Meet The Dream Team

Supported by an exemplary staff of unparalleled focus, integrity and professional brilliance.

About Us

Our Mission

Board of Directors and Senior Management

Meet The Dream Team

Supported by an exemplary staff of unparalleled focus, integrity and professional brilliance.

 

Ivylyn Cassar - Chairman

Ivylyn Cassar has in excess of 28 years of international wealth management experience. She is a Certified Public Accountant, Trust and Estate Practitioner and also a Securities Investment Advisor having completed the Series 7 examination.

She was most recently the Managing Director of Leopold Joseph (Bahamas) Limited prior to joining Equity Trust Bahamas Limited. She is a Director of The Bahamas Association of Securities Dealers, past Director of The Bahamas Financial Services Board and past Director of the Association of International Banks and Trust Companies, Vice Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, and Director of The Bahamas Trade Commission.

 
 

Dillon R. Dean - Managing Director

Dillon R. Dean has held executive roles within the financial services industry since the beginning of his career in 1992 having worked in London, Guernsey and The Bahamas.

A Certified Public Accountant, he is a member of the Minnesota State Board of Accountancy and the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. Dean also holds the Personal Financial Planning and Personal Trust Diplomas from the Institute of Canadian Bankers and has served on the boards on several licensed financial institutions. He was most recently the Centre Director of the Scotia Private Client Group in The Bahamas.

 
 

Kim Thompson - Director of Corporate for EBT and Managing Director of EBL

Kim Thompson was President and Director of Offshore Managers Limited and presently holds a Masters of Arts Degree with a concentration in Counseling; a Masters of Arts degree in Human Resources Management; Foundation Certificate from the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP); Diploma in Trust Administration and Accounts. Kim also serves as Director and Corporate Secretary of ETB. 

 

 

Ken Kerr - Non-Executive Director

Kenwood N. Kerr is Founder, President & CEO of Providence Advisors Ltd. a Bahamian financial services company.

Prior to launching Providence he was, Manager Investment Services, Manager Corporate Services & Head of Marketing & New Business development for the Bahamas & Caribbean with SG Hambros (Bahamas) Limited, a Societe Generale subsidiary in the Bahamas. He was also a founding Principal with Colina Financial Advisors Limited (CFAL). Prior to this he was instrumental in the launch of Fidelity Bank & Trust International and its related companies where he held the position of Vice President Investment Services with the Group. Before this he spent more than ten years with RoyWest, NatWest, and Coutts Bahamas Limited, where he held the position of Manager Investment services with responsibility for overseeing the Cayman and Bahamas islands investment operations, being the first Bahamian to hold that position. Mr. Kerr was educated at Acadia University, Nova Scotia, Canada, where he received a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and Economics. Additionally, he is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and associate member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators; he attended the College of The Bahamas and the R.M. Bailey High School.

A former company representative and member of the Securities Market Task Force, Mr. Kerr is affiliated with many professional organizations and invited often to speak at community and business organizations on a variety of investment management topics. He is a founding member of the Bahamas Society of Financial Analysts having served in the capacity as Secretary and Treasurer. As a panelist he has participated in a variety of talk shows and served as a Financial and Economic News writer for the Bahama Journal, The Nassau Guardian and The Tribune. He was recently appointed as a member to the Bahamas Government Private Pensions Task Force and was Deputy Chairman of Bahamasair.

 

 

Michael Dean, CPA - Managing Director of Equity Investment Funds Services Ltd. and Non-Executive Director of Equity Bank Bahamas Limited

Since 2012, he has served as the Vice-President of Investment Fund Services Department of Equity Bank Bahamas Limited. He was accepted as a Member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (1987) and the Bahamas Association of Compliance Officers (2005).

Mr. Dean began his career with over ten (10) years in audit, accounting and internal control expertise in the financial services arena in The Bahamas, with Deloitte & Touché and later Ernst & Young, including stints in the Caymans. He later served as Chief Financial Officer for the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Bahamas (CIBC Bahamas Limited), assisting with transitioning from a branch network of the Canadian Parent to a publicly traded company on The Bahamian Stock Exchange (BISX). Prior to joining Equity, he spent the previous fifteen (15) years in Swiss private banking, primarily in The Bahamas, with periods in Geneva, Switzerland. During this time, he has served in numerous capacities including Chief Financial Officer, Risk Manager, Senior Official II (reporting to the Central Bank), Vice President of Investments, Operations and Accounting dept., Compliance and Money Laundering Reporting & Prevention Officer for this boutique Swiss institution. He is a 1984 graduate of the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. He is active in the community in the areas of youth development, sports and social outreach.

 


 

Vanessa Z. Coleby, TEP - Vice-President of Trust

Vanessa Z. Coleby is a seasoned trust professional with more than 25 years in the Financial Services Industry, a Member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners since 1998, an Associate of the Bahamas Institute of Trust and Financial Services, with Series 6 Designation from the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc.

She brings an understanding of and appreciation for the need to be client-focused while meeting the growing regulatory requirements. She has served in in various capacities including Trust Manager, Director, Corporate Secretary, Corporate Services Manager and Deputy General Manager with responsibility for Human Resources.

 

Gavin Cassar - Non-Executive EGI Director

Gavin Cassar has over two decades of legal experience in trust, corporate and commercial litigation with specialty in Trusts and Banking Law. Mr. Cassar is Consultant Counsel to Cassar & Co., a law firm specializing in Commercial Litigation and Mutual Funds Consultation Services.

Sole member of the Worldlink for Law and international body of 70 law firms situated throughout North America, South America, Canada, Europe and Asia. Mr. Cassar is a Member of The Bahamas Bar Association and a longstanding member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, England. He has attained a Bachelor of Laws Degree from the University of Wolverhampton, England on the 10thJuly 1991 with Honors. Graduating from Ontario Business College, Bellville, Ontario, Canada in 1985 with a Diploma in Business Administration and Accounting with Distinction. He has also received a Diploma in Negotiations from the Harvard University, Cambridge Massachusetts in 1997.




Father Palacious - Independent Non-Executive EGI Director

Archdeacon James E. Palacious is a reputable priest who actively served in Diocese for 42 years after being ordained in 1976. At the time of his retirement he was the Archdeacon for Administration on the Diocesan Office, assisting the Bishop in administration. As well as the #1 Vice President to the Bahamas Christian Council. He presently serves as a Business Consultant and the Business Development Manager of the Company BRON, owned by his son and engineer Carlos Palacious. Palacious is a graduate of the most highly distinguished Universities, such as Kelham Theological College, University of the West Indies, Princeton Theological Seminary and later Drew University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Theology, Master of Arts in Christian Education and Master of Philosophy in Religion and Society. Prior to being ordained in 1976, James Palacious gained experience as a Clerk at Deltec, the Banking Corporation, an Assistant Teacher for the Ministry of Education, and a Part Time Lecturer in Social Studies at the College of The Bahamas. Palacious also has the distinction of embracing many Civic Duties. Some of his Civic Duties include Justice of the Peace, Chairman of the Governor General’s Youth Award Management Council, Former Director of the Central Bank of The Bahamas, and Member of the Disciplinary Tribunal of The Bahamas Institute of Charted Accountants. Throughout Archdeacon James Palacious’ career he held many distinguished private and public sector board appointments.




Samantha Knowles-Pratt LL.B (Hons), TEP - Director of Corporate and Legal for the Equity Group

Mrs. Samantha Knowles-Pratt is an experienced lawyer, specializing in financial services, corporate and securities law, having served as a senior attorney and partner with a few of the country’s major law firms as well as with the Securities Commission of The Bahamas. In the past, Samantha has advised on complex issues particular to corporate and commercial law, including shareholders’ agreements, the sale of shares in a company, sales of a business and related issues, including regulatory and governmental approvals. She has been involved in setting up and structuring/ re-structuring investment funds, including SMART funds, ICONs and funds structured as segregated accounts companies. Samantha has provided counsel on the Securities Industry Act, the Securities Industry Regulations, associated Guidelines and reporting obligations as well as on the Investment Funds Act and Regulations, SMART Fund Rules and reporting obligations under each one. She also has considerable experience with private wealth management structures, inclusive of IBC’s, trust, purpose trusts and private trust companies. Mrs. Pratt is a member of The Bahamas Bar and also a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP).




Kim Thompson - Non-Executive EGI Director

Kim Thompson was President and Director of Offshore Managers Limited and presently holds a Masters of Arts Degree with a concentration in Counseling; a Masters of Arts degree in Human Resources Management; Foundation Certificate from the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP); Diploma in Trust Administration and Accounts.

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