Nations Trust Bank PLC bagged the top prize, beating other emerging markets banks in the final of the FMO Asset and Liability Management (ALM) that concluded at The Hague in the Netherlands this month.

Five finalists were invited to come to the Netherlands for the final round of the ALM competition. They had come out ‘on top’ during the first “virtual” phase of the competition. For a period of 12 weeks, 20 teams, all FMO banking clients, ran their own “virtual” bank in a simulated and changing online business environment. The teams decided on their own strategy and took decisions with regard to asset management, funding, marketing etc. Every two weeks the teams delivered their investment decisions, which were put into the simulation programme. This resulted in changes in their share price and performance ratios. The banks were able to follow their own performance and took lessons learned into account for their next decisions. At the end of phase one, five finalists were invited to come to The Netherlands to play the final round and determine the winner. The finalists were:  Nations Trust Bank PLC (Sri Lanka), ACLEDA Bank Plc   (Cambodia), VAB Bank (Ukraine), BAC (Costa Rica), and BANCENTRO (Nicaragua).

During this final the teams learned about advanced ALM topics that were not covered in phase one and the competition was closed with three final decisions. During a three day event in The Netherlands, which included its fair share of networking opportunities, sightseeing and celebratory engagements, the finalists competed to establish who was the best. After completing the ALM simulation, it was announced that Nations Trust PLC of Sri Lanka was the winner of the competition.

ALM or Asset and Liability Management is one of the most important areas of expertise required by financial institutions as it involves managing balance sheet growth with the attendant market risk elements relating to interest rate risk, liquidity and foreign exchange risk, whilst optimising profitability according to risk versus reward.

Commenting on the event Iftikar Ahamed, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Nations Trust Bank PLC said ‘The Competition offered us a unique opportunity to sharpen our ALM skills and created opportunities for the exchange of experience, ideas and networking among banking personnel internationally”. Nations Trust Bank offers its clients a comprehensive range of banking services that include Corporate and Treasury solutions, Consumer Banking and Leasing.

The Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) is the international development bank of the Netherlands. FMO invests risk capital in companies and financial institutions in developing countries. FMO’s investment portfolio is EUR 2.7 billion, making it is one of the largest bilateral development banks worldwide. Thanks in part to its relationship with the Dutch government, FMO is able to take risks which commercial financiers are not - or not yet - prepared to take. FMO’s mission: to create flourishing enterprises, which can serve as engines of sustainable growth in their countries.