UTC gets its first Corporate Credit Rating
April 5th, 2019 | Related To: Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services (CariCRIS)
RATING RELEASE
01 April 2019
UTC gets its first Corporate Credit Rating
Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services Limited (CariCRIS) has assigned initial Issuer/Corporate Credit Ratings of CariAA (Foreign and Local Currency Ratings) on the regional rating scale, and ttAA on the Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) national scale to Trinidad and Tobago Unit Trust Corporation (TTUTC). These ratings indicate that the level of creditworthiness of this obligor, adjudged in relation to other obligors in T&T and the wider Caribbean region is high. The ratings of TTUTC reflect the importance of the mutual funds industry to the economy of T&T, the Corporation’s dominant market share as the largest mutual funds provider in T&T, the good asset quality and healthy returns provided by its investment portfolio, as well as its strong enterprise risk management framework. The Corporation’s good financial performance also supports the ratings. These rating strengths are tempered by the existing legislation governing the TTUTC’s operations, which could serve to limit growth, as well as its increasingly aging unitholder base, which could have a negative impact on long-term growth for the Corporation. CariCRIS has also assigned a stable outlook on the ratings. The stable outlook is premised on CariCRIS’ expectation that TTUTC will continue to maintain a generally stable credit profile over the next 12-15 months, underpinned by its robust risk management framework, continued good investment portfolio performance, and expected improvements in operational efficiency.
About the company The Trinidad and Tobago Unit Trust Corporation (TTUTC) was established in 1981 by way of the Unit Trust Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago Act (the Act) and commenced operations in November 1982 with the introduction of the First Unit Scheme (now called the Growth and Income Fund). The TTUTC was established to serve two purposes: (i) to mobilize the savings of the domestic population in the Trinidad and Tobago financial system and channel these into desirable investments and (ii) to foster a wider shareholding democracy by providing persons of modest means with a facility to own shares. From its first year of operations in 1982, when the TTUTC was the only mutual fund manager in the T&T market with 1 fund and funds under management of TT $41 million, the Corporation has since evolved and expanded to become one of the largest financial services companies in Trinidad and Tobago with funds under management as at December 2018 of TT $20.9 billion. The TTUTC now manages six mutual funds consisting of the TTD Income Fund, the USD Income Fund and the UTC Corporate Fund (3 fixed income funds), as well as the Growth and Income Fund and the Universal Retirement Fund (two equity funds) and the Calypso Macro Index Fund (a closed-ended equity fund). The range of services it offers has also expanded to include debit card services, foreign exchange trading, bond processing, pension fund management and trustee services. In Q4 2018, the Corporation launched the Global Investor Select Funds. The Corporation’s client base has expanded from 7,700 unitholders in its first month of operations to over 600,000 as at December 2018.
For more information on the ratings of TTUTC, please visit www.caricris.com or contact:
Andre Joseph
Senior Manager, Ratings
Tel: 1-868-627-8879 Ext. 224
E-mail: [email protected]
OR
Kathryn Budhooram
Manager, Ratings
Tel: 1-868-627-8879 Ext. 227
E-mail: [email protected]
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