CAL set to cross US$ 1bn asset milestone within this financial year

By Nishel Fernando

Capital Alliance Holdings Limited (CALH), a leading fully-fledged investment bank in Sri Lanka, aims to manage US$ 1 billion in assets under its management (AUM) within the current financial year (FY).  

CAL CEO Kanishke Mannakkara revealed that the firm currently manages over US$ 800 million in assets and is nearing the US$ 1 billion milestone, which it expects to cross this FY.  

“We aim to have a billion dollars under management within this financial year. We operate in asset management, stock brokerage, and corporate finance in both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. We’re the second-largest stockbroker in Sri Lanka and among the top 10 percent of stockbrokers in Bangladesh,” he said.  

In Sri Lanka, CALH handles nearly US$ 3 billion in transactions annually across its business segments, a significant volume for the local market.  

“Sri Lanka, despite being a small country with small markets, has a long history and deep expertise in capital markets. We can transfer and scale the lessons we’ve learned here internationally, which presents an interesting long-term investment opportunity,” he added.  

Mannakkara highlighted that CALH is among a handful of companies in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to embrace data as a core strategic pillar. The firm’s in-house proprietary systems, he emphasised, provide a competitive edge.  

“We also have a lot of structuring capability within the organisation, and we are constantly creating new types of financial products that help unlock value in the capital markets. The retail platform that our clients see is one part of this technology. We also have homegrown, proprietary core systems that have been developed by CAL. These systems are internationally transferable and can be used across the globe. They give us the flexibility to be more agile than other players who are often relying on third-party systems that have often been developed in non-native markets,” he explained.  

Of CALH’s 200 employees, 40 work in technology—a division the company plans to continue investing in.  

Mannakkara also underscored democratising capital markets as a key priority for CALH.  

“We are taking cutting-edge investment banking solutions to the retail market, giving ordinary citizens access to the same type of wealth management or brokerage services that ultra-high net worth individuals enjoy. With our digital platform, it doesn’t matter whether you live in Colombo, Batticaloa, Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet, Nairobi, or Mombasa; you’ll be able to access these capital markets and access the best products and the best solutions out there in the market,” he added.  

As a financial institution focused on frontier markets, CALH has built expertise in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, with plans to expand into Kenya and other frontier economies. This expansion is expected to grow its addressable market significantly. Over the next five years, CALH intends to establish a presence in at least five frontier markets, leveraging its expertise in emerging economies.