AIHN Installs Sonnie Ayere As President

By Dipo Olowookere

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Dunn Loren Merrifield Group (DLM), Mr Sonnie Ayere, has been sworn-in as the new President of Association of Issuing Houses of Nigeria (AIHN).

At an investiture ceremony held in Lagos on Wednesday, August 31, 2016, and attended by members of the group, Mr Ayere promised to take the association to greater heights.

Mr Ayere was installed at the ceremony alongside other key principals of AIHN, including Mr Ike Chioke as the 2nd Vice-President and Mr Chuka Eseka, 1st Vice-President.

The event was part of activities in the association’s Annual General Meeting.

In his address to members of the association, Mr Ayere called for a unified frontier by partnering with allied bodies such as the Chartered Institute of Stock Brokers (“CIS”), Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (“PenOps”), Fund Management Association of Nigeria (“FMAN”), Association of Corporate Trustees (“TACT”) in resolving pertinent challenges that currently affect the efficiency of service delivery in the financial markets.

“We will invest in the education of our markets, investors and where necessary, regulators to ensure we achieve a positive change in the way our industry operates.

“When successful, universal securities firms should hopefully begin to operate and service investors and clients across a wholesome, viable and sustainable financial market, with access to sustainable liquidity to finance their operations.

“As such, these firms will be able to build very strong institutions, intermediate better, create lots of high value jobs, contribute to financial market stability and facilitate a much better market for capital raising and trading,” Mr Ayere said.

He also requested for the consideration of flexible fee structures, as an incentive within the market to accommodate interest of Issuing Houses in providing varied level of services to small and large transactions for companies.

The immediate past chairman of AIHN, Mr Victor Ogiemwonyi, commented that credibility and transparency of operational transactions in the market would help boost the confidence of Issuing Houses in Nigeria.