Despite major business-related obstacles at the macro level, Almas Group has demonstrated growth in many important sectors. Sri Lanka has proven its toughness and capacity for finding answers quickly. We as a country have overcome many significant obstacles, but there are still those that need to be resolved. In this setting, the Almas Group has continued to broaden its reach in engagements,  both domestically and internationally. It is clear that Almas believes in the potential  that Sri Lanka has to offer in the future based on the top 20 Largest Shareholders of the firms in which Almas Group is involved.

The Almas group has chosen a new independent non-executive board member with admirable accomplishments to guide the organization to new heights. Talal Rafi is enthusiastically  welcomed to the Almas Group by Group Chairman Imtiaz Buhardeen, board members Fathima Rizwana Imtiaz, A.M. Mohamedu Risvi, Ruzly Shamsudeen, Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma,  and Alternate Director Shakir Buhardeen..

Talal Rafi is a management consultant and an economist. He is a Deloitte Economics Institute  Economist and a member of the Deloitte Global Economist Network. He is also a Senior  Management Consultant at Deloitte Consulting, where he has served on the worldwide ESG  Operations team.

Talal is a World Economic Forum Expert Member and co-chairs the World Economic Forum's  Global Plastic Innovation Network Action Group. He writes a regular column for the  International Monetary Fund, and his work is published by the IMF's Fiscal Affairs Department in Washington, D.C.

He began his career as an entrepreneur and later moved into the development sector having  worked for projects by USAID and the World Bank. He was on a selection committee of the  Asian Development Bank’s #DigitalAgainstCovid-19 Innovation Series and as a member of the  team of experts at Chatham House London helped formulate recommendations for the G20 on gender equality post-Covid. He is a World Bank Youth Climate Ambassador. He serves on the  advisory committee on regional development at the Export Development Board of Sri Lanka and is on the Enterprise Operations Committee at Moratuwa University.

He has given talks globally, including at the NASDAQ Center, S&P Global and the Central  Bank of Sri Lanka and he is a regular contributor in thought leadership for the Davos  Agenda. Talal’s work has been published by the World Bank, International Monetary Fund,  Asian Development Bank, World Economic Forum, UNFCCC (United Nations), London School of  Economics, and Forbes.

The group acquired Almas Equities last year (former Assetline Securities) and has successfully recommenced its operations and merged well with the industry to provide much-needed services to investors both overseas and locally. The company has provided new opportunities to many who are seeking career progression and as a result, a dynamic team is being formed and is expanding rapidly. Almas is planning to scale up its operations  further and is currently in the process of finalizing another premises to be brought into  the group to keep up with the expansion plans. 

Almas Equities has introduced Sri Lanka’s first-ever White List Index which is widely used by investors who are investing based on Whitelist principles. Almas Equities has conducted  many digital engagements, webinars and sessions to educate and create awareness about the  market.  

The group is very optimistic about what the future holds, particularly regarding the  opportunities offered by the Colombo Stock Exchange to investors. Considering the current  valuations offered by the market as a whole and individual companies with compelling value  propositions, Almas believes now is the time for entry and consolidation. 

The group will continue to explore options and the Board believes the addition of Talal  as an independent non-executive director would make a notable contribution towards implementing strategies, that will positively impact all the stakeholders during its  journey to become the next ground-breaking conglomerate in the country.