The scandal of how sprint legend Usain Bolt was defrauded out of a reported US$12.7 million from Jamaican investment house Stocks & Securities Limited (SSL) has incensed the nation and has many asking how was this allowed to happen and why is there no resolution after two years.

Bolt himself has said he needs to get back his money and perhaps he needs to apply more pressure in order to get a result.

The incident has cast a bad light on Jamaican financial institutions and some investors will be wary to place their funds with them.

Reputation, longevity, professionals with a proven track record, accountability, and people of honour are what you should look for when investing your money.

The Bolt situation with SSL doesn’t just hurt SSL and the regulators, it strikes a damaging blow to the entire sector and the country.

It buys into the notion that Jamaica is a land of fun-loving criminals. 

When investing for your future and the welfare of your family it is importance to realise the difference between asset management and wealth management.

This is a distinction made by J.P. Morgan Chase’s asset & wealth management CEO Mary Callahan Erdoes. She did so by speaking with David Rubenstein on Bloomberg Wealth.

“Asset management is managing money on behalf of individuals, institutions, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds. More often than not this is managed through mutual funds, ETFs, single stocks, single bonds, hedge funds, private equity and the like. That’s the heart of the fiduciary business we run at J.P. Morgan

“Wealth management is that plus understanding someone’s entire balance sheet. So with the individuals for whom we manage money we also help them with their mortgage, a loan they might need, credit cards. Wealth management is helping clients with their entire life, both their assets and liabilities, the legacy they want to leave for their families,” said the senior J.P. Morgan executive.

Usain Bolt did the right thing by investing and taking care of his financial future. He wanted to take care of his mother and father and his own children. It is a shame that his noble efforts cost him dearly by unscrupulous people at SSL.

You have to be careful who you give your money to invest and keep a close eye on your accounts.

Mary Callahan Erdoes advised, “ You have to be able to save early and if you have someone to help you do that, that’s one of the most important things.

“If you look at an average investment, take a balanced portfolio, it’s about a 6.45 percent average annual return for people that generally manage money. The problem is most individuals get an average return of three per cent, less than half of that. Why? Because they make emotional decisions when markets are one way or another. They get caught up in the hype of things. It is super important to have that advice as early as we can give it.”

Bolt made an emotional decision, opting to invest his money with a Jamaican investment house. He was guided by patriotism. He has always been steadfastly loyal to his homeland.

But now he has been ripped off and is millions of US dollars out of pocket, defrauded by his own people who had no respect for his accomplishments and contributions to his country.

It’s hard to imagine the reputed J.P. Morgan not knowing or unable to give an account of what happened to Usain Bolt’s investment funds.

Usain Bolt must listen to what Mary Callahan Erdoes says here: “This business is based on trust. You don’t wake up one morning and find yourself with a great sum of wealth and then go and trust someone you haven’t known for years. It’s a long journey to get to know people, to get to know their family, to help them with a piece of something along their journey.”