Untimely demise of pioneering finance professionals

The passing away of Ravi Abeysuriya – a pioneer finance and investment professional in Sri Lanka – last week was a sad moment for the country’s financial community. Ravi was the first CFA charter holder in Sri Lanka as well as the founder President of CFA Society – Sri Lanka. 

Having been involved in Credit Rating, Investment/Equity Research, Investment Banking, Stock Broking and Asset Management for more than 20 years, he was considered a visionary leader in the fields of finance and investment in the country.

Two of his notable illustrious accomplishments were serving as the Founder Managing Director of Fitch Ratings Lanka – Sri Lanka’s first credit rating agency – in addition to playing a pivotal role in establishing Amba Research (now known as Acuity Knowledge Partners Sri Lanka), a prominent global investment research outsourcing company. The establishment of Amba Research raised the stature and profile of the island as a premier destination for knowledge outsourcing services. Today, the ground-breaking firm, which was formed two decades ago, provides expert services to Wall Street companies as well as internationally reputed investment banks by employing some of the finest and brightest talent in Sri Lanka apart from having delivery centres overseas. 

Ravi also provided leadership to Sri Lanka’s IT/BPO industry during his stints as Vice President of SLASSCOM and President of IT-enabled Services Association (ITESA) and his guidance and vision were instrumental in the industry’s evolution to become a dynamic contributor to the economy. The seasoned financial expert was also a mentor to numerous financial professionals in Sri Lanka and was a sought-after speaker at public forums, demonstrating the esteem and admiration in which he was held by the financial/business circles in Colombo.

During the latter stages of his life, Ravi devoted his knowledge, time, and energy to improve the financial literacy of Sri Lankans. It was indeed a very worthy cause given the low level of understanding about money and investment issues among average citizens. He authored a book (available in all three languages free of charge) titled “Financial Literacy to Achieve Your Financial Wellbeing”, which covered topics such as achieving financial independence and wealth, personal financial planning, wealth management, preparing for contingencies, and retirement planning, to enable the general public to get a better understanding of personal finances. Last year, he cited lack of economic literacy of the society as the prime reason for the nation’s bankruptcy.

To exacerbate the loss to his colleagues in the profession, Ravi’s departure occurred only three months after the unfortunate demise of another eminent and highly regarded CFA charter holder Amal Sanderatne at a very young age. Amal was an alumnus of London School of Economics and later was Head of Research at Jardine Fleming HNB Securities. He also worked as a financial reporter for the Sunday Times during his student days. Demonstrating his dynamism, Amal established Frontier Research – a boutique investment and economic research firm – in 2003 when he was only 27. 

The accomplished financial professional was renowned for presenting economic and financial projections based on extensive and thorough analysis in a very objective and professional manner. The presentation he gave to LBO’s Debrief summit in 2016 under the theme Outlook and an Assessment of the Sri Lankan Economy (which is available for viewing in the LBO website) demonstrated the vast knowledge, foresight and the analytical prowess he had about intricacies of economic policy decision making in Sri Lanka.

When the nation has embarked upon a series of far-reaching economic reforms that encompass divestment of SOEs, PPPs, etc., the loss of both these financial wizards is a setback to the country as their wisdom and technical expertise would have been immensely beneficial more than ever. The vacuum left by their absence would also be felt by the financial media of Sri Lanka since their expert views were regularly sought by journalists. May both of them attain the supreme bliss of nibbana.