Happy 2014 to everyone!

Season's greetings to all our partners!

Loyal Bank funds the renovation of the Calvin Nichols Wildlife Aviary Complex in St. Vincent: officially opened on 4th October 2013

After three years of careful preparations the renovation and reconstruction works at the Calvin Nichols Wildlife Aviary Complex, located within the Botanical Gardens in Kingstown, St. Vincent, have been completed well in time for the upcoming cruise line tourist season that runs from October to April each year. The Botanical Gardens in Kingstown, established in 1767, are one of the oldest public gardens in the Caribbean and are popular with tourists and locals alike: the aviary houses several specimens of the colourful, noisy and unique St. Vincent parrot, pictured below, which is highly endangered and of which only around 700 birds remain. The parrot is only found on the island of St. Vincent and an image appears on one side of Loyal Bank’s EUR Cirrus / Maestro Bankcard.

The St. Vincent parrot

This project was entirely funded by Loyal Bank Limited at no cost to the taxpayer, and our contribution is attested by a memorial plaque at the main entrance. As part of this project:

• Cages were repainted and repaired
• Dilapidated doors were replaced by long lasting and maintenance – free doors and gates made of heavy duty aluminium and greenheart, a very strong wood similar to mahogany with an inbuilt resistance to insect attack
• Two new visitors viewing benches were built of concrete and greenheart wood
• Unsafe walls and railings were renewed and extended
• Worn paving was replaced

Loyal Bank has been a dedicated supporter of social and environment protection projects in St. Vincent since our opening in 1997. Over the years the Bank has donated funds on numerous occasions for one-time charitable events as well as on-going projects. The renovation of the Aviary Complex is part of the bank’s on-going support for community – focused projects in St. Vincent that benefit society and the environment.

The memorial plaque

The official handing-over ceremony and unveiling the plaque took place on the 4th of October, 2013 in the presence of representatives of the authorities in charge, Loyal Bank and the local TV, radio and print media. Stephen Kostyal, Chairman of Loyal Bank formally declared the facility open and Agnes Varga, Chief Operating Officer SVG and Adrian Baron, CEO, where also there from the Bank. The authorities were represented by Senior Forestry Supervisor, Mr. Cornelius Richards and Director of Forestry, Mr. Fitzgerald Providence. Mr. Andrew Wilson, Director of National Parks, Rivers and Beaches Authority as well as Mr. Gordon Shallow, Curator of the Botanical Gardens also passed their remarks at the handing-over ceremony.  

For more on the history of the Botanical Gardens please visit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botanic_Gardens_St._Vincent

Loyal Funds - New Website Launched

Loyal Group arrived to another milestone on the way of modernising and unifying the look of our sub-brands. After the Loyal Group and Loyal Agency and Trust Corp. sites, we would like to introduce the new website of Loyal Funds, www.loyal-funds.com.

Loyal Funds offer optimal wealth management services for customers targeting higher returns on their mid and long term financial assets than deposit. They consist of a series of mutual funds, offering simple access to the best and safest institutional investment products of major asset management brands globally. These unique wealth management services combine global diversification, reliable partner institutions, long combined past performance together with Loyal Bank’s legal setup, Internet Bank and 16 language customer services.

Loyal Funds offer a number of attractive benefits to our clients:

• Easy access to the best institutional investment offers globally
• High potential – still conservative and secure investment
• Strong track record of underlying investments – even under “shocks”
• Flexible investment period, weekly liquidity
• Simple access through Loyal Bank Internet Bank  
• Highly regulated structure
• Multilingual client support in 16 languages

No matter if you are a newcomer or an experienced investor, you can find an investment how-to on the new website with all the necessary information and rules of investing with Loyal Funds. There’re detailed introductions to the two main investment offers, the Loyal All Weather Fund and Loyal Global Opportunities Fund with the frequently updated NAV/share figures. You can also find answers to the most popular questions related to our funds like ‘Why use a multi approach?’ or “What protects the portfolio?”

We enlisted all the benefits we offer for investors to help you make the best decision that is: investing with Loyal Funds!

Visit www.loyal-funds.com today and do not forget to tell us your opinion either here as a comment or on the website itself. Your feedback is always much appreciated!

Will gold fall further? Five reasons why it will.

April was the month when gold prices drop to two-year lows in a pullback that raised questions over the metal's safe-haven status but also offered an opportunity to buy into the market at lower levels. As a justification of the latter, Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan increased their gold holdings last month by a cumulative 75% more than they did in March, according to the monthly gold buying report of the International Monetary Fund. The report represents the activities of most central banks and it is a good reference point to gold investors.

Official purchasing has always provided important support for gold prices. According to the World Gold Council, central bank buying represented 11.3% of all gold demand in the first quarter of this year. However, central bank activity did not only do good for prices, it was also an important factor in gold's plunge: the news that Cyprus was considering selling 10 tons of gold from its central bank reserves to raise cash strengthened fears that other indebted European nations, including Italy, which has the world's fourth-largest gold reserves, could follow suit. Investors have been eagerly waiting for the latest IMF report, as they wanted to see whether central banks would have ignored gold as prices fell, or if they would come into the market to buy. Altogether, the IMF data shows central bank holdings rose 972,000 ounces last month and this buying activity signals expectation that gold can hold its value over the long term. Central banks tend to buy slowly and hold gold over long periods rather than moving in and out of the market on a day-to-day basis, which helps buffer spot prices from their activity.

Gold prices shed as much as 17% in April and ended the month 7.5% lower. It is currently trading around $1,390 an ounce, down almost 12% since the start of the year. Could central bank buying help to recover faith in gold? The Wall Street Journal’s Money Beat blog enlists 5 reasons why gold may fall further:

1. The U.S. Federal Reserve could cut stimulus sooner rather than later. Money printing by the Fed has been a major support to gold prices in recent years, reflecting the metal’s traditional appeal as a hedge against currency weakness and inflation at times of heightened liquidity. However, the Fed is now looking at dialing that program back.

“The ever louder discussion at the Fed of tapering back or even ending quantitative easing has undermined gold’s appeal as protection against high inflation,” said Macquarie precious metals analyst Matthew Turner.

2. Investor sentiment is poor. A survey by Credit Suisse based on responses from a poll of around 185 Credit Suisse clients, showed that 60% of investors named gold as the commodity with the worst forecast when compared with copper, crude oil and corn. More than half of respondents expect gold to trade below $1,400 per ounce in a year’s time. Gold currently trades at around $1,380/oz.

Credit Suisse analysts are even more bearish, with head of global commodities research Ric Deverell predicting the price could even fall below $1,000 within five years: “The next big level is going to be about $1,305 per ounce. I expect that it will get to this point quite quickly, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was in the next couple of weeks.”

3. The U.S. dollar is strong. The greenback has been on the  rampage in recent weeks, climbing against a batch of other currencies amid signs that the U.S. economy is recovering and amid expectations that the Fed’s QE may soon come to an end.  Since gold is priced in dollars, a strong greenback dampens its appeal to other currency-holders.

“The U.S. Dollar has really reigned supreme over the course of the past week,” said independent markets commentator Dennis Gartman. “It shall continue to do so as we move forward.”

4. Indian gold demand faces risks. India is traditionally world’s biggest consumer of gold, accounting for over a third of global demand last year. When gold prices slide, subsequent appetite for the metal by price-sensitive Indian buyers often lends a measure of stability to prices, as was the case after gold’s dramatic tumble last month to a more than two-year low at $1,321.50 an ounce. This time around, Indian gold investors may not be so willing to buy, however, said Georgette Boele, an analyst at ABN Amro.

Indian gold demand is seasonal, and the timing of last month’s price drop—just weeks before the Akshaya Tritiya festival on May 13, which is considered one of the most auspicious day to buy gold in the Hindu calendar—boosted India’s demand for gold, noted Ms. Boele.

“As this day is now behind us, demand for gold for wedding ceremonies will ease,” said Ms. Boele. “The next important auspicious days are Vijaya Dashami on October 13, Diwali Night on November 2 of the five-day festival of light, Diwali, and Gudi Pavda, or New Year’s day of the Hindu calendar, on March 31.” That of course could be a case for the bulls come Fall.

5. Further ETF holdings could still be sold.  A major factor in gold’s recent price weakness has been the liquidation of gold-backed exchange-traded funds. According to the World Gold Council, a trade group for gold miners, investor demand for gold fell by 49% year-on-year in the first quarter, largely driven by 177-ton drop gold ETF holdings.

There still remains a large overhang of gold tied up in exchange-traded funds, however, noted ABN Amro. According to the bank, more than 71 million ounces are still held in gold ETF positions, meaning that further liquidation could continue.

“The lower the gold price, the more nervous investors holding these positions will become,” said ABN Amro analyst  Georgette Boele.

The Advantages of Opening a Multi-Currency Account at Loyal Bank

The multicurrency account was not deliberately designed to be a sophisticated financial instrument. It developed accidentally in smaller European countries like Switzerland, Luxembourg and Andorra where individuals commonly needed bank checking accounts in various currencies. This had been especially true before the euro was introduced when Europeans did business in many different national currencies.

Anyone interested in currency diversification should consider opening a multicurrency bank account, which is one of the most simple and convenient solutions for diversifying out of the dollar or euro.

A multi-currency account is a simple a bank account, with a single account number, in which you can hold balances in various different currencies. Loyal Bank offers you multicurrency accounts in a wide range of currencies: GBP, CHF, JPY, CNY, CZK, CAD and AUD are available to your EUR or USD main account.  When you log in to your NetBank, you see a summary screen showing your balances in all currencies.  

Advantages to this are numerous:

First of all, it is clearly a very convenient tool for anyone who is serious about diversifying currency risk. Instead of having lots of different account numbers and logins probably at different banks, you keep everything on one convenient screen. At any time you can easily exchange your balance in one currency for another currency.

You can transfer money in different currencies without the need for currency conversions.  This type of account is therefore ideal if you often send and receive money internationally in the form of dividend payments, commissions or transfers related to an overseas property.

You can have Cirrus/ Maestro, MasterCard and Platinum Card bankcards linked to your main multi-currency account that can be denominated either in EUR or USD.

Multicurrency accounts are a safe way to hedge against currency risks or make profits with fluctuations as you cannot count on so much potential profit but there is also less potential for loss. This is an easy version of forex trading for people who don’t want check currency rates frequently.

One of the greatest advantages of having a Loyal Bank multicurrency account, besides the currency diversification, is privacy. Privacy is a basic human right, which is unfortunately disappearing fast when it comes to financial services. Loyal Bank, incorporated in St Vincent and the Grenadines, ensures that the up-to-date laws of SVG guarantee proper preservation of confidential relationships in financial services.  

Opening a multicurrency bank account at Loyal Bank enables you to take advantages of our various financial services like the Corporate Payment System, investment trading, precious metal purchase, investment funds too.

To get to know more about our multicurrency accounts, please visit our website at www.loyalbank.com!