NDB Group conducts successful investor forum in Singapore

Over 50 fund managers attend the full-day event in Singapore which highlighted investment prospects in Sri Lanka

Over 50 top fund managers based in Singapore got a thorough insight regarding the investment opportunities in Sri Lanka including stock market as well as fixed income investment opportunities.

In a pioneering move, NDB Group was invited by DBS Vickers Securities to showcase Sri Lanka at its annual ‘Pulse of Asia’ conference. NDB Bank entered into a MOU with DBS in September last year. The presentation was carried out under the theme ‘Invest in Sri Lanka – Be a part of the South Asian Miracle’.

Held recently at Singapore’s popular business venue Fullerton Hotel, four presentations were conducted for groups of investors.

The presentations were followed by actively participated one-to-one meetings with the participants. This was an initial attempt to get Sri Lanka into the investment radar of top fund managers in Singapore.

Sri Lanka was thought to be “too small” to generate interest among these large-scale investors in the past. However, according to the responses received at the end of the presentations, these investors would commence covering Sri Lanka with a view to investing in the future.

The presentation consisted of the economic and political progress made with the end of the war and the prospects of the Sri Lankan stock market. Three premier companies with attractive valuations were presented as well as an overview of the fixed income investment opportunities in Sri Lanka.

It was pointed out that regulations in relation to foreign investments in corporate debentures, unit trusts and foreign borrowings by local firms were relaxed by Central Bank in the recent past. In addition to the presentation, a comprehensive research report on Sri Lanka’s equity market opportunities was handed over to participants, which consisted of six listed companies.

NDB Bank CEO Russel De Mel noted that the fund managers were very keen to know about the Sri Lanka growth story and impressed by the robust economic prospects.

The initiative by NDB Group was held weeks after President Mahinda Rajapaksa urged stockbrokers to go overseas and promote Sri Lanka to draw investments. This request was further emphasised at the ‘Roadmap for Monetary and Financial Sector Policies for 2012 and Beyond’ presentation by the Governor of the Central Bank.

“These investors have not invested in Sri Lanka before. We made a strong case to convince them to look at Sri Lanka in a favourable way with the objective of investing in both equity and fixed income instruments,” said NDB Investment Banking Cluster CEO Vajira Kulatilaka.

NDB Group was represented at the event by De Mel, Kulatilaka, NDB Stockbrokers Head of Research Waruna Singappuli, NDB Investment Bank Head of Capital Markets Senaka Kakiriwaragodage, NDB Aviva Wealth Management Fund Manager Vindhya Jayasekera and NDB Stockbrokers Assistant Vice President Gihan Cooray.

Top fund managers tend to analyse and monitor investment opportunities of emerging markets such as Sri Lanka for some time prior to making investments. NDB Group will continue to advise these investors and make further representations through similar forums to lure them into Sri Lanka in the near future.