Sinhaputhra Finance PLC – creating human capital in the Central Province
In Sri Lanka’s hill country, gaining head-office experience for young people seeking a career in the finance industry is not easy due to the paucity of good, reputed firms .
Sinhaputhra, the Kandybased finance company, has been first door on which to knock for budding professionals.
“It has provided either a career path or stepping stone for people in the Central Provinces to gain experience in a Colombo stock exchange-listed firm, regulated by the Central Bank and rated by Fitch/RAM agencies. The company features an Openarc IT platform and is audited by KPMG and internally by SJMS (formally by Ernst & Young) and headquartered in Kandy,” the company said in background briefing note on the organization.
The company’s interaction with such bodies has created opportunities for staff development in head office functions such as ITC network engineering, website, social media, SMS and android application developments, administration and establishment responsibilities. Staff is also exposed to functions such as annual report production, financial product development, financial restructuring, negotiating bank facilities and ROC filings, arbitration, district and commercial court work, it said adding: “Such a wide range of roles have exposed Sinhaputhra employees in Kandy to a unique and wide set of roles generally open only to senior employees in head office positions in Colombo”.
Such skill development opportunities have also flowed-on through interactions with oth- er firms who provide professional services to Sinhaputra. This has enabled individuals to progress within their own firms, find opportunities to make positive contributions within other firms locally, in Colombo and overseas as well as within Sinhaputra itself as many employees are frequently head-hunted for related operational roles that require experience gained through such interactions, the company said.
“There are many examples of people who commenced their careers at Sinhaputhra and moved on to establish their own companies, joined others in senior positions or made rapid advances on their own. Much of these career successes may arguably be attributed to Sinhaputhra being right on their door-step in Kandy, at the early stages of their career where important support from families are available as well the ability for staff to nurture and support the health of parents and children with their education and generate a caring compassionate climate within which a work-life balance can be achieved,” the statement said.
“This ability to create human capital within the Central Provinces has been a source of pride for the board and senior management of Sinhaputhra who have hitherto resisted the tide of economic advantages of moving to Colombo unlike many other finance companies such as Central Finance, Senkadagala Finance, Multi Finance, Commercial Credit, Silvereen Finance, now Capital Alliance Finance, etc. who are for all practical purposes headquartered in Colombo,” the statement added.
The need to be Kandy based has been a key commitment and a passion of Sinhaputhra that has grown conservatively and steadily at an average pace of 27 per cent over the last 35 years to be close to one billion in equity and seven billion in assets. This commitment has been demonstrated with a high profile investment in their Hill Street head-quarters office, making it an iconic structure within the city of Kandy.
“Sinhaputhra is now a strong focus in being the first port of call for young students, clubs and associations for sponsorships for sports, cultural and community projects, job requests, internships, educational surveys for senior school children and university students from peradeniya and many other organisations that can only obtain this kind of support from a head office based firm,” the firm added.