Alum Forges a New Future for Trinidad and Tobago Through Finance

As Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Brian Manning, Master of Finance ’18, is investing in the future of his country. And to do that, he’s leveraging his experiences from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Manning, appointed to his position in 2020, is helping to diversify Trinidad and Tobago’s economy from one focused on its competitive advantage in energy-intensive industries to other industries, including the technology sector.

Following in the footsteps of his father and former Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Patrick Manning, he says being in a position to positively influence the future is a privilege, and this transition period represents a landmark moment in the history of the country’s economy.

“I always wanted to be more involved in how we craft the future economy of Trinidad and Tobago,” says Manning. “I think the timing is right for me to get involved by participating in the further development of my country and making improvements in the lives of our citizens.”

Integral to the country’s economic transformation is Manning’s management of several of the largest funds within the Caribbean region, including the Heritage and Stabilization Fund—an approximately $6 billion long-term fund accumulating from the proceeds of oil and natural gas exports. By investing internationally in public markets, Manning says it gives the country the means to generate revenue outside its domestic industries.

To Manning, serving in that capacity falls right into his comfort zone given his experience as an equity analyst for the Smith School’s Global Equity Fund—a limited-enrollment fund established in 2009 and managed by 20 students in the school’s Flex MBA, Master of Finance and Master of Quantitative Finance programs with the goal of outperforming the MSCI All Country ex-US Index.

The opportunity to research companies and manage and invest money from the school’s endowment fund was a “fantastic and relevant experience,” Manning says. It provided the ideal environment to understand the work that portfolio managers and investment bankers do on a daily basis. Most importantly, it teaches students how to value companies, he says.

“It gave me the insights and intimate knowledge of how different companies are organized, how they operate and how to use that information to your advantage in valuing those companies in different settings,” says Manning.

A career centered around the intersection of business and leadership is one that Manning had always envisioned for himself. During his upbringing, he recalls frequently watching business news and his fascination with companies and their varying financial situations.

His passion for finance and desire to attend a top 25 business school to learn under world-class faculty members led him to the Smith School. He says that interacting with thought leaders and Nobel Prize-nominated professors profoundly impacted his understanding of the business world.

As an undergraduate student, he also took advantage of the opportunity to stoke his passion for basketball and gain leadership insights directly from hall-of-fame coaches Gary Williams ’68 and Chris Weller through his role as a practice player and youth camp counselor. An experience that would later prove valuable in his role as president of the Trinidad and Tobago Basketball Federation.

Upon graduating, Manning held several investment banking and finance positions. He then acquired his MBA and returned to the Smith School on separate occasions for his master’s degree in finance.

Those classes, he says, have been the most impactful in his political career and his mission of transforming Trinidad and Tobago’s economy due to the breadth of technology and data-based projects he completed.

“That experience gave me insight into how a future, energy-based economy might look and how essential technology is to that,” says Manning. “Understanding how to tie energy and technology together is key in understanding how we can transform our economy into one that supports the industries of the future.”

In the future, Manning hopes to return to the Smith School to pursue a doctor of business administration degree in Information Systems.

Any student seeking to follow a similar path either in the business world or in public service should make the most of their time at the Smith School, Manning says. Get to know classmates and professors and gain different perspectives that “expand your worldview.” 

And above all, no matter the path they choose, he says students should remember to always put others first.

“In my view, that is true success,” says Manning. “It’s not just about yourself. It's about creating a better world for everyone.”