In early February, the leadership team from boutique Cayman investment advisory Five Continents ‘rang the bell’ at the Toronto Stock Exchange. It marked the latest twist in the Cayman company’s history that stretches back more than 30 years and paints a picture of the jurisdiction’s growth as an international financial centre.
Back in 1993, when Bill Messer and Scott Elphinstone were looking for a jurisdiction to base their investment advisory firm, they evaluated options across the Caribbean but chose Cayman. One reason was regulation. “Cayman at that time was beginning to really get world leadership in respect of putting the right types of jurisdictional laws and regulations,” said Messer.
The company’s first hire was a young Caymanian, Katherine Tathum, who worked as receptionist, handling queries from a clientele that back then was mostly based in Canada. But over the years, Five Continents expanded its service offering to adapt to Cayman’s growth. For example, it now manages hundreds of millions of dollars of assets for captive insurance companies based in the jurisdiction. Tathum, who became Tathum Neatham by marriage last year, also adapted to the firm’s expansion, rising up the ranks to her current position of CEO.
Five Continents’ growth, both with private and institutional clients, attracted the attention of Scotiabank, which bought a majority stake in 2009. But by 2013 Messer and Elphinstone had rebought control and ran Five Continents as an independent boutique advisory until another Canadian group, RFA Capital Holdings, bought a 51% stake in 2024. Then, in February 2026 RFA completed a reverse merger of Canadian real estate investment trust Artis to become RFA Financial and publicly list on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Confidence in Cayman
Tathum Neatham believes RFA’s investment in Five Continents is a vote of confidence in Cayman. “Cayman is a jurisdiction of choice. Our Canadian partners have seen the amount of wealth here, the infrastructure, the regulations and the government. Cayman is attractive, is well located and we have the protections to safeguard client assets.”
From her vantage point as CEO, Tathum Neatham sees a lot of wealth being created in, or moving to, Cayman. On the private wealth side, “we have many wealthy Canadians coming here and saying this is where they want to set up. They are entrepreneurial; they have sold a business, moved to Cayman, and now they want to invest here.”
Meanwhile, Five Continents’ institutional business is benefitting from the strong growth of the jurisdiction’s insurance industry. Tathum Neatham also says the company is planning to offer new services to cater for Cayman’s burgeoning digital asset businesses.
Boosted by an injection of capital from the RFA deal, Five Continents’ potential plans include acquiring other professional service firms, obtaining a restricted banking licence in Cayman, moving into the digital asset custody business and hiring more staff.
Compliance costs
International perceptions of Cayman are shaped by the judgements of global bodies, such as the Financial Action Task Force. When Cayman was placed on the FATF grey list in 2021, Five Continents felt the impact. “It challenged the business”, said Messer. “It made international partners less keen on working with you. It made people wonder why Cayman was on the grey list.”
Cayman was removed from the grey list in 2023 and both Messer and Tathum Neatham believe Cayman will avoid the grey list in the future. Yet they note that adhering to the latest regulations does make Cayman an expensive jurisdiction for smaller financial operators. “As a boutique investment management firm, the expectation is that we meet the same standards as large commercial banks – that is a huge challenge,” said Tathum Neatham, who noted that being part of RFA should give Five Continents the economies of scale to absorb the growing costs of compliance.
Perhaps the strongest lesson from the Five Continents story is the importance of Caymanian talent. Amid the current debate on how to involve more young Caymanians in the finance industry, Messer believes Tathum Neatham is the perfect example. “I hired her as a receptionist, and she is now the CEO of a billion-dollar company. She is a poster child for young Caymanians.”
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