From left: Dr. Rajitha M. Silva, Dr. Gamini De Silva, Dr. Chitraka Wickramarachchi, Risvi Abdul Majeed, Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma and Harshana Dayarathna

Almas Equities Pvt Ltd, in collaboration with the Institute of Applied Statistics, Sri Lanka (IASSL), launched the Whitelist Index in February 2023. 

This strategic partnership has now been extended to further enhance the credibility and accuracy of the Whitelist Index calculation provided to investors.

Almas has continuously innovated to provide relevant services to investors & knowledge seekers. The company has introduced several new initiatives, including the Almas Whitelist, Almas Whitelist Index, Almas One and other initiatives such as Almas Sukuk are underway. 
The Almas Whitelist is analyzed based on globally accepted standards for whitelists, drawing from Dow Jones USA, Securities Commission Malaysia, AAOIFI in the Middle East, Meezan Pakistan, BSE India, and NIFTY India, ensuring comprehensive &time-tested approach relating to Whitelist identification with multiple options& freedom for clients to select one or many of globally recognized preparation approaches.

A Whitelist Index is a statistical tool that measures the fluctuations of the prices of whitelisted shares. To fill the current knowledge gap, Almas has invested heavily to share knowledge and to raise awareness among investors and individuals about the capital market. The Almas Whitelist Index adds significant value to the knowledge base by indicating the overall behavior of whitelist share prices.

Given the importance of the statistical basis of an index, it is crucial to have a credible process in place during the knowledge transition period. The Institute of Applied Statistics fulfilling one ofits keyroles in popularizing the use of statistics by industries for commercial decision making has provided tremendous support to Almas to establish and continue the preparation of the index. The Institute of Applied Statistics of Sri Lanka (IASSL) was incorporated by an Act of Parliament and is the only professional organization committed to promoting and assisting the advancement of statistics for research, planning, development, education, and training in Sri Lanka.

Almas highly appreciates the technical expertise and continuous support provided by IASSL during the introductory period and now for renewing the formal engagement to further advance the use of Whitelist index.The Almas Whitelist Index, published daily, has garnered widespread appreciation from users, including foreign users, funds, institutional investors & individual investors. This initiative will continue to provide benefits to industry stakeholders, investors, and the public who are involved in the capital market. As the Index is publicly available, it will promote the use of statistics among the public for informed decision-making.

Extending of the current agreement was signed recently at the IASSL premises with the participation of officials including Dr. Chitraka Wickramarachchi, Immediate Past President of IASSL, former head of the department of statistics at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, and Senior Lecturer, Dr. A.P.G.S. De Silva, past President and current Council Member of IASSL, Lecturer at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, and former Senior Director in the Department of Statistics, Dr. Rajth M. Silva, IASSL Executive Council Secretary and Senior Lecturer at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. Almas acknowledges the IASSL council members for their support and necessary approvals for this initiative.