CML Offshore Recruitment

Update on Passport2Success Programme

Admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Recently Catherine blogged about the Passport2Success programme launched by the Ministry of Education and the Wellness Centre and sponsored by CML. The initiative is an 11 week training programme based at ICCI and is scheduled to run four times a year. The programme aims to improve skills and provide practical training for those wishing to improve on their literacy, communication, problem solving and team work skills and help them find work and succeed in their positions. Participants will learn in classrooms, workshops, through work experience, community service and extra-curricular activities.

The first Passport2Success programme was held on the 12^th of April and we now have an update on the success of the programme.

22 students enrolled on the first course and to date 10 of those have now found work in firms such as Butterfield and Lime. Offers have been made by the Water Authority, Fabrizone Cleaning Systems, Kirk Freeport, Phoenix Construction and Cayman Business Machines. Hon. Rolston Anglin, JP, Minister of Education, Training and Employment said that the participants ‘did terrific work, demonstrated the value of hard work and team effort, and have pointed the way to the future success of the Passport programme.’ Other candidates have been interviewed and are awaiting news.

Michelle Johnson, winner of the programme’s Most Improved Overall award reflected on the course by saying ‘I learned that to change myself I first had to know what I wanted to accomplish in life.growing up, I had few struggles, no bills to pay and no stress. My attitude was that I didn’t care because I already knew it all. When I was accepted for the programme, I had a chance to make a change for myself -- and for other young Caymanians. Now I have realised that everything is up to me, and that if I don’t put in 100 percent, I have no one to blame but myself. My past does not define my future. I have to work for what I want.’

Each participant on the course receives a ‘passport’ with stamps being earned for successful completion of different sections of the programme. Potential employers can then see which areas the candidate is particularly skilled in. The programme was born from research done by the Ministry of Education, Training and Employment which revealed that many high school graduates were not meeting the standards required in areas such as literacy, communication and team work.

If you are interested in taking part in the next Passport2Success programme please email the Wellness Centre for an application form info@wellnesscentre.ky or call 949-9355. Forms are also available on the website www.passport2success.ky

Success for young Caymanian placed by CML

Admin — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Michael O'Conghaile, Fund Account Manager, UBS; Gustavo Farrell, Junior Fund Accountant, UBS; Isy Obi, VP Finance & Accounting; Phil Jackson, Associate Director, Human Resources at UBS Fund Services

This is one of those placements that characterizes the ‘feel-good’ factor of this job. Gustavo Farrell, a bright young Caymanian, came to one of our Coffee, Cake & Careers evenings last year and spoke with consultant Isy Obi. Gustavo had been looking for an accounting position to supplement his studies at UCCI for his CPA, and was willing to try any avenue to secure his dream of becoming an Accountant.

On this particular night, UBS Associate Director, Human Resources, Phil Jackson was our special guest, so Isy was able to use this opportunity to introduce Gustavo to Mr. Jackson. From this event, a dominoe-effect began for Gustavo’s career as he had a formal interview with UBS shortly after, which resulted in the offer of an internship in their Fund of Funds department.

Taking on an internship isn’t easy. The pay isn’t great, and you are in a training position, so you can be moved around to different areas. Being an intern also doesn’t require the company to keep you on afterwards– you have to work hard to prove that you will be a valuable team member. During the past 6 months, Gustavo and Isy have been in constant contact, with Isy providing career advice and encouragement.

And all of it has paid off! The entire CML team congratulates Gustavo on landing his new job as Junior Fund Accountant at UBS. We wish you all the best.

10 Definite DON'TS! for Interviews...

Admin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

From speaking with our consultants and clients, we have found some definite don'ts that seem to crop up more than you would expect! Here they are, make sure you take heed of these for your next interview...

10 Definite Don'ts! for interviews…

Don’t be late! Punctuality is very important for all workplaces and your first impression is the interview.
Don’t wear your Friday night club outfit to your interview! The workplace is less fashion-forward and more conservative – Church outfits work well.
Don’t leave your sunglasses on! You should have excellent eye contact with the Interviewer(s) when they are speaking to you so that they know you are listening and you are interested in what they have to say.
Don’t complain about the parking! If parking is an issue, it’s an issue for everyone – just deal with it. The Interviewer may think that you complain all the time, about everything.
Don’t text your friends on your BlackBerry! Your phone should be in your pocket or in your bag switched OFF. We can still hear it if it vibrates.
Don’t doodle on your notes page while the interviewer is speaking to you! You may be listening, but if you’re doodling, you’re not maintaining eye contact and you could be considered disrespectful.
Don’t slouch/swing/lean back in your chair! If anything you should be leaning forward, eager to sell your skills and learn more about the position.
Don’t answer questions with “I dunno” or any one word answers for that matter! The interview is your time to give as much positive information about yourself to the Interviewer as possible so make good use of this opportunity.
Don’t say negative things about your last boss! It’s unprofessional and makes the Interviewer think you’ll moan about them too.
Don’t ask about time off! You haven’t got the job yet! Ask about holidays and breaks when they make you an offer.

And make sure to ask your consultant for more interview advice...

Taxing Times Ahead?

Admin — Fri, 07 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The U.S. government’s proposals to get tough on Overseas Tax Havens are beginning to move from the realms of threat to reality. The E.U. also has in mind its own set of regulations to make the offshore tax jurisdictions behave in what it perceives to be a more appropriate manner. The questions on everyone’s minds at the moment are what will the regulations be? How far will the E.U. and U.S. governments go in their bid to “clean up” offshore jurisdictions while at the same time, quite ironically, swelling domestic coffers? What will happen to Cayman?

The first round of the U.S. Administration's proposals would allegedly raise a total of $100 billion over the next 10 years through efforts to get tough on overseas tax havens by increasing the disclosure requirements for U.S. corporations and individuals with interests in the offshore jurisdictions. This will be in addition to initiatives taken within the G-20 to impose sanctions on countries judged by their peers not to be adequately implementing information exchange standards.

The Wall Street Journal this week reports of incoming legislation in Europe to regulate the hedge fund industry which could see Cayman at the top of a new “black list” of countries. This understandably has caused some consternation in Cayman, as having met the OECD criteria in 2009, and being elevated to the “white list” (the Cayman Islands recently signed its 16^th Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) with Aruba), the financial services industry in Cayman is asking “What next?”.

According to reports in the Wall Street Journal, lawmakers in the E.U. are close to passing legislation that would prevent European investors from putting money into a hedge fund domiciled in certain offshore jurisdictions (including the Cayman Islands), where it is believed a significant number of funds have a registered entity. The ever changing goal posts may mean new minimum criteria requirements for Cayman to satisfy once again.

However analysis of the positions of the majority of the E.U. member states on the new directive, appears to support investor choice. The stated objective is to devise a regulatory policy that avoids being protectionist and market-disruptive, while retaining investor choice and monitoring global systemic risk. This gives hope to those who champion Cayman as a jurisdiction of choice.

The Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) of the European Parliament will be voting on amendments to the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive on May 10^th, 2010. We wait to see how the outcome of this vote, and the US proposals, will impact Cayman.

According to Cayman Finance, the group formed in 2003 to represent the Cayman financial services industry (www.caymanfinances.com), "It is impossible to ascertain the effects of the proposed directive until the final version has been passed, it is now regarded as unlikely that the Cayman Islands funds will be greatly affected. Cayman is likely to be able to continue with the existing private placement regime within the European Union for three years after the directive comes into force. By the time that period has expired, equivalent regulation may be required, with which the Cayman Islands is highly likely to comply".

Further, Cayman Finance asserts that there has been little change in the structures used by U.S. managers. As far as U.S. law firms are concerned, nothing has changed in this regard. More than 100 funds have been established per month in the Cayman Islands in each of the last two years.

Lawyers' remuneration in Cayman

Admin — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT

One of the noticeable features of the legal job market in Cayman is the myriad of remuneration structures that abound between the law firms operating here, which can make it difficult when advising candidates onshore as to what earnings they are likely to achieve should they choose to relocate and work here.

Typically the remuneration structure used by the large law firms in Cayman will fall into one of two camps :

a basic salary according to the individual’s level of post-qualification experience (ranging from circa $80,000 at the newly-qualified level right up to $250,000 at the managing associate level) plus a percentage of fees billed and collected over certain thresholds (effectively commission). Typically no commission is paid until a certain billing level is achieved and then higher percentages of commission are paid as higher billing thresholds are achieved. (At the medium and smaller sized firms however, the basic salary on offer can simply be a fixed amount irrespective of your level of PQE, typically around the $100,000 level).

3. or

a a basic salary according to the individual’s level of post-qualification experience (ranging from circa $80,000 at the newly-qualified level right up to $250,000 at the managing associate level) plus a discretionary bonus based on a number of factors such as individual performance, contribution to team, contribution to marketing, overall performance of the firm. In some firms this bonus may be subject to an upper limit and be equivalent to a fixed percentage of salary.

(To make it even more complicated, some firms employ a variant on the two structures whereby they pay a basic salary plus commission on fees billed and collected over certain thresholds plus a discretionary bonus which is paid as a percentage of fees billed and collected over a certain threshold).

As a general rule, a UK lawyer coming to Cayman can expect to earn at least the same amount in dollars as they are earning in sterling in the UK but obviously the big difference is that in Cayman they will not be paying any income tax.

In some cases, earnings can be considerably higher than in the UK, even after taking the absence of income tax into account.

For example, high-performing associates at some large firms in Cayman can achieve total earnings of up to $500,000, or more, tax free, figures which would attract envious glances from even Equity Partners at a lot of the mid-sized London firms and which are even comparable to earnings of junior Equity Partners at some of the very largest and most profitable London firms, since $500,000 tax free is equivalent to some £500,000 gross in the UK.

By way of relocation package, firms will typically pay for flights and the first month’s accommodation for the candidate and his dependants plus a sum towards shipping their goods to Cayman.

By way of benefits, candidates will usually as a minimum have half or all of their private health contributions paid by the firm, sometimes for their whole family, plus pension contributions equivalent to 5% of their salary paid by the firm.

CML teams with Rotary in Adventures in Citizenship

Admin — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT

CML Offshore Recruitment annually sponsors the Rotary Club of Grand Cayman Aventures in Citizenship Essay Contest.

Click here for more:

http://rotaryclubofgrandcayman.blogspot.com/2010/04/rotary-club-adventures-in-citizenship.html

CML supports Passport2Success

Admin — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT

CML has recently become a main sponsor of a new training programme aimed at school leavers and young Caymanians to improve their professional and personal skills and prepare them for the workplace.

The Ministry of Education, Training & Employment and The Wellness Centre have designed the “Passport2Success” for recent school leavers and young Caymanians who are struggling to find and/or maintain employment.

Last night, the Passport2Success programme was introduced to key stakeholders in the business community at a Chamber of Commerce event. Several HR directors and CEOs were in attendance to learn about the opportunities available to their companies in this initiative.

Lynne Banker, who will lead the delivery of the programme, discussed the different areas to be covered by the participants and was followed by Mary Rodrigues, Chief Officer of the Ministry of Education, Training and Employment who explained how businesses can get involved in the programme.

CML Chief Executive Officer Steve McIntosh encourages other businesses to participate. “This programme relies on local employers for work placement opportunities and on the job training opportunities and we are appealing to local businesses to become involved." He continues, "It is a very manageable commitment for employers. As well as direct benefits to the company such as, easy access to young talent and good community relations, Passport2Success will benefit employers generally by improving general skill levels of the workforce and increasing employee retention."

For more information contact The Wellness Centre on 1 345 949 9355 or email info@wellnesscentre.ky

Adventures in Audit in the Cayman Islands

Admin — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Okay, I’d better be honest with you from the start, because that’s the kind of person I am. I agreed to produce this article describing my experience as an auditor in Cayman over the last 15 months for my friends at CML in exchange for a lot of beer. I would much rather be spending my weekend in the usual fashion on the beach at Royal Palms or Calico Jacks with my mates.

Once I’d gotten the exams out of the way (first time passes by the way!) I’d already started to think about what I wanted to do at the end of my three years of working for a mid tier audit firm in the UK. The idea of working abroad for a period appealed strongly as I’d missed out on having a GAP year between the end of University and the start of my working life.

I’d started doing internet research on potential places that my newly minted CA certificate would take me. The prerequisites were that being English with no natural grasp of any other language than my own, it would have to be an English speaking country (ruled out much of Europe and Asia), somewhere always warm, relatively safe and somewhere I could use my hard earned CA qualification.

I was left with a choice of Australia, Dubai, California, Cayman, and Bermuda. Australia was too far away, and some of the shine seemed to be rubbing off Dubai, especially given some of the stories I’d read in the media at the time. The U.S. visa process sounded completely off putting, and then finally there was Cayman and Bermuda.

Cayman and Bermuda seemed to become more perfect the more I looked into them. The audit firms there were actively looking for people with exactly my background to come and do exactly what I’d been trained to do for the last three years, while being on an extended paid exotic vacation. Yes please.

So far my audit experience had been within the manufacturing sector in the UK, but I was starting to lean more towards working in the financial services sector. Call me mercenary, but if I worked as an accountant within hedge funds or mutual funds in London, I could be earning over 100 grand before I was 30 years old! The only problem was how to get into the industry in the first place. This was the point which I became sold on Cayman and Bermuda .

Cut to May of 2008, the friendly staff at CML , whom I have since gotten to know personally in some of the bars and restaurants of Cayman (it’s very easy to make friends here by the way) arranged interviews with 2 audit firms for me one in Bermuda and one in Cayman. I won’t divulge the names of the companies here.

I had two telephone interviews with both audit companies. The interviews weren’t very technical at all. The interviewers explained what a two year contract with them would entail, and both companies sounded great. They would give me the exposure to the financial services sector that I wanted, I would be paid more money than I was earning in the UK (and it would all be tax-free), they would take care of moving me from the UK, and because I would be part of a large intake of auditors, I would have a ready-made group of friends. All of this made me more eager to get the ball rolling, it seemed like a no-brainer to me.

Fortunately I was offered both audit positions. I would like to say that I went through some mental agony in making the decision about which company to accept, but in reality it was a close call because although there were more beaches in Bermuda, but the temperature of the water in the Caymans was warmer……..

Cut to a fine Wednesday in September 2008, on the direct British Airways flight from London Heathrow to Grand Cayman. Flights and visas had been taken care of by my new employer, and the plane landed at the smallest international airport I have ever seen. I was still gob-smacked by the aerial view of my paradise home in the Caribbean for the next two years when I was approached by the “buddy” assigned to me my firm, and rounded up along with two others who had (unbeknownst to me) shared the flight from the U.K. (they were to become some of my best friends and house mates incidentally).

We were deposited at the Sunshine Suites, the last three arrivals of the group of 19 other auditors who made up the September 2008 intake. 22 excited auditors from all over the world (UK, US, Canada, South Africa, Australia, Ireland, Malaysia, and Argentina to be exact) aged between 23 and 28, newly arrived in paradise, nothing to do until 5 days hence when we began our new careers, staying in a hotel where everything’s been pretty much paid for for the next 4 weeks. After dumping my bags, the first thing I did was to head for the nearest beach bar (across the road) with my new found friends to discuss why this was all too good to be true because we were clearly the luckiest 22 people in the world!

We started work on the following Monday with an orientation session and breakfast where we were introduced to the partners and senior managers. One of the first things I noticed was that a lot of the senior people in the firm were a lot younger than I was used to seeing, and strangest of all, they actually seemed to have a sense of humour (I have since found out that a sense of humour is required to get you through the busy season, that and the time in lieu you accumulate to go travelling in the quiet summer months).

Week one focused on technical training. We were given an overview of the different financial services sectors that we would become experts on; Hedge funds, insurance, and SPVs. By the end of the week I was chock full of information on funds, insurance, SPVs, Anti-Money Laundering, IT security, Audit methodology etc. For the group of 22, our evenings were still sociable, and there was still time to catch some of the fading rays on the beach or by the pool after a day at the office to rehash our days.

I’d become particularly friendly with the two people who had arrived on the same flight as myself, and so we started to look around for a property to share. We’d been provided with 4 weeks accommodation by our employer, but three days after we started our search we came across an apartment in a block on Seven Mile Beach complete with swimming pool and tennis court at a price that we could afford. As the apartment was immediately available, we decided to sacrifice the outstanding two weeks free accommodation provided to us by the firm, wave goodbye to our group of friends and strike out on our own in the real world.

The real world of work also began. We were all booked on a 12 month audit schedule which would entail working with different managers on different types of companies. On day one of my first assignment the manager came to find me on the audit floor, briefed me on the company I was to audit, walked me through the previous year’s file in detail and we began to work on the audit plan. The responsibility for the entire audit file was mine; planning , execution, and delivery of the final product. I was also expected to manage the relationships with the clients, and all the other stakeholders, something that only the senior managers and partners got involved in at my audit firm in the UK.

From September to December I was very much involved in audit planning for the busy season which falls from January to July each year. It was a nice easy way to break into the work, and start to build an understanding of the hedge fund and insurance sector. The 2008 intake was also sent on technical courses in October and November hosted by the Cayman Island Society of Professional Accountants (CISPA). These helped to give me the CPD credits required for completing the dreaded Institute annual returns but also developed my understanding of the offshore financial services industry. I also got to meet the other audit intakes from the other firms too, although I’d already met a significant portion of them at some of the islands most popular drinking establishments.

In my spare time, I joined a 5-a-side football team, and played tennis again for the first time in 10 years. I tried a flag football season for the very first time, earned my diving certification, and learnt to sail a small craft. I’ve also had the opportunity to make friends with people from all over the world, and travel to the USA, Cuba, Honduras and Costa Rica.

At the firm, there are lots of opportunities to get involved with new initiatives and projects, and I was good at volunteering whether for the social committee or to help roll out a new internal IT system, and I was rewarded for my efforts with a promotion one year after joining the audit firm.

I recognize that I have been lucky in many ways to have had this opportunity especially now that the end of my two year contract is in sight. To my surprise the audit work I have really enjoyed most is in insurance, and this where I may specialize. I hope to be able to get a secondment with one of my insurance clients this summer which should help me confirm whether this is the direction I want my career to take.

Some of my friends from the 2008 intake will be leaving to continue their adventures around the world (armed with strong financial services experience and good old CA certificates). A few will stay on the audit track at the audit firm where they may well make partner in the next 10 years (not unheard of!), and despite the recession a large proportion of us will probably stay on in Cayman where, because of our audit experience we have an excellent chance of finding jobs within the financial services sector. I should be well on my way to earning over a 100 grand before I’m thirty.

A Life Less Ordinary

Admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

To paraphrase the now famous words of Mikhail Gorbachev, “if not you, then who? And if not now, then when?”

If you’ve ever wondered what type of people are brave enough to uproot their lives and move thousands of miles away from what they know, then the simple answer is people like you.

UK government estimates in 2006 show that one in ten Britons, an incredible 5.5 million people live outside the UK.

As we catch our breaths, and slowly extricate ourselves from the punishing economic conditions we have suffered in the last 18 months, there has never been a better time to take a step back and analyse where you are in your career against where you want to be.

A survey undertaken by Deloitte, one of the big 4 public practice firms in August 2009 indicates that 49% of the respondents were dissatisfied with their current jobs, and will be looking for a new direction as soon as they feel that the market has recovered sufficiently.

Well, as a former accountant, I say why not consider a complete career change? Why not consider relocating offshore? There’s never been a better time. Why? Apart from getting away from the misery and uncertainty, some of the benefits of relocating offshore that played a large part in my decision include:

Increased salary

It’s tax free. For the average British accountant, this represents an immediate salary increase……even with the exchange rate. A 2 year post qualified accountant using today’s exchange rate and an effective tax rate of 30% would have to be earning over 60,000 GBP per annum to match their potential earnings offshore.

Improved career prospects

You can’t beat the cache of having the name of a global blue chip employer on your resume. Our client list reads like the fortune 500 of financial services companies; UBS, Goldman Sachs, Bank of New York Mellon, Standard Chartered Bank, Deutsche Bank, Fortis, Aon, Marsh the list goes on.

This is the fastest way for an ambitious financial services professional to carve your way into an international career with some of the heaviest hitters on the planet.

More time in the day

Seriously, it is possible. Think about it. How long does it take for you to commute to work each day? One hour? Two? (horrified gasp!) Three hours?

Think about what you could do with all that time if you had a 15 minute commute, and then add year round blue skies and sunshine into the equation. In my case, I added another 3.5 hours a day after I decided that there had to be more to life than spending 4 hours on the London Underground system 5 days a week.

Some of the things I do include; learning a new language (Spanish www.habla.ky ), play a sport ( tennis, Gaelic football, boxing), get fit (yoga, spinning, gym), get creative (National Gallery art courses www.nationalgallery.org.ky ). All this in one week.

Of course, there’s also the obligatory Friday / Saturday night out, the sun downer / after work drinks with friends, dinner at any of Cayman’s many restaurants, the full moon parties, again the list is endless.

I’ll leave all the more cliched pros to your imagination; beautiful beaches, blue sea, hammocks swaying in the breeze…………

In an Optimistic Frame of Mind, Feedback From Cayman’s Business Outlook 2010.

Admin — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Cayman is most certainly open for business and poised to prosper in the months ahead. This was the message that Cayman’s Premier, and Leader of Government Business, Hon Mckeeva Bush energetically delivered at the Cayman Business Outlook 2010 conference held yesterday at the Ritz Carlton here in Cayman.

The theme of the 2010 conference was Prospering In A Grave New World, and Mr. Bush delivered an eloquent speech in which he reiterated his government’s commitment to serve the Financial Services sector. According to Mr. Bush, strengthening the financial services sector is of the highest priority.

The main thrust of his approach in achieving this will be firstly to aggressively spread the word globally that the Cayman Islands are open for business and in order to actively attract inward investment, and secondly to address the challenges faced by existing businesses in Cayman to ensure their continued prosperity, particularly with regards the immigration process and the term limit (rollover policy).

Call me an optimist, but this is great news for expatriates workers and companies already here in Cayman, and those thinking about making a move to Cayman. It is also great news for Cayman as a whole especially if Mr. Bush’s enthusiasm and energy is bolstered by a willingness to put the plans into action then Cayman may yet be able to breathe a sigh of relief that it may have escaped the worst of financial crisis relatively unscathed, and be optimistic about building a solid base to retain its position as a one of the world’s largest financial centres.

The optimism of government has been reflected by the optimism of our clients in Cayman, and is further buoyed by the remarks of Simon Johnson, key note speaker at the conference, former Chief Economist at the IMF, and the self acknowledged blogger www.baselinscenario.com . His welcome prediction of economic recovery and boom times ahead were tempered by his sobering comments about the systemic risks that continue to exist in the U.S. banking system, which, unless addressed in the short term will likely result in another financial crisis in the future.

Ever the optimist but here’s hoping that President Obama’s banking reform proposals which were announced yesterday might be a step in the right direction in addressing some of the issues that continue to exist.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/president-obama-calls-new-restrictions-size-and-scope-financial-institutions-rein-e

I am definitely in an optimistic frame of mind.

Windscreen Wipers, Ugg Boots and Three Pairs of Socks

Admin — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

“Wandering through an imitation of an imitation of a place they wanted to go to”, wrote Lawrence Osborne in his book The Naked Tourist.

Like many of us, I spent years travelling to exotic tourist destinations, sat in a bar with my husband talking about what a dream come true it would be to live there. In reality we didn’t stand a chance of experiencing the dream by just passing through exclusive hotels.

Let me take you back to a cold September morning in 2009. I was one and a half hours into my daily commute, in my car, heating on full, wearing Ugg boots and three pairs of socks. The windscreen wipers were moving so fast they were making me dizzy. I thought to myself, “my job is amazing but could it be done somewhere else?” There must be somewhere in the world that would be pleased to see an accountant and recruitment consultant in their arrivals lounge?

Shortly after, the decision was made and relocating became the priority, to start a new adventure, a new chapter in our lives and find a new wardrobe for my shoes!

Like any professional, my career is an extremely important part of my life and not something I could sacrifice, even for paradise. After researching the Caribbean I came across the Cayman Islands, the 5th largest financial centre in the world a perfect fit for any professional seeking a better quality of life.

With its year-round sunshine, miles of beach and tax-free living, I had to get there and if Christopher Columbus could find it in a sinking ship surely I could be shipwrecked on Seven Mile Beach myself by 2010?

The toughest part of leaving was telling our families and being met with expressions similar to those of 11 years previously when waving goodbye to my Mum from the university halls of residence. After the promise of constant photographs, the introduction of Skype to our family and the guarantee of free holidays all year round they soon came round to the idea of a daughter/sister overseas.

So it was with the help of the fantastic consultants at CML Offshore Recruitment, the pilots at British Airways and some imaginative packing of (far too many) shoes and handbags that we landed 26 days ahead of target on the 5th December 2009, eager to see what this fabulous country had to offer.

Follow my weekly blog, my experiences and tips on relocating, working and settling into life in Grand Cayman.

Cayman Islands Permit Fee Increase Pt 1

Admin — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Ever since the new permit fee schedule was made public on the Immigration website late on Thursday, we at CML have been beavering away crunching the numbers so you don’t have to.

There will be more to say on this in the days ahead, but for the purposes of this post I wanted to concentrate on a statistical analysis of the raw data; the cold, hard facts of the changes.

Below we have provided a statisical summary of the increases as well as a selection of permit fees that stood out to us for various reasons. But before we get into the numbers, a bit of context.

First, we have focused solely on financial services job titles for obvious reasons (because recruiters have wives and families too). Even then, determining what constituted “financial services” was far from straightforward because of the ambiguity and apparent overlap in some categories and job titles. We would have preferred to break out the job titles pertaining solely (or even predominantly) to offshore financial services from those related to domestic financial services. Unfortunately some categories with a relatively even split simply did not allow this parsing (e.g. banking and insurance). We therefore included all 272 job titles from every category that was (double negative alert) not obviously unrelated to financial services.

Second, the usefulness of some statistics is somewhat compromised by the sheer volume of job titles. We can fairly sure based on general industry knowledge that several hundred financial services work permit holders fall into only two job titles from those 272: Senior Auditor and Associate. For all we know, half of the job titles in the financial services categories have no work permits in issue. A proper study would require the number of permit holders in each job title, information that is unfortunately not publicly available.

Third, some new job titles were included in the amended fee schedule making direct comparison difficult. References to year on year changes exclude new permit fees for newly included job titles. Since those work permit holders had to be assigned to some category on the old fee schedule it would have been theoretically possible to match the new job title with an old one, but that would have introduced some major subjectivity in our analysis. We therefore opted to exclude them from the year-on-year analysis.

Summary of Work Permit Fee Movements (in categories relating to Financial Services)

Average increase ($)	CI$2,156
Average increase (%)	77%

Median increase ($)	CI$2,200
Median increase (%)	40%

Mode increase ($)	CI$3,000
Mode increase (%)	40%

Highest increase ($)	CI$7,750	(Trust Officer)
Lowest increase ($)	CI$1,000	(Messenger, Clerks etc)

Highest increase (%)	309%	(Personal Assistant, Financial Intermediary)
Lowest increase (%)	7%	(Marketing Executive, Accounting, Auditing Etc)

Selected Work Permit Fee Increases

Legal Activities
Position (New)	Fee (Old)	Fee (New)	% Increase
Trust officer	2,750.00	10,500.00	282%
Compliance Officer	4,000.00	10,500.00	163%
Lawyer/solicitor/barrister/attorney-at-law/associate	7,500.00	12,500.00	67%
Equity Partner		24,000.00	n/a
Salaried Partner		22,500.00	n/a
Senior Associate		14,000.00	n/a
Trust Administrator	2,750.00	10,500.00	282%
Personal Assistant	1,300.00	4,500.00	246%
Secretary	1,100.00	3,500.00	218%
Paralegal	2,750.00	8,000.00	191%
Articled clerk (trainee attorney)	2,750.00	7,500.00	173%
Chief Marketing Officer		22,500.00	n/a

Financial Intermediaries
Position (New)	Fee (Old)	Fee (New)	% Increase
Financial controller	12,500.00	15,500.00	24%
Senior VP's/Senior Accounting Manager/Team Leaders		12,500.00	n/a
Vice President (Structured Financed/Client Accounting/Fund Services)		10,500.00	n/a
Chief Financial Officer	12,500.00	15,500.00	24%
System analyst	7,500.00	10,500.00	40%
Senior business analyst /Senior Financial Analyst	4,000.00	10,500.00	163%
Corporate administrator	2,750.00	4,000.00	45%
Marketing executive/marketing specialist	4,000.00	8,000.00	100%
Underwriter	4,000.00	5,000.00	25%
Fund administrator	7,500.00	10,500.00	40%
Personal assistant	1,100.00	4,500.00	309%

Activities auxiliary to financial services, insurance activities and pension funding
Position (New)	Fee (Old)	Fee (New)	% Increase
Underwriter	1,500.00	2,000.00	33%
Personal assistant	1,300.00	4,000.00	208%

Accounting, bookkeeping and auditing activities; tax consultancy
Position (New)	Fee (Old)	Fee (New)	% Increase
System administrator	2,750.00	3,500.00	27%
Senior Auditor	7,500.00	12,500.00	67%
Personal assistant	1,300.00	2,000.00	54%

What a Yacht!

Admin — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Cayman has its fair share of wealthy visitors to its shores throughout the year. Some celebrities escaping the flash of the paparazzi glare, and some visitors so wealthy you wouldn’t recognize them if they were sat next to you on the beach . You know the types. Or maybe you don’t.

Just after Christmas we had a visit from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Well at least we had a visit from his yacht – I don’t know if Paul was on it, or if he was, if he actually stepped ashore, but with a yacht like that why would you want to.

‘The Octopus’ is a floating architectural wonder. It is the eighth largest yacht in the world and at 414 feet and 2,900 tonnes, it has everything you would ever need, and everything you wouldn’t.

A crew of 60 people oversee the two helicopters, basketball court, 63 ft tender called Man of War(with its own docking station) as well as 7 extra tenders, pool and spa, jet skis and a submarine – yes a submarine. A 40 ft submarine that fits ten people for when the sights of the Caribbean and Mediterranean get so boring that guests want to explore the ocean floor instead.

Sounds like a lot of stuff for a casual day of sailing. Although that’s not really what this yacht does. Its 224,400 gallon engine can go 8,000 nautical miles without refueling so jaunts across the Atlantic are not uncommon.

Like many other multimillion yachts it is registered here in Cayman and flies our flag wherever it goes.

Of course this isn’t Paul’s only yacht. He also owns the 300 ft Tatoosh, and who knows, maybe next time he visits he’ll have picked up Ocean Breeze (Saddam Hussein’s old yacht), which has its own missile launchers and operating theatre. Of course.

Accountant Natalie Rowe Discusses Cayman

Admin — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

CML Candidate Natalie Rowe discusses everything Cayman, from relocating to the Caribbean to work/life balance and career development.