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Two-thirds of the 280 plus listed companies at the Colombo Stock Exchange are trading below their book value. That bunch will include many troubled firms and ones hardest hit by the current economic downturn. But value investing has been a damned strategy in Sri Lanka for much longer.

Despite a long history of stock trading Sri Lanka’s listed equity market was opened to foreign investors in 1991. Only the real faithful, could have borne the discomfort of holding on to shares when fixed income offered high, risk-free rates at times, and real-estate offered inflation hedged security.

Stock prices vary with investors moods but value, the theory suggests, is lasting. Value is anchored on a company’s assets. But in Sri Lanka, this value has rarely come good. The stock market here rises for two years and then decline slowly during the next five years. Since the opening to foreign investors in 1991, that pattern has been evident.

Asset heavy firms, the types favoured by value investors, suffer significantly during economic downturns when those assets lie idle. For a contrarian investor, value stocks yet may reveal a bargain. Our September cover story asks this question and ventures some answers.

Echelon Magazine Description:

Intelligent Storytelling

The one thing that will define the Echelon magazine will be the quality of the storytelling. Echelon,published monthly, will cover in depth Sri Lanka’s most successful businesses, examine their winning strategiesand profile their leaders in immersive stories. Great stories are also never limited to words, and our approach includes rich photography, bold graphics and leading edge design which together will make for a compelling read.

But business doesn’t start and end in a boardroom;it extends to the golf club greens, to international travel and to pursuits that blurthe lines between commercial venture and sheer passion. The Echelon team will present the best in business and lifestyle coverage that will appeal to an exclusive and affluent readership: an otherwise hard to reach demographic.

Content will be developed by one of the most experienced and proven teams of editors, financial journalists, photographers and designers in the country.This team has already raised the bar for powerful and expertly crafted business news. Shamindra Kulamannage, will lead the editorial team.

The reputation of Echelon is being built on the separation between editorial and advertising. However we are also looking for the most creative and impactful new formats that can be applied in our magazines, iPad app as well as website to help our clients reach our audience. We are flexible and creative and we will have a solution for every single advertiser who wants to reach our audience.

We are passionate about creative results and about working with our advertisers to help them create bespoke multi platform creative solutions with our in house creative team and of course our sales team.

Echelon will be a great place to show off the products and capabilities of our clients because they will be surrounded by an editorial product that is expertly crafted, full of integrity and intelligence.