In this issue

What’s the right way to forecast for the long-term?

In 2018, the yields on cash and government bonds have diverged from inflation in a marked way. As a result, real returns on fixed income assets continue to offer a decent return. Forecasts for a quick turnaround in equity are pretty downbeat. On average, listed company profit growth has barely kept pace with inflation. Fixed income yields have been comfortably higher.

With yields on cash (bank deposits), fixed income and real estate so high, many investors have ignored the long-term potential of stocks. Over the last few years, a strategy focusing on real returns ahead of one taking advantage of low equity valuations has been vindicated.

However, we are all prone to making basic investment errors, like allowing fund managers’ past performance or the performance of those asset classes that have done well to determine decisions about future investments. A sensible approach to long-term investing is to assess potential returns of various asset classes, match those against the financial aims of an investee and allocate accordingly.

We have sought out star analysts and fund managers for this issue. We weighed their past performance in selecting to speak with them and explored historical data to paint this picture about the future potential of asset classes. In some ways, we yielded to a basic investment error of looking at past performance.

More than a dozen of Sri Lanka’s finest shared their views for this, Echelon’s annual Retire Rich edition. We hope you will find a compelling discussion about investing for the long term in this issue.

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.