The new issue of The Bahamas Investor, now in its fifth year, to be published January 1, 2011, focuses on the local, home-grown talent that is having an impact on the financial services industry in The Bahamas.

The lead story in the Investing section profiles three of the top female lawyers in the country, examining their personal achievements, whilst highlighting their contributions to the progression of financial services and the legal profession in The Bahamas.

One of the profiles is of Pamela Klonaris, a partner at Klonaris & Co. A high-flying lawyer with specialist skills in financial services legislation, Klonaris was the recipient of the Bahamas Financial Services Board’s 2010 Development and Promotion Award in recognition of her development of the 006 SMART Fund or Side Pocket Fund.

“I am sincerely appreciative of, and honoured by, this award in recognition of my development of the SMART model,” she says. “Having someone lift you up gives you a broader prospective, and I realize that there is still much more left to be done.”

Paul McWeeney, managing director of The Bank of The Bahamas International, is also featured in this issue. During his ten-year tenure as chief of one of the country’s premier commercial banks he has expanded the bank’s capital reserves from $18 million to $120 million.

“Ten years ago I set out an objective to grow the bank’s capital,” he says. “I thought that it was important to foreshadow the risk of the bank becoming more complex in tandem with the industry. That has proven to be the best thing to have done, so the bank is well fortified to stand economic shocks.”

He credits the talents of his team for the bank’s continued success. “Some people are better at being told what to do, but we look for people who like to create and communicate their own ideas. And that works in our favour, because people see working here as a chance to be unencumbered. Consequently, we have talented and committed staff.”

Among the features in this issue there is an exclusive interview with multi-talented entrepreneur, artist and sportfishing enthusiast Guy Harvey, whose most recent foray into resort management started with the refurbishment and relaunch of the world famous Bimini Big Game resort last year.

“An important part about Bimini, of course, is its history with fishing,” says Harvey. “There’s nowhere else in The Bahamas or even the Caribbean for that matter, apart from?Key West, that has that [level] of fishing history.”

Read the complete articles in The Bahamas Investor magazine, available January 1, 2011.