Samata Kotasak, Samata Ekakayak forums draw large crowds in Anuradhapura & Jaffna

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) and the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) have taken their ‘A Share for Everyone, A Unit for Everyone’ (Samata Kotasak, Samata Ekakayak) initiative to Anuradhapura and Jaffna through investor forums last week, as part of an ongoing islandwide effort to broaden investor participation. The forums were held on 10th September at the Golden Mango in Anuradhapura, and on 12th September at the Tilko Jaffna City Hotel. The forums attracted over 600 participants across both locations.

The “A Share for Everyone, A Unit for Everyone” concept, developed by the Chairman of the SEC, Sen. Prof. D.B.P.H. Dissabandara and launched in July of this year, aims to promote a shared commitment to creating wealth and value within a fair, efficient, orderly, and transparent capital market by ensuring broad and accessible participation for all.

As part of this initiative, the SEC and CSE will continue to host investor forums across the country to strengthen investor education and awareness while promoting broader participation in the capital market beyond the Western Province. By leveraging the CSE’s nationwide reach and the growing interest in equity investments, the programme will provide investors with greater access to Sri Lanka’s capital market through stockbroking firms and unit trust management companies.

“Traditionally, Sri Lankan investors have favoured conventional investment avenues, but it has yielded comparatively fewer returns than the capital market,” remarked Executive Vice President – Marketing, CSE, Niroshan Wijesundera, speaking on the Unit Trust and Stockbrokering firm outreach objectives of the broad-basing initiative.

“Over the medium to long term, capital markets have given higher returns. By setting aside small allocations to invest regularly through professionally managed vehicles such as unit trusts, first-time investors can participate in the capital market, receive higher returns in the medium-to-long-term, and gain experience and confidence. On the other hand, those with experience and knowledge can directly engage with the capital market through a stockbrokering firm. Traditional investments are liable to be taxed, whereas investments in the capital market are capital-gains tax free.”

Speaking on the favourable investment climate, he noted that the Sri Lankan capital market is at a relatively low Price-to-Earnings (P/E) ratio of 11.03x in a global context. “As covered in the presentations at the forums, the Sri Lankan capital market has demonstrated comparative resilience in the face of global market corrections, such as the Middle Eastern crisis. Sri Lanka has withstood bigger shocks, such as past crises, the war, COVID-19, the economic downturn, and the fuel crisis.’’