Capital Alliance brings Asia’s top investor relations expert to Sri Lanka

Capital Alliance, a full-service investment bank will be hosting one of Asia’s foremost Investor Relations experts, Jonathan Zax, in Colombo this week.

Zax’s investor relations efforts have been frequently recognised by the international financial community through top rankings in polls by Asiamoney, Finance Asia, Lafferty Group and Investor Relations Magazine. Last year, he received a Marquis Award for Best IR Achievement in Southeast Asia by Alpha Southeast Asia.

 “Jonathan Zax’s 15 years of experience in Indonesia provide a roadmap of best practices for Sri Lanka listed firms looking to raise their international exposure by attracting institutional investors. It is important that our companies here realise that good investor relations go beyond a good command of the language. The art and science of setting and shaping investor expectations, conveying both bad and good news, leveling the information playing field and lowering the company’s cost of capital by demonstrating good governance and stable performance. Firms with good IR capabilities have higher share prices, find it easier to raise debt and equity, and can see beneficial spillovers from positive investor perceptions into their core businesses,” said Capital Alliance Holdings MD/CEO Ajith Fernando.

Jonathan Zax is the founder and Senior Advisor of PT IR Advantage – which provides a full range of Investor Relations training, development and planning services to companies both preparing for the listing process and post-IPO. Clients have included privately held and state-owned enterprises in the resource, basic materials, transportation and agriculture sectors.

Jonathan was previously the Head of Investor Relations for PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk, Indonesia’s largest bank by assets. He joined Bank Mandiri in 2002 and was instrumental in the preparation for the company’s IPO in 2003, marking the first significant listing in the Indonesian market following the Asia crisis. He established and maintained the Investor Relations Group at the Bank through an eight-year period punctuated by smaller-scale domestic financial crises, significant top management changes and an increasingly challenging domestic environment.

He was appointed in 1996 as the Director of Corporate Development at PT HM Sampoerna Tbk.  In addition to regional business development activities, Zax guided the company’s relationships with the international financial community for six years, providing access and insight to fund managers, bondholders, rating agencies, investment and commercial banks over a very volatile period including the Asian financial crisis.

Prior to taking up residence in Indonesia, Jonathan was engaged in operations strategy and manufacturing development for Asian companies in the automotive, apparel and furniture industries, with operations spanning China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, The Philippines, Taiwan and Sri Lanka.

He is a graduate of The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania with an MBA in Operations Management and Multinational Marketing.  He received his BA from Harvard College. Capital Alliance [CAL] is a full-service investment bank with a mission to be ‘The Preferred Partner in Capital Markets’. Commencing operations in October 2000, CAL has established themselves as a leading player in the financial markets of Sri Lanka specialising in the origination, trading and investment in debt, and equity securities. CAL’s reputation is based on excellence in execution, research and product innovation.