HNB General Insurance Limited (HNBGI) has entered into a landmark strategic partnership with HNB Stockbrokers (Pvt) Ltd, marking a significant milestone in the HNB Group’s mission to provide seamless, comprehensive financial services via enhanced group synergy.

The collaboration is designed to offer specialized general insurance solutions directly to the customers of HNB Stockbrokers, ensuring that investors can protect their assets and lifestyles with the same expertise used to grow their wealth. This integration reflects “Group Synergy in Action,” aligning the collective strengths of the HNB ecosystem to deliver superior value and convenience to its diverse clientele.

The official agreement was signed at a ceremony attended by Sithumina Jayasundara, Director/CEO of HNB General Insurance; Ray Abeywardena, MD/Group CEO of HNB Investment Bank; and Prashan Fernando, Director/CEO of HNB Stockbrokers.

By combining HNB General Insurance’ robust insurance portfolio with HNB Stockbrokers’ deep-rooted relationship with the investor community, the partnership creates a one-stop financial ecosystem. This move simplifies access to protection products – ranging from motor and home insurance to specialized corporate covers – tailored to the needs of sophisticated investors.

Sithumina Jayasundara, Director/CEO of HNB General Insurance, commented on the partnership, “At HNB General Insurance, we believe that true financial security is two-fold, growing your assets and protecting them. This partnership with HNB Stockbrokers is a perfect example of HNB Group’s synergy in action. By integrating our insurance expertise into the stockbroking journey, we are making it easier than ever for our clients to access client-focused protection that secures their future and their families.”

Prashan Fernando, Director/CEO of HNB Stockbrokers, added “Our commitment has always been to provide our clients with more than just a trading platform; we aim to be their total financial partner. Collaborating with HNBGI allows us to enhance our value proposition significantly. We are now able to offer our clients a more holistic service, ensuring that while they focus on building their portfolios, their broader insurance needs are being met by one of the most trusted names in the industry.”

This partnership serves as a blueprint for how the HNB Group continues to evolve. By breaking down silos between banking, investments, and insurance, the Group is creating a more resilient and integrated service model. This strategic alignment not only strengthens the Group’s internal cohesion but, more importantly, ensures that the end customer benefits from a more efficient, sophisticated, and comprehensive financial journey.

A review of Nirmala M. Pieris’s The Abeyesundere Family of Galle

Reading about one’s family history can feel like standing face to face with the forces that quietly shape our lives. Our values, temperaments, and ways of seeing the world are inherited and absorbed long before we are conscious of them. When I sat down with Dr. Nirmala M. Pieris’s The Abeyesundere Family of Galle: A Family History of Nine Generations, I felt hopeful and excited. While I had an inkling of my background through stories shared by my late grandmother, Eileen Abeyesundere, I realised I actually knew very little. This book not only filled those gaps but also exceeded my expectations.

I met Nirmala at her home to collect my copies, and that visit alone felt like stepping gently into a piece of history. Her awe-inspiring walauwwa-style manor, lined with ancestral portraits, reflected a deep love for heritage and sentimentality. Standing there, it was easy to understand what might inspire someone to undertake the task of documenting nine generations of family history.

As I read, the sheer effort behind the book became increasingly evident. Nirmala has gone to great lengths in her research, drawing from archives, oral histories, and repeated visits to libraries, institutions, and even cemeteries. Her writing is structured, analytical, and precise, with claims carefully cross-referenced across multiple sources. Just as importantly, she is refreshingly transparent about gaps in the historical record, clearly acknowledging where connections could not be made. I was particularly fascinated by her exploration of how the Abeyesundere name itself evolved over time.

This book feels especially significant today. As families expand, histories and their essence are easily lost. Ironically, while so much of modern life is digitally recorded, much of it is fleeting, easily skimmed, and quickly forgotten. A content-rich book like this is a keepsake, something to return to across generations. It serves as a grounding anchor — a reminder of one’s roots in an increasingly fast-evolving world.

Beyond family lineage, the book thoughtfully situates the Abeyesunderes within Sri Lanka’s broader political, cultural, and socio-economic landscape. Shifting industries, entrepreneurial ventures, and emerging opportunities are woven into the narrative, showing how each generation adapted to changing circumstances. In doing so, the book appeals as much to readers interested in history as it does to those connected to the family.

I was especially moved by reading about places once familiar to me, such as Fred’s Rhue estates, where I walked as a child collecting rubber seeds and listening to foxes howl at night. Reading about Villa Lucilla, the ancestral home of my grandparents, Eileen and Joe Abeyesundere, in the heart of Galle, was equally poignant. Though I never lived there, the book allowed me to reconstruct what life within those walls might once have been like.

Despite the depth of factual analysis, the book is remarkably readable. Nirmala balances rigorous research with quirky, cheeky, and heart-warming anecdotes, complemented by evocative photographs that bring people and places to life. A detailed index further adds to the book’s thoughtfulness and usability.

On a personal level, the book prompted more than one quiet “aha” moment. Certain traits I recognise in myself, even a lifelong, slightly puzzling attraction to horses, began to make sense. Being an only child, it was unexpectedly touching to learn that I shared this distinction with the earliest documented ancestor, my great-great-great-grandfather, Pemyano William Abeyesundere. As I step into my transformational middle years, this book feels perfectly timed. It has given me not only knowledge, but perspective — a steadier sense of belonging, and the quiet reassurance that understanding where we come from can profoundly shape how we move forward.

By Trevina Abeyesundere

The CSE, having had a eleven-day bull run, took a dip downwards yesterday due to global economic tensions and uncertainty, market analysts said.

Amid those developments both indices indicated mixed reactions. The All Share Price Index went down by 45.8 points, while the S and P SL20 rose by 1.8 points. Turnover stood at Rs 5.12 billion with nine crossings.

Top seven crossings were reported in JKH, where 11 million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 259 million; its shares traded at Rs 22.70, Cargills 200,000 shares crossed to the tune of Rs 160 million; its shares traded at Rs 800, Commercial Bank 675,000 shares crossed for Rs 148.4 million; its shares traded at Rs 220, Citizens Developments Business Finance 280,000 shares crossed forRs 104 million; its shares traded at Rs 370.

Royal Ceramics 2.1 million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 103 million; its shares sold at Rs 50, LOLC Holdings 50000 shares crossed for Rs 28.9 million; its shares traded at Rs 577 and Tokyo Cement (Non-Voting) 250,000 shares crossed for Rs 23.6 million; its shares sold at Rs 94.50.

In the retail market top seven companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were; Royal Ceramics Rs 265 million (5.3 million shares traded), Commercial Bank Rs 250 million (1.1 million shares traded), Prime Lands Residencies Rs 176 million (4.7 million shares traded), Sampath Bank Rs 144 million (934,000 shares traded), JKH Rs 140 million (6.1 million shares traded ), LOLC Holdings Rs 140 million (242,000 shares traded) and Grain Elevators Rs 127 million (247,000 shares traded).

During the day 157 million shares volumes changed hands in 40600 transactions.

It is said that the manufacturing sector, especially JKH and Royal Ceramics, performed well while the banking sector, especially Commercial Bank and Sampath Bank, were also active at the floor.

Yesterday the rupee was quoted at Rs 309.10/30 to the US dollar in the spot market, from Rs 309.00/30 the previous day, having depreciated in recent weeks, dealers said, while bond yields were broadly steady.

The telegraphic transfer rates for the American dollar were 305.7500 buying, 312.7500 selling; the British pound was 409.6281 buying, and 420.9463 selling, and the euro was 354.1674 buying, 365.5556 selling.

By Hiran H Senewiratne