Lasantha Somaratne is the Head – Strategic Business Development, at Hayleys PLC, Sri Lanka’s largest conglomerate, listed in the CSE.
He has Bachelor’s degree from the University of Colombo. He is a CFA charter holder and a member of CFA institute, USA since 2006. He is also a certified FRM from Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) based in USA
He counts over 20+ years of Capital Market experience in both the local and international markets. He has been employed in public and private sector in Sri Lanka. His former employers include the Central Bank & the Ministry of Finance in Sri Lanka. As the Director – Capital Markets, he was involved in public debt reforms during 2016-2017.
As a fund manager, he has managed equity portfolio in the local market for the Employees Provident Fund; the largest provident fund of the country with a total fund size of approximately USD 5 Bn then.
As Manager – Alternative Investments for Hayat Invest Company, a global investment company based in Kuwait from 2009-2015, Lasantha managed international equity & commodity ETF portfolios from 2009-2012. Hayat Invest, being an Islamic Investment Company with a global mandate, has a diversified portfolio of international equities across the globe, both in developed and emerging markets and is managed on enhanced passive and active strategies. Later, Lasantha was the manager for an alternative investment portfolio, primarily consisting of US 320 Mn in real estate investments.
Lasantha write a guest column at Daily FT on the economy and capital markets. Further, his articles in Sinhala language are featured in local Sinhala language newspapers.
