Head of Investments, Pictet Bank & Trust Limited 

David joined Pictet Bank & Trust in 2007 and currently serves as Head of Investments within the Private Banking Department. David leads a team of financial market specialists who provide investment solutions, research and guidance to high net worth individuals and the Private Banking team. David’s key role involves implementing investment strategies across a range of asset classes, designing custom portfolio solutions and advising clients. 

David’s experience in Financial Services spans over twenty-five years at leading financial institutions in the region. Prior to joining Pictet Bank & Trust, David began his career at The Central Bank of El Salvador before relocating to The Bahamas in 1996. A CFA Charter Holder and past president of the CFA Society of The Bahamas, David obtained his Master’s degree in Business Economics (MEE IV) from INCAE (Instituto Centroamericano en Administración de Empresas), Costa Rica. David is fluent in Spanish and English. David is an Executive Director at Pictet Bank & Trust and a member of the bank’s Executive and Credit Committee. 

Minister of Economic Affairs
Leader of Government Business in the Senate

The Honorable Michael B. Halkitis was born on February 1 st , 1969, in Nassau, Bahamas. He attended St. Augustine’s College and Mr. Halkitis began his post secondary education at the College of the Bahamas and earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from the University of Western Ontario. Mr. Halkitis qualified as a Chartered Financial Analyst in 1995.

Mr. Halkitis was first elected to The Parliament of The Bahamas in 2002 and again in 2012. He currently serves as Minister of Economic Affairs and Leader of Government Business in The Senate. His portfolio responsibilities include Promotion of Financial Services, Small Business Development, Ease of Doing Business, Consumer Protection and International Trade. Under his many years of leadership, the Bahamas’ Ministry of Finance was not only brought into the modern age through the digitization of its operations, but also through the implementation of major taxation reforms which have been applauded for their seamless integration.

Currently, he oversees the nation’s trade, financial services industry, aims to improve our country’s ease of doing business, and directs our country’s digitization efforts. He will play an important role in helping to stabilize the country’s finances..

Governor, Central Bank of The Bahamas

Mr. Rolle was appointed Governor of the Central Bank of The Bahamas in January 2016. Prior to this, he served as the Financial Secretary in the Ministry of Finance; and before this, he served on the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a Senior Advisor to the Executive Director for Canada, Ireland and the Caribbean Constituency.

The Governor’s substantive career from 1990 to 2012 was also in central banking, in various economic policy and research capacities. In addition, he has contributed as an Adjunct Lecturer, in Economics, at the American University (2008) in Washington DC and for many years as a Part-Time Lecturer in Economics and Statistics at the College of the Bahamas.
He holds graduate degrees in Economics from the American University in Washington DC and Carleton University in Ottawa Canada; and is an undergraduate of the University of Western Ontario, Canada and the College of The Bahamas. The Governor has also earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

The Governor has published scholarly articles in a number of professional journals, and maintains research interests in monetary, fiscal and exchange rate policies.

Partner of Principal Global Advisors Pte. Ltd.

The Honourable Philippe A. May is a Swiss-Singaporean and partner of Principal Global Advisors Pte. Ltd, a Singapore-incporporated financial advisory firm. He is a qualified Associate Financial Planner (AFP), an Associate Estate Planning Practitioner (AEPP) and a member of the Global Investor Immigration Council and the Financial Planner Association of Singapore. Holding a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (BBA) and an Executive Diploma in International Diplomatic Law from UNITAR, Geneva, Switzerland, Philippe has extensive experience in Diplomacy, Private Banking, Insurance and Residence & Citizenship Planning.

After completing his high school education and national service in the Swiss army as an infantryman, Philippe began his career at the Swiss Stock Exchange SIX in Zurich. He then worked for Credit Suisse and BNP Paribas in Zurich, Switzerland and later as Vice President for EFG Bank in Singapore. From 2016-2021, he was the Head of Asia-Pacific of the investor migration advisory firm Arton Capital. Philippe has been featured in various financial industry media including Bloomberg, BBC, CNN, and the Daily Telegraph. He is also a Robb Report Singapore Thought Leader and a member of the Global Investor Immigration Council, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and the Singapore Institute of International Affairs. He has been a speaker and panelist for various investor migration and financial industry conferences, including BFSB in the Bahamas.

Philippe has been a citizen of Singapore since 2008 and he has been accredited as the Honorary Consul of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to Singapore since 2011. Philippe speaks Chinese, English, French, German and Spanish. He is the founder of a cigar club, an avid ornithologist, hiker and a reader of classical literature.

Attorney General & Minster of Legal Affairs
Commonwealth of The Bahamas

Senator the Honourable Ryan Pinder is the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs for the Commonwealth of The Bahamas having been appointed on September 20, 2021 after the general elections were held in The Bahamas and the Progressive Liberal Party were voted in as the Government.  Ryan Pinder was the Member of Parliament for the Elizabeth Constituency and the Minister of Financial Services and Trade in the former Progressive Liberal Party government.

Before becoming the Attorney General, Ryan was a partner in a leading law firm in The Bahamas in its Commercial and Financial Services Practice Group.  Ryan’s practice focused on private client planning and structures, and regulatory and licensing matters for financial services institutions.  His private client practice includes specialization in financial services solutions, planning and wealth management, and comprises banking, corporate and commercial law, investment funds, securities law, capital markets, taxation, trusts and estate planning and structuring and regulatory matters including license applications, inspections and investigations, and cross-border inquiries and commercial transactions, including reorganizations, mergers and acquisitions.

As a commercial attorney Ryan represented commercial interests in the hospitality and real estate development sectors in front of the Government and associated regulatory bodies in securing the necessary approvals to do business in The Bahamas.  In this capacity Ryan represented some of the largest hotel and real estate development projects in The Bahamas.

Therese Turner-Jones,  Bahamian national has been working in international finance for over 30 years. Her academic background includes the University of Toronto (1982) and University of East Anglia (1983) where she mastered economics, as well as numerous other short courses from the JF Kennedy School, at Harvard, Singularity University (CA) and Cambridge (UK).

Her recent work experience (since 2013) at the Inter-American Development Bank as General Manager of the Caribbean Department covered IDB operations in six countries including The Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. Therese spent 20 years at the International Monetary Fund before joining the IDB, in the Western Hemisphere Department and at the Executive Board. Her mission is to transform lives by working on development challenges throughout the world. Therese has lived and worked across the globe, apart from her home country, in the United States, Guinea, Conakry, Barbados and currently, Jamaica.

She is a member of Rotary International and International Women’s Forum. Her interests outside of work include tennis and reading–she hosts a book club where diverse writers are devoured. When not reading, she can be found playing, watching or traveling to watch tennis. She describes herself as an agile, servant leader–whose management style is to coach. She is married to Dennis Jones and they have three daughters, her family comes first.