Barbados is set to host the Innovation & Growth Market 200 (IGM 200) conference this week to mobilise both small and medium enterprises and investors to build out an equity market for SMEs to raise capital for their businesses.
A project developed by the Ministry of Energy and Business, the Barbados Stock Exchange, and the Small Business Association of Barbados, the initiative is part of a series of educational and development activities to strengthen the local Junior Market and ignite an investment culture among Barbadians. For sure, the question on the minds of many during this week’s event will be: Does Barbados possess the investment culture needed to sustain a junior market and unlock the growth potential of SMEs?
While the IGM 200 provides a welcome platform for innovation and growth, its true success will depend not merely on infrastructure, but on the collective mindset of businesses, investors, and policymakers.
Lesson from other markets
Jamaica’s thriving Junior Market offers a compelling regional example of what can happen when cultural readiness meets institutional support. Equally, lessons from countries including the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada reveal that the foundations of a successful junior market are often laid years before launch, through targeted efforts to build confidence, literacy, and participation in equity investment.
When Jamaica launched its Junior Market in 2009, few could have anticipated its long-term impact. Fifteen years later, the platform has transformed into one of the most successful junior exchanges in the region. Companies listed on the Junior Market have paid out significant dividends over time, reflecting strong investor participation and business performance.
This outcome was not the result of luck. Jamaica acted early and decisively to create an enabling culture around investment and entrepreneurship. The government and the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) recognised that SMEs needed both financial and psychological incentives to list. The introduction of a ten-year corporate tax relief scheme for listed Junior Market companies, full exemption for five years and 50 per cent relief for the next five gave small firms a tangible reason to formalise, adopt good governance, and seek public capital.
In the UK, adult households exhibit very low participation in equity investment. According to a recent analysis, UK adults hold only around eight per cent of their wealth (excluding pensions) in equities and mutual funds, the lowest figure among G7 nations. This suggests that even when structural mechanisms exist for junior listings, a lack of widespread investor engagement can limit their full economic impact.
Australia provides a contrasting example. The 2023 study by the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) found that more than half of Australian adults held investments outside of home and superannuation in 2023. Other relevant findings include the fact that the number of on-exchange investors rose from 6.6 million to 7.7 million, equating to roughly 38 per cent of Australian adults. These shifts reflect a broader cultural acceptance of equity ownership, particularly among younger and female cohorts.
Canada’s junior public markets serve as another instructive example, showing that diversity of listing regimes and consistent policy support for growth firms can help build resilience. A recent “Junior Public Markets Health Check” found that Canada’s junior markets have maintained listing levels more effectively than senior exchanges, underscoring that junior listing regimes fill a key gap in SME financing and can foster growth when culture and structure align.
The cultural element is unmistakable. In each of these markets, success correlated strongly with an early commitment to investor literacy, transparent regulation and celebration of entrepreneurial risk-taking as a public good. Equity investment became a social norm, not an elite activity.
Implications for Barbados
Barbados is well-positioned to emulate these lessons. The country’s SMEs already represent the backbone of the economy; however, a deeply conservative investment culture, shaped by decades of reliance on traditional banking and informal finance, has limited the use of equity as a growth instrument.
The IGM 200 initiative therefore arrives at a pivotal time. It provides the platform for a national conversation on developing an investment culture and the impetus to begin the transformation. The key question is not whether Barbados can create a market, but whether it can create market readiness, among both businesses and investors.
SMEs will need to recognise that listing is more than raising capital: it is a strategic action that demands governance, transparency, investor readiness, and public credibility. Support programmes, mentorship, governance training, and investor-relations training will help ensure that companies are not only eligible but are equipped to perform as public entities.
Investors, in turn, will need to reconceptualise equity participation. Public education campaigns can play a transformative role. When citizens understand the connection between investing and national growth, when they can point to listed local companies as success stories, participation rates rise.
Building confidence before capital
The next step is building confidence; confidence among entrepreneurs to list, and confidence among investors to invest. Structural design is essential, but cultural groundwork is what sustains momentum.
This groundwork involves practical steps: policy incentives that reward early listings; public recognition for successful SME issuances; integration of investment education into the school curriculum; and partnerships with media to normalise equity participation. The goal should be to make investment in local enterprise as commonplace as having a savings account.
Other countries’ experiences confirm that such cultural shifts are achievable. In Australia, public-awareness campaigns supported by regulators and financial institutions helped normalise stock ownership, while in Jamaica, visible fiscal incentives and mentoring embedded listing within the SME journey. Canada’s balance between regulatory credibility and accessibility shows that investor confidence can coexist with entrepreneurial agility.
Barbados can build on these examples by treating investment culture as part of its national development agenda. The IGM 200 offers a catalyst, a focal point for aligning policy, education, and enterprise; the true measure of success will be whether, five years from now, the conversation about investment culture has evolved from caution to participation.
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