What led you to found Catalyst Group and base the business in the Cayman Islands?
I’m British, grew up in Portugal, and started my career in London covering Latin America in private banking. After a brief stint in the BVI, I moved into fund administration, first in South Africa with Maitland, then Miami, and ultimately the Cayman Islands—where the work naturally converged. Cayman sits at the crossroads of the U.S., Latin America, and Europe. While living in Miami, I realized every mandate—family offices, asset managers, fund structures—pointed here. Beyond the business logic, Cayman is a welcoming place to live and raise a family: low crime, excellent schools and healthcare, and a pro-family environment. When my previous firm was sold, I had a choice: join another outfit or build something modern and nimble. We chose to found Catalyst. Cayman’s combination of recognition, regulation, and connectivity made it the right hub for our model—a place where we could stay close to clients while operating in a jurisdiction that understands global capital flows and works well for U.S., European, and Latin American managers alike.

Why is the Cayman Islands an efficient jurisdiction for launching and scaling a regulated business?
Cayman is far more regulated than many assume, and the regulator (CIMA) is accessible and pragmatic—critical for a new firm. The legal system is first-rate, with abundant common-law expertise from UK and Canadian attorneys and deep specialist talent across firms. Practical setup matters too: the all-in costs to launch a regulated business here are a fraction of what you’d face in Luxembourg or Ireland, where regulatory processes alone can exceed €1.5 million before you even put boots on the ground. In Cayman, you can get off the ground quickly while still operating to high standards. We engaged early with CIMA, hired a former CIMA professional as our head of compliance, and built a relationship that helps us anticipate where the landscape is going. That blend of rigorous oversight, top-tier legal infrastructure, and speed to market gives firms like ours the ability to be competitive from day one—without sacrificing governance, investor protection, or international credibility.

What does Catalyst Group’s footprint look like today?
Cayman is our holding and mothership. We operate in Cayman and have entities in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, South Africa, and Portugal. In Brazil, we run two offices—São Paulo and Rio—reflecting the market’s scale and our growth there. We maintain a significant operation in Cape Town and a small but purposeful team in Lisbon, where I spend part of my time. Globally we’re approximately 115 people: 17 in Cayman, around 41 in South Africa, and roughly 41 across Brazil’s two offices; we expect Brazil and South Africa to reach about 50 each by year-end. The distribution reflects reality: to deliver high-quality service at sustainable cost, some functions need to sit where deep talent pools exist. Cayman remains the strategic center, client-facing and governance-heavy, while Brazil and South Africa provide scale and specialized capabilities. That model lets us serve managers across geographies with speed, quality, and local insight, while anchoring risk, compliance, and leadership in a respected international jurisdiction.

What are the main challenges of setting up a company in the Cayman Islands?
The toughest constraint is the small, fully employed talent pool. Hiring locally can mean pulling from peers, which triggers a bidding cycle and constant churn. As a new firm we aimed for an 80% Cayman workforce, but the economics and availability simply don’t support it at scale in financial services. Importing specialized talent is the logical solution, yet immigration has tightened, making it harder to bring in critical skills. We’ve had top technologists declined permits—people who then obtained US L-1 visas in a week. Add housing costs and a high cost of living, and it becomes difficult to maintain stable teams without unsustainably escalating salaries. We still invest in Cayman talent—it’s core to our DNA—but the growth reality pulls some functions offshore. A balanced policy that protects local opportunity while enabling targeted importation of high-skill roles would help new businesses build durable teams here and keep more value on the island.

How important is the U.S. market for The Catalyst Group, and where are you growing the fastest?
The U.S. and Brazil each account for roughly 50% of our business. For Cayman broadly, the U.S. is the most important source of capital and commercial activity—tourism to professional services. Our fastest growth is coming from Brazil, alongside U.S.-linked private equity and real estate structures that use Cayman to raise capital efficiently. Digital assets are another strong lane where Cayman has been competitive. Our go-to-market blends major touchpoints and niche convenings: we attend iConnections in Miami in February and selected industry events throughout the year, often in partnership with Cayman Finance to amplify reach and signal jurisdictional alignment. We also favor intimate, high-value gatherings—CEO retreats, small client salons in New York (monthly) and Miami (quarterly), and curated dinners or golf events that deepen relationships. This mix keeps us visible at scale while preserving the one-to-one dialogue that drives mandates in alternatives, private capital, and emerging digital strategies.

What policy moves would keep the Cayman Islands competitive against peer jurisdictions?
Cayman’s advantage is a responsive regulator and excellent legal framework. Preserving that responsiveness—despite private-sector poaching from the public side—is vital. The next edge is digital: investor onboarding and KYC remain paper-heavy compared with US fintech norms. If a qualified investor can allocate from a phone in minutes domestically, but needs certified IDs and utility bills to access Cayman funds, friction wins—and business goes elsewhere. Banking rails and compliance workflows should better integrate with secure digital identity, automated KYC/AML, and real-time data sharing—without lowering standards. Meanwhile, talent policy must enable targeted importation for scarce skill sets (technology, quant, complex compliance) while investing in local upskilling. Other hubs are moving fast—Halifax, Singapore, India. If Cayman leans into digital modernization and smart immigration while keeping its gold-standard legal and regulatory posture, it can extend leadership rather than cede ground to more agile, lower-friction platforms.

How should Cayman address lingering stigma around tax and transparency?
This is a long-term brand issue that requires top-down leadership. The government, in close partnership with private sector bodies like Cayman Finance, needs to run a sustained, outward-facing education program in key markets—US, UK, EU, Brazil—explaining Cayman’s tax-neutral model, indirect taxation (import duties, permits, consumption), and robust regulation. Other jurisdictions, like the Bahamas, have been assertive—on the road, hosting conferences, meeting regulators, and telling their story firsthand. Cayman should do the same at scale and for the long haul. Most stigma stems from misunderstanding; when stakeholders see the regulatory rigor and how the system actually collects revenue, the narrative shifts. With consistent messaging, credible spokespeople from government and industry, and continuous engagement—not a one-off campaign—Cayman can move perceptions from dated movie tropes to the reality of a modern, well-run international financial center.

How do you want readers to recognize The Catalyst Group?
We’re a global fund administrator with a unique dual incorporation in the Cayman Islands and the US, built to be tech-forward and deeply fluent in the particularities of both markets—so clients get the speed and innovation of a modern platform with the governance and jurisdictional insight of institutional capital demands.