Almas Equities and Institute of Applied Statistics renew collaboration on Whitelist Index

Almas Equities Ltd., in collaboration with the Institute of Applied Statistics, Sri Lanka (IASSL), launched the Whitelist Index in February 2023. This strategic partnership has now been extended to further enhance the credibility and accuracy of the Whitelist Index calculation provided to investors.

Almas has continuously innovated to provide relevant services to investors and knowledge seekers. The company has introduced several new initiatives, including the Almas Whitelist, Almas Whitelist Index, Almas One, and other initiatives such as Almas Sukuk is underway.

The Almas Whitelist is analysed based on globally accepted standards for whitelists, drawing from Dow Jones USA, Securities Commission Malaysia, AAOIFI in the Middle East, Meezan Pakistan, BSE India, and NIFTY India, ensuring a comprehensive and time-tested approach relating to Whitelist identification, with multiple options and freedom for clients to select one or many of globally recognised preparation approaches.

A Whitelist Index is a statistical tool that measures the fluctuations of the prices of whitelisted shares. To fill the current knowledge gap, Almas has invested heavily to share knowledge and to raise awareness among investors and individuals about the capital market. The Almas Whitelist Index adds significant value to the knowledge base by indicating the overall behaviour of whitelist share prices.

Given the importance of the statistical basis of an index, it is crucial to have a credible process in place during the knowledge transition period. The IASSL, fulfilling one of its key roles in popularising the use of statistics by industries for commercial decision making, has provided tremendous support to Almas to establish and continue the preparation of the index. 

The IASSL was incorporated by an Act of Parliament and is the only professional organisation committed to promoting and assisting the advancement of statistics for research, planning, development, education, and training in Sri Lanka.

Almas highly appreciates the technical expertise and continuous support provided by IASSL during the introductory period, and now for renewing the formal engagement to further advance the use of the Whitelist Index. 

The Almas Whitelist Index, published daily, has garnered widespread appreciation from users, including foreign users, funds, institutional investors, and individual investors. This initiative will continue to provide benefits to industry stakeholders, investors, and the public who are involved in the capital market. As the index is publicly available, it will promote the use of statistics among the public for informed decision-making.

The extension of the current agreement was signed recently at the IASSL premises with the participation of officials including former University of Sri Jayewardenepura Department of Statistics Head, Senior Lecturer and IASSL Immediate Past President Dr. Chitraka Wickramarachchi, former University of Sri Jayewardenepura Department of Statistics Senior Director, Lecturer and past IASSL President and current Council Member Dr. A.P.G.S. De Silva, and IASSL Executive Council Secretary and University of Sri Jayewardenepura Senior Lecturer Dr. Rajitha M. Silva. Almas acknowledges the IASSL council members for their support and necessary approvals for this initiative.