Thailand’s stock exchange has named Kesara Manchusree its third female president as the bourse faces a slump in trading volume amid a national political deadlock.
Mrs Kesara is named the 12th president of the stock exchange.
Mrs Kesara, 53, will be promoted from executive vice-president of the exchange and begin her four-year term in June, chairman Sathit Limpongpan said. She is currently in charge of the markets division and is the managing director of the Thailand Futures Exchange, the bourse’s derivatives trading unit, according to its website.
Daily turnover has tumbled 38% this year as global funds abandoned Thai stocks amid anti-government protests that began in October and concerns a reduction in US monetary stimulus would curb capital flows into emerging markets. The bourse wants to attract more overseas company listings to boost trading, Chanitr Charnchainarong, the head of the issuer and listing division, said on April 21.
“Mrs Kesara’s urgent task will be to add more high-quality securities such as foreign and multinational companies to lure more global investors here,” Prinn Panitchpakdi, CLSA Ltd’s country manager for Thailand, said on Wednesday. “Her expertise in derivative instruments may also boost the addition of more structured products.”
The Thai bourse, which also runs the bond exchange, has a market capitalisation of $383 billion, ranking it 11th among 16 Asia Pacific exchanges tracked by Bloomberg.
Mrs Kesara, who joined the exchange in 2003, holds a master’s degree in finance from Golden Gate University in San Francisco.
Daily turnover averaged 29.7 billion baht ($918 million) this year through yesterday, compared with 48 billion baht a day in 2013, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Global funds pulled $3.8 billion from the country’s stocks in the four months through Feb. 28 as opposition groups clashed with security officers, occupied ministries and blocked major intersections in the capital Bangkok in a bid to force Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra from office.
Mrs Kesara will be the 12th president of the Thai stock exchange, which was established in 1975, the bourse said.