Our Leadership

As a Chartered Accountant by profession, Mr R. Renganathan joined the Company at the inception, and he now leads Ceylinco Life Insurance Ltd as its Executive Chairman. Having been at the helm from the inception of the Life Insurance operation in 1988, subsequent to the privatisation of the life insurance industry, he has steered the company with the vision of providing life insurance to every household in Sri Lanka. By launching innovative products and services for the varying needs of the insurable population of Sri Lanka, he has led Ceylinco Life to provide life insurance to 1 million breadwinners islandwide. His financial acumen and foresight have resulted in Ceylinco Life amassing a Life Fund of over Rs 100 billion while having been in the life insurance business for only 34 years. Further, he and his management team have led Ceylinco Life to retain Market Leadership in the industry in Sri Lanka for the past 17 years, consecutively. While Ceylinco Life’s subsidiary, Ceylinco Healthcare Services Ltd offers state of the art equipment and facilities to those afflicted with cancer, Mr Renganathan, with his foresight, has set up “A Home Away from Home” for active retirees at its other subsidiary, Serene Resorts Ltd, and it is now ready to render a service to the ageing population at its luxuriously equipped salubrious resort ‘La Serena’ located in Uswetakiyawa a mere 9 miles from Colombo.

Appointed to the Board in 2014, Mr Ranasinghe serves as the Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of Ceylinco Life Insurance Limited. Mr Ranasinghe joined Ceylinco Limited as a Product Manager in 1986. Counting over 35 years in sales, marketing and strategic planning, he is one of the pioneer members who set up Ceylinco Insurance PLC. He also serves as a Director of Ceylinco Healthcare Services Limited. As a Founder Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Sri Lanka, Mr Ranasinghe has held several senior positions in its Executive Committee, including the post of Senior Vice Chairman. Mr Ranasinghe holds an MBA from the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM), University of Sri Jayewardenepura and is a Chartered Marketer and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK.

Appointed to the Board in 2014, Mr Cooray is the Head of Human Resources and Training, having joined Ceylinco Insurance as Assistant Manager – Training in 1987. Mr Cooray has played a key role in setting up the sales force at Ceylinco Life. He serves the Board of Ceylinco Insurance PLC as a Director since 2001. An internationally reputed speaker on life insurance, Mr Cooray was the first South Asian non-member to address the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT), a prestigious international life insurance convention. Mr Cooray is a fellow of the Life Underwriters Training Council, USA (LUTCF) and a Chartered Insurance Agency Manager (CIAM).

Appointed to the Board in 2014, Mr Palitha Jayawardena is the Chief Financial Officer of Ceylinco Life Insurance Limited. He joined the Life Division of Ceylinco Insurance PLC in 1990 as Chief Accountant (Branches) and counts over 27 years experience in the finance industry. Mr Jayawardena also serves as a Director of Ceylinco Healthcare Services Limited and Ceylinco Insurance PLC. He is a Fellow of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and a Fellow of The Institute of Certified Management Accountants, Sri Lanka.

Mr. Abeynayake counts over 25 years of experience in handling key management positions in the areas of finance, risk management, strategic planning, treasury management and project planning. He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM), University of Sri Jayewardenepura. He is also a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka. He joined the Life Division of Ceylinco Insurance PLC in March 1998 as a Financial Accountant and held many senior positions before being appointed to the Board. He functions as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Company currently.

Samitha Hemachandra, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of Ceylinco Life, has over 25 years of experience in life insurance marketing and brand building. Since joining as Brand Manager in 2000, he has played a key role in maintaining the company’s market leadership for over two decades and in securing multiple Brand of the Year and Service Brand of the Year accolades from SLIM. A Fellow and Chartered Marketer of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK), he holds an MBA from the University of Western Sydney, Australia. Mr. Hemachandra also serves as a Director of Ceylinco Healthcare Services Ltd. and a Non-executive Director of Citizens Development Business Finance PLC (CDB).

He has substantial professional, experience in Banking, covering all aspects of International Trade, Off-shore Banking, Credit, Operations and Information Technology, covering a period of 37 years. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Peradeniya and an Executive Diploma from University of Colombo.

Mr. Fernando is an Aviation Industry technical professional with 38 years of Aircraft Engineering experience with Air Lanka and Sri Lankan Airlines. A highly motivated Leader who guided every department in the Engineering Division to consistently achieve best results in engineering and maintenance service deliverables, with innovation and best practices that resulted in an unblemished record of accident-free flight operation.