Sri Lankan stock market:

Global investor base growing

Bartleet partner REL India:

Indunil Hewage

Religare Enterprises Limited (REL) of India, a global financial services group is planning to bring more Indian investors to Sri Lankan stock market in the future as India is a capital restricted market and investors are not allowed to invest US $ 200,000 per year in the capital market in India.

Shachindra Nath

Media briefing was held last Tuesday to announce the partnership between the Bartleet Group and Religare Enterprise Limited (REL).

The global investor base is growing rapidly and the investors are looking at new opportunities to invest in the Sri Lankan stock market.

The country’s stock market has shown a rapid growth when it comes to growth numbers and Religare is interested in assisting to widen the global investor base of Sri Lanka’s stock market, Religare Enterprise Limited Group Chief Executive Officer Shachindra Nath said to Daily News Business.

“Market opportunities in the emerging country bloc such as India, China, Sri Lanka, the Far East and the Middle East need to be grabbed to reap the fullest benefits to grow businesses. Over 80 percent of the stock market is being run by domestic liquidity and domestic driven growth could be seen in the Sri Lankan stock market. It in vital to inject foreign investors’ flow to the market while creating a comfortable partnership with each other,” REL official said.

The Bartleet Group Chairman Eraj Wijesinghe said that Bartleet owns 10 percent of the Sri Lankan stock market and looking for possible ways to take their businesses to the international arena using a global business platform. There are many opportunities available for Sri Lanka to grow the money market with the assistance of local and international knowledge and management.

Accordingly, REL is intending to acquire a 50 percent stake in Bartleet Mallory Stock Brokers (BMS), which is engaged in stock brokering in Sri Lanka.

“Bartleet is a company that cannot just beat the Sri Lanka market and we need inputs from the leading companies in the world to expose ourselves to the international market.

The partnership will benefit both the market and the people of the country while exploring the Colombo market internationally,” Wijesinghe said.

The country’s economy is growing at a speedy rate and more people are keen on investing in the stock market with the intention of getting profitable returns. In addition, investors are diversifying their portfolios more than before and it has paved a way to the Colombo Stock Exchange to perform well while drawing the attention of international investors.