SEC runs campaign to attract investors to the CSE
Sri Lanka’s Securities and Exchange Commission is currently conducting a series of road shows across the Island in a bid to attract investors to the capital market from outer regions. SEC says, so far they have organised road shows covering Galle, Kandy, Kurunagela, Negombo and Ampara which have seen the participation of nearly 5000 potential investors. According to Tushara Jayaratne, the Assistant Director of External Relations and Market Development at SEC, these road shows are taken part by the CSE, Unit Trusts Management firms, Stock Brokers etc. “Over 15 stockbrokers/Unit Trust Management Companies actively participated in Galle, Kandy, Kurunegala and Negombo. In Ampara there were around 10 stockbrokers/Unit Trust Management Companies”, he told News360.lk. According to him, more seminars of this nature will take place in outstation areas with another road show scheduled to be held in Matara on the 29th of October. Plans are also underway to hold a mega scale road show in Colombo on the 22nd of October, which will be held at the Exhibition and Convention Centre with wide scale industry participation. Top listed companies are also expected to run stalls at this event. Apart from SEC, the Colombo Stock Exchange is also organizing separate awareness programs frequently to attract more investors to the local capital market. As of July this year, the number of active investors on the CSE stood at just over 100,000 despite the vast potential existing in the country to attract more investors. Stock Analysts say lack of awareness among the public about investing in stock market is one of the main reasons for this situation.