During this week, we had a conversation with Shaun Dimanka Yahathugoda, the founder of FinServCorp.

·     Tell me a little about yourself

My name is Shaun and I am 23 years old. I am a graduate with a Bachelor’s in Banking and Finance which is actually the reason I am where I am right now. In terms of who I am as a person, I would say that I am full of determination and have a lot of passion in what I do. A definite realist as well with times that I let myself dream a bit more than I need to. But of course, I make those dreams a reality with efficient and actionable plans.

·     What inspired you to start FinServCorp?

I attended university just for the sake of qualifications. But there was one course that changed my perspective of things. It was in my International Finance class that the lecturer mentioned that if he were to have enough of money, he would not be teaching. Instead, he would be at home making money from his bed by trading financial assets in the finance markets. My worldview changed and I got to researching the subject in-depth. So much so that the research itself looked to be a doctoral degree. Upon learning and trying to understand the various concepts that come with trading, I also found my love for sharing the knowledge around by hosting a free educational bootcamp. This was around the middle of 2019 when I just started the Academy. The feedback made me feel good and confident about my skills. That is when I started FinServCorp initially as an Academy that I call, The Trading Academy.

Additionally, it was the COVID era and I wanted to create something that would generate a multi-faceted income stream for myself.

·     Tell us a little more about the operations of FinServCorp

FinServCorp acts as a multi-faceted company. Currently having a Fund Management department, Real Estate Department and the Academy department.

The Fund Management aspect of FinServCorp, called Nexus Capital, takes in investor capital and generate returns greater than what the typical bank offers their clients on a YoY basis (Year-on-Year) and a MoM basis (MoM). Typically, on client deposits, banks offer an annualised rate that vary between the 18% to the 25% region of returns. The only drawback being that central bank policy can wildly effect these deposit rates. With our Fund Management, government intervention does not play any role at all. Investor returns are directly correlated to statistical edges in our trading models. For instance, we have an algorithm called the Bias Predictor which outputs the direction of any asset class in any market that exists within the US Framework. This enables our traders to get in line with direction and be able to make money with relative ease. However, investments in the Nexus Capital is only reserved for family and close friends at the moment in order to build a track record impeccable enough to attract investors of a wide variety. If anyone Is interested, you can contact me and we can make arrangements.

The Real Estate department, called The Real Estate Hub LK focuses on brokering deals with property owners and buyers all around, but not limited to, Sri Lanka. More on this later.

Finally, the Academy department known as The Trading Academy is an online curriculum with an online community that prioritises and facilitates the pertinent information that all traders and individuals that are looking to start trading the financial markets need to know. The process of learning via online platforms like YouTube and other free educational platforms takes away from the individual the actual experience of learning from a mentor that is able to give their time to ensure that you grow. As such, by having an active mentor, me, on a 24 hour, all-year-round basis, I am able to provide the best possible learning experience that you have ever seen. My students feel the same way. The Trading Academy provides monthly and quarterly memberships for individuals that are not able to give all their attention to learning, bootcamps that allow individuals lifetime membership in exchange for being part of a 3-day all-you-need-to-know online learning session and also a One-on-One package where the student learns directly from me at any time they want.

·     How did you come up with the name “FinServCorp”?

While brainstorming ideas for names with my girlfriend, Ruckshi, I wanted to keep the theme to something finance-related. However, all the ideas I had were shot down by google searches that proved the existence of my ideas. Due to the fact that I wanted to keep it finance-related as per The Trading Academy and Nexus Capital, I thought of ‘Financial Services Corporation’, broke it down, joined them and ended up with FinServCorp.

·     Tell us about the real estate department of FinServCorp, The Real Estate Hub LK.

As mentioned earlier, The Real Estate Hub LK is the department that handles the brokering of deals between Property Owners and Buyers. The unique thing about us is that we don’t just want to sell you a piece of property, take the commission and never see you again. Doing business with us means building a symbiotic relationship where we can bring other areas of our expertise and assist you with subject matters outside of the real estate field. For instance, if we work with high-net-worth investors that are looking to buy properties, we would also build a working relationship with them and suggest ways to make their net worth higher than what it is. How? Nexus Capital.

Outside of further connections, at The Real Estate Hub LK, we will ensure that your property has the widest reach online so that a large variety of potential buyers/clients will view what we have to show. Most properties on LankaProperty Web don’t have any ad spend at all due to the fact that there is an issue of a lack of capital which prevents independent brokers and some brokerage houses to follow through with their promises to their clients. There is no such problem with us. Save your money and we will handle everything from A to Z for you.

Communications-wise, our clients have nothing to worry about. We are available on-call may it be a public holiday or even if we are not available. Our clients always come first.

·     Given that you started your company during Covid, what were some challenges you faced?

The industry that FinServCorp started in, thankfully, was the correct one. During COVID, everyone had to stay at home due to travel restrictions. The fact is, businesses started losing a lot of money. As a result, there were layoffs. Due to this, there was an increasing search online for ways to make money while sitting at the comfort of your bed. We provided just that. FinServCorp provided the education needed for individuals to learn and start making money from home.

The only issue external to COVID was the issue of getting the company name out there. This was quite challenging. The only way we made it to where we are was through perseverance and constant management of our social media on Instagram and YouTube. Other than the long, gruelling of process of acquiring recognition, everything else fell into place with some ease.

·     Is there a team behind all the operations and department of FinServCorp or is it just you who manages everything singlehandedly?

Yes. Of course, there is a team. My wonderful girlfriend and business partner Ruckshi and myself. Ruckshi manages the Real Estate operations while I manage both The Trading Academy and Nexus Capital. Managing everything is hard, but empires weren’t built in a day and the process sure wasn’t straight-line.

·     Where and how do you look at FinServCorp in another year’s time?

In a year’s time FinServCorp would be based in Dubai and with all the hard work that we are putting into our company, I see FinServCorp as one of the leading conglomerates of our time. Real Estate, Fund Management, Education and much more. Another Berkshire Hathaway.

·     What’s one of your solid advices about fund management to all the aspiring entrepreneurs out there?

Know what you are doing. Understand during your learning process that you cannot determine where the price of an Asset is going based on indicators like Stochastics, RSI, MACD, etc. Every formation, every candle, every segment of time tells a story. Learn how to read them to trade them effectively.

Financial markets are ruled on one specific factor and that factor is the time of day. This can span all the way up to the time of week, time of month and the time of the year. The hours and hours of research and testing is worth it. If you want to be on the fast track to trading-enlightenment, The Trading Academy is readily available for you.