By Al Edwards 

Investment house Cornerstone, founded by Paul Simpson (who has been a banker for almost 20 years), has struck a deal valued at US$80 million with Proven Management, Our Today has been reliably informed.

The deal, announced formally in December but with no value disclosed, is a strategic partnership with Proven Management Limited, the investment manager of Proven Group Limited.

Proven has a diversified portfolio of regional and international investments focused primarily on its wholly-owned subsidiaries in the financial sector. It has carved out a reputation for significant real estate and private capital deals.

Vilas at Braemar in Kingston, Sol Harbour in Ocho Rios and Bahari in Runaway Bay readily spring to mind on the residential side. More recently, Proven has made a major move into commercial real estate with Bloomfield Park in Mandeville and the US$13 million Kingston Gateway project on Marcus Garvey Drive, in Kingston.

Proven acquired Fidelity Bank in Cayman, which holds a Class A banking licence, and rebranded it Proven Bank (Cayman). In March 2017, it acquired 100 per cent of The Bank of St Lucia International Limited (BOSLIL).

Proven also holds 20 per cent of the JMMB Group and has a controlling interest in Roberts Manufacturing in Barbados.

“We are excited to welcome Cornerstone as a strategic partner. This partnership reflects our shared commitment to disciplined, strong governance and long-term value creation for clients, employees and shareholders of the Proven Group. The regional and global environments create a compelling opportunity for collaborations of this nature in the pursuit of efficiency, resilience and expansion,” said Chairman of Proven Management, Peter Bunting.

With US$1 million in capital, Peter Bunting, Mark Golding and Chris Dehring formed DB&G in 1992 and sold that investment house to Scotiabank Group in 2006 for US$100 million. It was rebranded as Scotia Investments and today is headed by Sabrina Cooper.

When DB&G was sold, it was the fourth-largest securities dealer in Jamaica in terms of assets, profits and market capitalisation. It was also Jamaica’s largest equity broker. At the time of sale in 2006, it had J$33 billion in funds under management.

Three years later, ‘The Fantastic Four’, buoyed by the success of DB&G went on to form the Proven Group and began operations in 2010, listing on July 14, 2011, becoming the first company with USD-denominated shares on the JSE.

In February of last year, Johan Heaven, a former senior executive at DB&G took over from Chris Williams as CEO of Proven Group. Williams grew Proven’s assets to over US$1 billion over 14 years. Heaven intends to have Proven earning US$20 million in after-tax profits per year. 

Proven’s net profit for the financial year ended March 2025 fell to US$2.5 million on an operating revenue net of interest expense of US$55.4 million.

Johan Heaven will continue as CEO of Proven, working now with Barita boss Ramon Small-Ferguson. Mark Myers will serve as a Director of Proven Group while maintaining the chairmanship of both the Cornerstone Group and the Barita Group.

The Cornerstone Group was founded by Paul Simpson in 2013 to invest in high-growth and undervalued companies across the region. In August 2018, it acquired a majority stake in Barita Investments Limited for J$3 billion in one of the most audacious moves by a young Jamaican banker. 

Yesterday, it was announced that Cornerstone has received regulatory approval for Barita to acquire JN Fund Managers Limited for J$4. 2 billion. This forms a 100 per cent purchase of Jamaica National’s Fund Mangers issued share capital.

Cornerstone will now have J$1 trillion in assets under management. Currently, NCB has J$2.5 trillion in assets under management.