamas. As I understand it, all gathered here are a part of the creative team for a new digital ecosystem.
If I am not mistaken, ecosystems of any kind, are about creating balance. Doing so digitally must present its unique challenges, but I am confident that all players involved, are up to the task. The impressive credentials of all of you speak to the successful outcomes to be borne.
On a higher lever your clear objective is to cause there to be deal flow; bringing together Investors and those seeking investments. This is significant, considering that you already know that the activities from direct and indirect investments is responsible for a significant component of the Bahamas’ economic activity.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Pendry Cannon and ArawakX for this collaboration. I note that through their efforts, this gathering of companies are also keen on education, empowerment.
It is my understanding that represented here today are internationally recognized companies, one in the area of digital, marketing and advertising technology, powering billions of interactions across six continents and billions of dollars in online transactions.
I am proud to see The Bahamas being a part of such ventures. We note the presence of financial publishers, at least three of them, who are demystifying crypto investing so that investors make more informed decisions. And companies whose objectives include educating investors so that they may take advantage of available opportunities that lead to financial freedom through successful investing.
I have a good feeling about this.
The partnership of Pendry Cannon and ArawakX is proving to be greater than the sum of its parts. I wish to reinforce the significance of what together they offer.
Pendry Cannon builds and connects digital investor ecosystems with niche investment platforms, as well as regional, and sector-based capital networks. It connects these ecosystems to key capital market stakeholders around the globe.
ArawakX, with its regional outlook, is leading the charge to crowdfund the Caribbean and to help both Caribbean and international companies raise capital through their strategic partnership we have the first Pan Caribbean Securities Exchange.
Through their strategic partnership we have the first Pan Caribbean Securities Exchange.
When a team, like Pendry Cannon, responsible for building digital platforms and communities with a reach of over million individual retail investors partners its resources with a Bahamian digital platform, ArawakX, which allows direct investment in equities, in debt securities, and in revenue share opportunities, imagine the possibilities!
As for our participants, I applaud your focus on the individual investor. This sector has seen exponential growth in the past two years. This represents significant potential to spur growth and opportunities and create wealth. But I’m sure you are aware of this. This is one of the key reasons you are here today.
ArawakX’s Chairman and CEO, Mr. D’Arcy Rahming Sr. is a passionate Bahamian entrepreneur. By virtue of his position, he is certainly vested. But beyond that, Mr. Rahming and his team believe in what is happening today. ArawakX and this new ecosystem are seeking to be as all-inclusive as possible.
These objectives intersect with those of our Government as we seek to provide means for empowerment for Bahamian investors.
It has been my life’s work to encourage savings and investing.
Regrettably we do not distinguish ourselves in terms of savings, a trend that is not unlike or friends to the North. The Central Bank’s 2018 financial literacy was quite telling and in fact signaled great opportunity.
Still less than 30% of Bahamians contribute to pension plans and less that 8% invest in marketable securities.
I continue to be concerned about this and my Ministry will undertake this year, along with stakeholders in the financial services and banking community to lead a financial literacy national campaign to ultimately ncourage saving and investing. It is essential to build capital markets and spur national growth. At the same time, it is the intention of the Davis-Cooper administration to also earnestly tackle the predicament of the unbanked, especially in the family islands.
No doubt many entities in the FinTech space will continue to leverage this as an opportunity.
Bahamians are poised however, to thrive in this beautiful new ecosystem. As a businessman myself, I understand the importance of such an opportunity being available.
Everywhere one turns, the impacts of this pandemic on
business and finances are being discussed. Its impact is not unlike previous depressions and recessions.
We have learnt from the past that inspiring confidence and efficiently facilitating investments is the fastest way to restart the economies.
In fact, I have often expressed that foreign direct investments remain the fastest way to grow our economy.
Those in the financial services sector looking to survive must find new ways and new opportunities and new niches. I am delighted that we are speaking today of disruptive technologies and concepts. It is imperative that we create new markets and value networks to replace our old traditional methodologies.
Sounds to me like this is an exciting time to be in this sector.
My governments’ economic plan is all about change. Big, transformative change. Impactful change. We understand the importance of investing in communities, in new industries.
And most of all we understand the need to invest in our people for the greater good of our collective futures.
Our government is fully aware of where we stand
economically. We are working to restart the engines of our economy. And not just here on New Providence but across our family of islands.
We are interested in investment opportunities for Bahamians and businesses in Grand Bahama in ICT and the industrial sector; with its incredible physical and technology infrastructure.
We are looking for investors with an interest in renewables to partner with us throughout our Family of Islands.
If you are an agricultural or marine investor, come and talk with us.
We are committed to creating the business/investor-friendly environment to facilitate the inflow of investments.
It is imperative that we modernize our infrastructure, airports, seaports, public transportation and healthcare facilities across our archipelago. We are actively seeking partners to do this.
We need to become more self-sufficient when it comes to putting food on our tables. All of this must be one
sustainably and with concern for preserving our natural resources.
Our list is extensive but many items on this to-do list can be accomplished with the right partners. On behalf of the Government and as Minister responsible for Investments, I would like to thank ArawakX for organizing such meetings to marry ideas and opportunities. We look forward to the further strengthening of this new ecosystem and we encourage others to look at what is happening here, and dare I say, find even better ways of doing this. We all want
to be on the right side of change and progress moving
forward.
Our economic plan emphasizes openness for partnerships
that are mutually beneficial to both country and investors, be they foreign or domestic.
Bahamas Investment Authority and its promotional arm
BahamasInvest which I have the pleasure to lead are tasked with mobilizing and facilitating both local and foreign capital in a swift efficient and transparent manner. This is a key component of national development strategy.
Our government is looking to improve the overall quality of life for Bahamians through job creation and entrepreneurial opportunities.
We need to revolutionize our educational delivery systems. We need to modernize our digital infrastructure. We will need partners in order to do so. We are of the business of realizing future dreams. And it all begins in places such as this and through the kinds of minds gathered here today.
We want you to know that you are welcome here to do
business. Ours is an environment of progressive immigration law, good quality of life, and a business environment that is properly regulated. Please come and use the ecosystems being put in place.
As I conclude, I say that if you take nothing away from what has been said, my message is simply this – my government likes what we see happening here today and we are open to do business.
We wish you a fruitful and productive event.
And of course, as the Minister also responsible for Tourism I hope that you enjoy this magnificent resort and the warmth of our people; and another one of two our 16 island destinations, when you return.
Bahamian News Coverage
News about the Strategic Partnership between ArawakX & Pendry Cannon
Equity crowdfunding platform ArawakX and digital ecosystems developer Pendry Cannon have formed a strategic partnership to produce the first pan-Caribbean securities exchange, through ArawakX’s new crowdfunding platform, a statement on the partnership revealed.
ArawakX is working fast to lead the development of crowdfunding into the Caribbean “to help both Caribbean and international companies raise capital”.
The company announced last month that it opened an office in California and has plans to open another office in Miami in the near future.
According to the statement, the partnership with Pendry Cannon will allow ArawakX to cast a wider net for investors who would come to the website to find businesses to fund.
Pendry Cannon CEO, John Newtson was quoted in the Bahamas Chronicle regarding the strategic partnership with ArawakX. “The ArawakX digital platform allows direct investment in equities, in debt securities, and in revenue share opportunities. This gives companies maximum flexibility when raising capital and let’s investors participate in the fuller capital life cycle of a company. ArawakX provides a virtual introduction platform connecting issuers and investors.
“The platform gives investors access to properly vetted US and Caribbean startups across all industries by a robust team of investors, management consultants, financial services executives, and veteran entrepreneurs. This focus on vetting is critical. A lot of platforms online today don’t do much vetting beyond checking whether the company’s check cleared. This leaves individual investors with a greater due diligence burden as they try to sort through potential investments.”
Continuing, Mr. Newtson noted: “ArawakX CEO D’Arcy Rahming has over twenty-years of experience as a leading management consultant and has assembled an extensive team of veteran entrepreneurs and analysts to vet the companies listing on their platform. This quality over quantity approach to listings is one of the things that attracted Pendry Cannon to ArawakX.
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