About Chanakya
As the Managing Director- Head of Delivery Strategic Initiatives, he will work with all Delivery segment and business unit heads to ensure the implementation of and continued development of growth strategies. He will collaborate with the Corporate Strategy and Corporate Development teams, and others across the firm. Chanakya will continue to be Head of Asset Management Group and will additionally manage the horizontal services. His responsibility areas include Financial Marketing Services, Investment Research, Investment Operations and Risk Services and DTS, and Compliance. He will also additionally oversee Consulting & Corporate Services.
In his past 21 years with the firm, Chanakya has managed multiple roles. He was earlier the Head of the Colombo delivery centre that provides investment research, quants, data science, commercial lending and FMS services to Acuity’s global clientele. He was also responsible for all aspects of research delivery and client relationship management for the Investment Research business unit. This unit is responsible for buy-side, sell-side and private wealth management clients who use Acuity’s equity and fixed-income research.
As a founding employee, Chanakya has played many other roles, including heading strategic initiatives and launching new-analyst training programmes accredited by the CFA Institute.
Prior to joining Acuity in 2003, Chanakya covered the banking sector and telecom sector as an Analyst at DFCC Stockbrokers, Sri Lanka. He was also a founding employee at Frontier Research, a boutique investment research firm in Colombo.
Chanakya leads Acuity’s inter-generational Network—BRIDGE—involved with fostering an understanding among generations and promoting inter-generational dialogue and at the same time challenging generational stereotypes and beliefs.
In his free time, Chanakya spends time pursuing adventure sports such as dirt biking, mountain biking and kayaking. He also owns a motorcycle and is a weekend runner.
Chanakya is a CFA charterholder and a fellow member of ACCA (UK) and CIMA (UK). His exemplary leadership in the financial services research sector was recognised when he was listed twice in the 40 under 40 Business Leaders in Sri Lanka Awards hosted by the Echelon Magazine.
He is an experienced business leader respected in Sri Lanka for being an innovator, disruptor and builder of business by creating jobs and developing new ways of doing old things.