Leopard Capital Sri Lanka
Investment Team
Nirosh de SilvaManaging Partner, CFAShow Biohas 17 years' experience in Sri Lanka's capital markets. He began his career as an analyst at a local merchant bank, Vanik, and was recruited by Hatton National Bank to set up its corporate finance unit in 1997. In 2000 Mr. De Silva was hired as Fund Manager of Ayojana Fund, a NDB/CDC joint venture that was one of Sri Lanka's first private equity funds, where he worked under Mr. Ranjith Fernando (above). After CDC sold its shareholding in Ayojana to Aureos Capital, Mr. De Silva established Orion Capital Partners to provide change management and corporate restructuring advisory services to Sri Lankan companies, and completed numerous assignments that substantially increased shareholder value. In 2004 he co-founded Orion Fund Management with two partners, and assisted in building a fund management business in managing listed equities that substantially outperformed its benchmark stock indices each year since inception. Mr. De Silva holds a BA in Economics & Business Management from Franklin & Marshall College, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. |
Vidhumin GreroAssociate PartnerShow Biostarted his career at Bartleets Financial Services before becoming an accountant at media group Maharaja Organization. He later served as CFO at plastics manufacturer Phoenix Industries, and then CFO at Bently Merchants, a wood products exporter. In 2005 he joined Orion Capital Partners as a change management consultant , and served as Acting CFO in client companies undergoing restructurings. Vidhumin was a finalist of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants of UK and of the Chartered Institute of Marketers UK. |
Chaminda de SilvaAssociate PartnerShow Biohas over 14 years of experience in Corporate Finance and Capital markets both in Sri Lanka and Australia. She began her career at Banque Indosuez, Colombo as a management trainee and following the acquisition of the Colombo branch by Hatton National Bank PLC, she joined their Corporate Finance Department in 1997. In 2005 Ms. de Silva moved to Australia and was recruited by Ernst & Young as a manager in the Transactions Advisory unit. She also worked as a consultant providing Business Continuity Management Advisory services. She returned to Sri Lanka in May 2009 as a consultant to Asia Capital PLC to restructure the Investment Banking unit and was the CEO until September 2010. Ms. de Silva is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), U.K. and has a BSc (Hons) in Banking & International Finance from the Cass Business School, U.K., and has an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM), Australia. |
Kaminda KarunanayakeAnalystShow BioKaminda commenced his career in 2003 as a trainee cost account at Maga Engineering, a leading construction company in Sri Lanka. He joined Orion Capital Partners Ltd in 2005 as an Assistant Accountant and now headed up the finance function for Orion. During his years at Orion Kaminda has assisted the team as an Analyst in change management consultancies. Kaminda joined the Leopard team from January 1, 2010. Kaminda holds a Bachelors Degree in Commerce (Special) from the University of Kelaniya and is also an Associate Management Accountant. Currently he is following a Masters in Accountancy and Finance and is following the final level of the Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka. |
Board of Directors
Ranjit FernandoChairmanShow Bioearned recognition as one of the top development bankers in South Asia during his 22 year career at National Development Bank of Sri Lanka (NDB). After being named NDB's CEO and Director in 1989, he guided the state-owned NDB to a successful IPO privatization in 1993, and transformed NDB into a full-fledged commercial bank through the acquisition of ABN-AMRO's local operations in 2001. Mr. Fernando also helped launch Sri Lanka's venture capital industry by promoting two pioneering funds, NDB Venture Investments and Ayojana Fund (both joint ventures between NDB and Britain's CDC Group). Following his retirement from NDB he served as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Industries from 2002-2004. Mr. Fernando is currently Chairman of United Motors Lanka PLC, Financial Services Ltd, and Latex Green Ltd., and Independent Director of Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC, Piramal Glass Ceylon PLC, Kelani Tyres PLC, Sarvodhaya Economic Enterprises Development Ltd., ICICI International Pte Ltd. (Mauritius), and Prasac Microfinance Ltd. (Cambodia). Mr. Fernando is an Attorney-at-Law and holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) degree from University of Ceylon. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (UK), Chartered Institute of Bankers (UK), and Companion of the Chartered Institute of Management (UK). |
Nirosh de SilvaVice Chairman, CFAShow Biohas 17 years' experience in Sri Lanka's capital markets. He began his career as an analyst at a local merchant bank, Vanik, and was recruited by Hatton National Bank to set up its corporate finance unit in 1997. In 2000 Mr. De Silva was hired as Fund Manager of Ayojana Fund, a NDB/CDC joint venture that was one of Sri Lanka's first private equity funds, where he worked under Mr. Ranjith Fernando (above). After CDC sold its shareholding in Ayojana to Aureos Capital, Mr. De Silva established Orion Capital Partners to provide change management and corporate restructuring advisory services to Sri Lankan companies, and completed numerous assignments that substantially increased shareholder value. In 2004 he co-founded Orion Fund Management with two partners, and assisted in building a fund management business in managing listed equities that substantially outperformed its benchmark stock indices each year since inception. Mr. De Silva holds a BA in Economics & Business Management from Franklin & Marshall College, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. |
Douglas ClaytonManaging PartnerShow Biofounded Leopard Capital in 2007, and has over 25 years’ experience in emerging markets investments. As a senior executive at CLSA Securities, Indosuez WI Carr Securities, and Kerry Securities, he managed investment teams in Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, New York City, Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, and Chile. In 1999 Douglas founded Abacus Equity Partners which arranged and participated in several of Thailand’s most successful private equity investments. He serves as Technical Advisor to the Director-General of the Securities & Exchange Commission of Cambodia, and Trustee of the Center for Khmer Studies. Douglas holds a MM from Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University and a BA (History) from Cornell University. |
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Advisors
Jim RogersAdvisorShow Bioafter co-founding and co-managing the spectacularly successful Quantum Fund for a decade, Jim "retired" in 1980, but remained an active private investor, financial commentator, adventure traveler, and author. An early participant in the commodities boom, Jim created the Rogers International Commodity Index in 1998. His books include Investment Biker: Around the World with Jim Rogers, Adventure Capitalist: The Ultimate Road Trip, Hot Commodities: How Anyone Can Invest Profitably in the World's Best Market, A Bull in China, and A Gift to My Children: A Father's Lessons For Life And Investing. |
Dr. Marc FaberAdvisorShow Biois Executive Director of Marc Faber Limited, an investment advisor and fund manager for private clients. He is the author of the widely read newsletter Gloom, Boom and Doom Report, which highlights unusual investment opportunities around the world, and the book Tomorrow's Gold - Asia's Age of Discovery, a Best-Seller in 2002. Well-known for his contrarian investment approach, Dr. Faber is a popular speaker at investment conferences and in media panels, and serves as a director of a number of international investment funds. |
Senator Larry PresslerAdvisorShow BioSenator Larry Pressler served in the United States Congress for 22 years (1975-1997). He was the author of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, and Chairman of the Asian and European Subcommittees of the Foreign Relations Committee. After retiring he maintained his lengthy interest in South Asia and served as a Director of Infosys Technologies Ltd. among other assignments. Senator Pressler holds a BA from University of South Dakota, a MPA from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, a JD from Harvard Law School and was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, England |
Rolf JudAdvisorShow Biohas 23 years experience in private banking and portfolio management at several international institutions in Switzerland. Since 2002 he has been Managing Director of Jud & Partner Vermögensverwaltung AG (JPV) which offers investment advisory and asset management services to institutional clients and high net worth individuals. In addition, JPV develops financial structured products and theme investment certificates for institutional investors and professional asset managers, with a specialization in Emerging Markets and Commodities. |