Jamaica’s Investor Relations Programme - Some Interesting Data

It's been a long time coming but, for the first time, Jamaica has been included in the IIF's 2024 annual IRP assessment report.

The report includes data on investor relations practices, debt transparency, and ESG data and policy dissemination for 50 emerging market and developing countries. Thirty of these have formal IRPs.

I recall well when, in 2012, as part of a comprehensive debt management reform program, an IR function was included in the debt office's organizational structure and a dedicated IR officer appointed. More than 12 years later Jamaica satisfies many of the criteria required for a sound IRP.

So, to the data. Here are some interesting findings. Jamaica rated highly on the following IR and data transparency assessment criteria:
🔹 Market friendly information ((2/2)
🔹 Availability of forward-looking information (3/3)
🔹 Investor feedback reflected in policy decisions (3/3)
🔹 Non-deal roadshows (1/1)
🔹 Effective data transparency on key elements (3.25/4)

The IIF also reported on some key areas for improvement, including:
🔻 Accessibility of senior policy makers to investors (1.33/2)
🔻 Dissemination of ESG data and policy information (2.13/4)
🔻 Enhanced transparency practices (such as reporting to the IMF under the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS)) (1.75/4)
🔻 Investor presentations and conference call materials available online (0/1)

Overall, Jamaica was ranked 24th out of the 50 assessed countries with an overall score of 36.21 out of 50. This compares to top scorers Philippines (48.7), Turkey (48.3), Brazil (47.5), and Hungary (47.2).

Nonetheless, Jamaica well outperformed its Caribbean peers, Belize (25.88) and Suriname (24.88) - the only other two English-speaking Caribbean countries to be assessed.

Where does Jamaica go from here? There is some low-hanging fruit. Jamaica can and should strengthen its data transparency practices. They can start by publishing their investor presentations on their website and improve the website's user-friendliness. They can better present their historical debt data by providing monthly data over a twelve month period in a single report. They can also increase accessibility to senior policy makers and they can also identify IR staff on the IR website. Doing their own IRP self assessment would also enhance their ratings.

Jamaica has a credible IRP which places it middle of the IIF table. Let 2025 be the year where it moves several rungs up the ladder. It can be done. 🏝️