The Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB) has incorporated its Leadership and Entrepreneurship Seminar programme into an ongoing BFSB Lecture Series. On Thursday, March 18, BFSB will host a forum designed to “Foster dialogue and create an environment where industry professionals are motivated to pursue higher levels of excellence.”  The programme will be held in the Independence C Ballroom, Sheraton Nassau Beach Hotel, starting at 4:00 p.m. and a reception will follow the business portion of the seminar. 

Targeted participants are financial services professionals at supervisory and mid-management levels, and the seminar will include not only personal stories, but also focus on evolving client needs within the industry and how professionals can position themselves to respond effectively.  In connection with the latter, BFSB is pleased to announce that Mr. David Harvey, Chief Executive of STEP, will be one of the featured speakers, addressing participants on “Riding the Tide:  How to be a Resilient Professional”.  BFSB’s CEO Wendy Warren says, “Changes in the world of financial services range from increasing demands from ever better informed clients to jurisdictional competition over capital flows and onto the geo-political shift of power to Asia.   Mr Harvey will contend that while these matters may be beyond the control of a professional, even in this climate, there are things a resilient professional can do to shape their future, to keep afloat on the tides, to be the best informed and most trusted advisor to their clients and so keep a competitive advantage.”  

Additionally, Mr. Harvey will set out some of the big trends in private client issues that will shape the next few years, speaking specifically to the need for high quality trusted advisors who can cross jurisdictions.  

According to the STEP Executive, professionals need to be is highly educated in hard and soft skills, capable of working across jurisdictions and types of practice, and capable of relating to other professionals and working with them. He will draw on examples from STEP and his broader professional life. He is firmly of the view that individuals taking a positive approach to work through regulation understand it, and position themselves well to build business. 

Mr. Harvey is a former President of the UK Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship and an Industrial fellow at Kingston Business School. He is a member of the Family Firms Institute and has written and commentated widely on family business issues. He has participated in a range of government initiatives, including as deputy chairman of the UK Better Payment Practice Group, as a member of the Bank of England Finance Panel on Small Firms and an EU expert. Mr. Harvey qualified with Ernst & Young and practiced in public affairs in accountancy, between 1994 and 2001.

The Leadership and Entrepreneurship component of BFSB’s Lecture Series has as a primary goal the profiling of Bahamians who have achieved success in financial and professional services, whether as top  management and/or as entrepreneurs; specifically focusing on how our present leaders can be used to mentor future leaders. In this connection, other speakers for the March 18 event will be Anthony Ferguson, Principal, CFAL; Lynden Nairn, Vice-President, Life Division, Colina Insurance; and Vaughn Delaney, Deputy Managing Director, Bank of the Bahamas International.  These BFSB member firms are sponsors of the seminar.   Messrs. Ferguson and Nairn will speak to “The Pursuit of Excellence”, while Mr. Delaney will present on “Leadership Characteristics and Abilities: What Really Matters”.

BFSB previously launched the leadership and entrepreneurship seminar series in collaboration with sponsor Bahamas First Holdings. That first seminar was considered a success with attendees from banks, trust and insurance companies and legal and accounting firms. Presenters were Patrick Ward Group President & CEO, Bahamas First Holdings; Judith Whitehead, Managing Partner, Graham, Thompson & Co; and Raymond Winder, Managing Partner, Deloitte.

Contact BFSB for details on this event and future seminars in the series.