CSE, SEC host Invest Sri Lanka Forum in New York on Oct 16

The “Invest Sri Lanka Investor Forum” organized by the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) in association with CSE Member Firms and leading listed companies will be held on October 16 at the Sofitel New York.

The event will feature a keynote address by the Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy while SEC Director General Mr. Vajira Wijegunawardene and CSE CEO Rajeeva Bandaranaike will talk on capital market regulation and the opportunities in the capital market, respectively.

The event will also feature a speech by CSE Chairman Ray Abeywardena and a presentation on the experience of investing in Sri Lankan equities by Senior Portfolio Manager at TimesSquare Capital Management Caglar Somek, CSE said in a media release on Wednesday.

The forum is organized with the objective of promoting investment in the Sri Lankan capital market among US based institutional investors and a strong interest among the investor community in the US is expected.

The Invest SL Forum hosted in New York in 2014 drew over 200 investment professionals and contributed to the year 2014 recording the highest annual purchases in the Sri Lankan stock market from the US, the release said.

The presentations will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by NASDAQ OMX Group Vice Chairman Meyer “Sandy” Frucher and a series of pre- scheduled one- on- one/group discussions between fund managers and Sri Lankan listed companies on October 16-17. John Keells Holdings PLC, Commercial Bank PLC, Sampath Bank PLC, Tokyo Cement (Lanka) PLC, Teejay Lanka PLC, Dialog PLC, People’s Leasing & Finance PLC, MTD Walkers PLC and Sunshine Holdings PLC are attending the event.

The CSE said the decision to host the Invest SL event in New York, comes on the back of a considerable level of foreign activity in the stock market in 2017, where a net foreign inflow of Rs. 40 billion has been recorded year-to- date in the primary and secondary markets. Foreign purchases during the first half of 2017 also established a record for the highest foreign purchases recorded in the first half of a calendar year. The year-todate figure amounts to over Rs. 80 billion. Investors from the US have consistently been the leading contributors to foreign turnover in the Sri Lankan stock market, and have contributed to 40 per cent of the total foreign turnover since the year 2013.

The forum follows successful Invest SL forums conducted in Australia this year, which have contributed to 2017 establishing an all-time high in foreign purchases originating from Australia in a calendar year.