Founded in a modest room at the Moors Sports Club pavilion, JXG (Janashakthi Group) is today a financial conglomerate with assets exceeding Rs163 billion.
Its rise was driven by mergers and acquisitions, including the landmark takeover of the National Insurance Corporation (NIC), alongside a willingness to take calculated risks before later consolidating around financial services.
But growth alone did not define the Group’s trajectory. Though founded and led by the Schaffter family, as it expanded, JXG formalised independent governance and professional management to sustain investor confidence and continuity across generations. As expansion continues and a third-generation steps forward, the emphasis shifts from scale to sustaining the institutional discipline that drove its rise.
Looking back, C.T.A. Schaffter, Founder and Chairman Emeritus of JXG, recalls modest beginnings. “Janashakthi started small. It was largely a one-man show,” he says. “My children helped, and when I look back, I am pleased with what we have achieved.”
C.T.A Schaffter, Founder and Chairman Emeritus of JXG
“Janashakthi started small. It was largely a one-man show. My children helped, and when I look back, I am pleased with what we have achieved.”
Today, Rs160 billion in assets are concentrated within a strategic portfolio of listed financial businesses. “We have evolved into a core financial-services conglomerate,” says Ramesh Schaffter, Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer at JXG. “Where we are today is by design.”
At its centre sits Janashakthi Insurance PLC, the life-insurance arm, with Rs8.6 billion in gross written premiums. First Capital Holdings PLC anchors the capital-markets vertical, generating Rs11.4 billion in income, with its subsidiary First Capital Treasuries PLC managing a balance sheet of Rs66 billion. Janashakthi Finance PLC, a licensed finance company, rounds out the structure with a Rs30 billion loan portfolio.
As its expansion continues into new frontiers and a third-generation steps forward, the emphasis shifts from building scale to preserving the institutional discipline that underpinned its rise.
Navigating Change Without Losing Purpose
Ramesh describes JXG’s next phase of growth as resting on three channels: deepening its existing businesses, pursuing acquisitions, and expanding globally. This framework has been tested before.
Over three decades, the Group has navigated economic cycles, regulatory shifts and market disruptions, adjusting its portfolio while remaining anchored to a consistent purpose. At critical moments, long-term positioning has taken precedence over short-term gain. The next phase, he suggests, builds on that same discipline, pairing focus with ambition.
Deepening the Core Through Discipline
Organic growth, he argues, begins with focus. “We’ve shed a few aspects,” he says, describing a deliberate narrowing of the Group around financial services in recent years. “There is so much potential for growth. We asked ourselves whether we needed to keep spending time and energy on other sectors.”
That doesn’t preclude flexibility. Janashakthi built a sizeable non-life operation, employing 3,000 staff across 112 branches, before exiting it to Allianz for Rs16.4 billion in 2018, the largest transaction involving a Sri Lankan entity at the time. “Perhaps we’ll return. Nothing prevents us,” he says, suggesting portfolio choices are pragmatic rather than permanent.
At its core, the emphasis is on depth. “We are in the NBFI sector but not in the microfinance sector. Just as we do the large tickets and new cars, we also want to impact small businesses and entrepreneurs. In the capital market space, we are behind the rest of the world. So, we can do a lot,” states Ramesh. Local capital markets remain underdeveloped, private equity penetration is limited, and structured debt markets are shallow.
Scale Through Strategic Acquisitions
The second engine is inorganic growth. “Our DNA over the last 30 years has been acquisitions and amalgamations,” says Ramesh.
Its most impactful acquisition came in 2001, when Janashakthi acquired a 51% stake in the NIC for Rs450 million, buying out the remainder the following year. The deal transformed its scale, making it the third-largest non-life insurer and fifth overall at the time.
“It was like David taking over Goliath,” said Ramesh, referring to the stark gap in scale. At the time, Janashakthi had around 300 employees; NIC had over 700. “We more than doubled our turnover, and the assets under management increased dramatically. Our turnover was Rs372 million, and NIC’s was Rs857 million,” recalls Prakash Schaffter, Executive Deputy Chairman at Janashakthi Insurance PLC and Deputy Chairman at JXG.
Prakash Schaffter, Executive Deputy Chairman at Janashakthi Insurance PLC and Deputy Chairman at JXG
The instinct to grow through acquisition predated JXG itself. In the early 1990s, its predecessor, P&I Insurance Brokers., acquired Acland Insurance Services, doubling its staff and portfolio and consolidating the platform from which Janashakthi Insurance later emerged.
“It has been a long, hard journey, but I believe we have truly made our mark, emerging as one of the leading players in the field. And now we are poised for another very interesting phase of growth.”
“As we evolved, we also diversified,” says Ramesh. “We moved into property, investment banking and finance. We exited some businesses as well.” The diversification extended even to dairy when C.T.A. Schaffter founded Kotmale, which was sold to Cargills for Rs922 million in 2010. Yet, many of JXG’s acquisitions have remained adjacent to its insurance roots.
Property formed part of that diversification with Kelsey Homes, a property developer that built gated residential projects. “It was viewed as one of our pillars. Property and finance go hand in hand,” said Ramesh. But amid the economic crisis, the sector was among the hardest hit. In 2022, Janashakthi exited, selling its 85% stake, choosing, as he puts it, “to focus on developing what we have.”
The Group’s entry into licensed finance began through the acquisition of Orient Financial Services Corporation in 2011. In 2014, under the CBSL consolidation plan, the Group acquired Bartleet Finance PLC by purchasing an 86.79% stake in the company for approximately Rs870 million, later merging it with Orient Finance and continuing as a combined entity recently rebranded as Janashakthi Finance PLC.
Its move into capital markets was also acquisition-led. In 2007, the late Dinesh Schaffter acquired First Capital from Singer Sri Lanka. Subsequently, as the business grew, First Capital was listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange in 2011 through a reversal into CFBF and renamed as First Capital Treasuries; its treasuries arm followed a decade later. In 2019, Dunamis Capital PLC was amalgamated with Janashakthi PLC.
In 2022, Janashakthi Group rebranded as JXG, formalising a consolidation already under way. “We have always been committed to growing what we have,” says Ramesh. “There is space to grow in each of those pillars, both locally and regionally.”
Selective Regional Ambition
The next opportunity lies in regional expansion. The domestic market, Ramesh argues, is limited, and few home-grown firms have built durable regional footprints. Yet he sees scope for ambition.
Ramesh Schaffter, Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer at JXG.
“Our DNA over the last 30 years has been acquisitions and amalgamations. We have always been committed to growing what we have. There is space to grow in each of those pillars, both locally and regionally.”
“Sri Lanka’s financial landscape is slightly more sophisticated than those of some of our neighbours,” he says, suggesting that, depending on the market, any of the Group’s verticals could travel. In several countries, he notes, life insurance, financial services and capital markets remain underdeveloped, offering room for entry.
Ramesh says the Group is already assessing regional markets, including markets within Asia and East and Southern Africa. “We were looking very strongly at taking life insurance into Bangladesh,” he says, noting its population is nearly 10x larger. “The potential is there. We want to get our foot in that door.” Political turbulence, however, paused those plans.
Beyond Asia, he shared that JXG is also exploring East Africa. “Other companies have gone there and I think we have something to take there. That’s what I’d like to see JXG doing.”
Capital Is Not the Constraint
“To finance this growth, I would like to look at every possible option,” says Ramesh. He goes on to share that JXG is weighing a range of instruments, from broadening its equity base to listed debt, development-finance funding and convertibles. In areas such as micro-insurance or micro-finance, he notes, development-finance institutions are active.
Yet capital, he argues, is not the binding constraint. “You need to get the model moving.” Investors back delivery, not promises. Once credibility is established, funding follows, whether in equity, debt or convertible form. “There is plenty of funding, available” he says. “I don’t believe that’s an issue.”
The harder question is talent. “Who will actually go and run these businesses?” Expansion demands capable managers. Talent, more than money, may determine how far JXG’s ambitions travel. Still, he is optimistic about attracting top-tier leaders locally. “That’s what we are really looking at attracting with the rebranding.” A recent Great Place to Work score of 97%, he adds, reinforces that pitch.
Family, Governance & Professionalism
Over three decades, Janashakthi’s rise was accompanied by deliberate institutionalisation. Though founded and led by the Schaffter family, the Group formalised board oversight early and separated ownership from management. Independent directors and committees were embedded well before they were mandatory and well before the company was listed. As the business expanded, governance became a structural feature of the company, ensuring investor confidence and continuity.
That shift became explicit in 2006/2007, when several family members stepped back from executive roles within Janashakthi Insurance. “Initially, a great deal of family involvement was necessary,” Prakash said. “But we felt that after a point, having too many family members involved in management could actually stifle the company. Around this time, we started bringing suitable professionals into the company at senior levels, and I think this was an important step in taking the company to its next stage of development.”
That separation extended to remuneration. “From the inception, my father, Tryphon Mirando, my siblings and I did not draw salaries from the insurance company,” said Ramesh. The arrangement changed only after a consultant director highlighted a governance inconsistency: a chief executive not formally employed by a listed firm could not be fully accountable to its Board. “It was from a governance perspective that Prakash and I even got on the payroll,” he stated.
The principle, he adds, was straightforward. “Business decisions are guided by what is best for the company as a whole. We don’t profit from it until the company profits.”
Corporate structures further reinforced that separation. “When [Janashakthi] Insurance was 92.7% owned by the family, 5 of 9 directors and the Chairman were independent,” he continued. “Audit and other statutory committees were established before such frameworks became mandatory. Even today, JXG functions with all of those committees as if we were a listed company. That is for our own benefit as well as to keep us within certain guard rails to give that confidence to people,” states Ramesh.
Preparing the Next Chapter of JXG’s Leadership
The same independent discipline applies to succession. Though family-controlled, entry into leadership is structured and criteria-based. “There is no parachuting into the business. We’ve laid out clearly the pathway that a family member can follow to enter the business,” explained Ramesh.
The programme was formalised in 2020, as Ramesh and Prakash recognised that the third generation was coming of age. An external adviser was brought in to help structure the framework. Clear criteria were set around education, external work experience and demonstrable competence. Prospective entrants are expected to build credibility outside the Group before assuming responsibility within it.
Ramesh shared the objective is continuity. “We’re building a legacy,” he says. “We wanted to pass the baton to the next generation.” The ambition, he adds, is to ensure the institution endures beyond any one family member.
The policy is already shaping the next generation. Sashi Schaffter, Vice President, Corporate Finance at First Capital Holdings PLC, completed the programme last year. After returning from England, where she studied law and was called to the Bar, she rotated across subsidiaries before assuming responsibility. “It was an intense but rewarding start,” she says, reflecting on the learning process that ultimately strengthened her credibility.
Culture as the True Competitive Advantage
Janashakthi’s rise has been shaped as much by culture as by capital. Over time, shared values came to influence decisions across the Group. As JXG evolved through mergers and acquisitions, it sought to carry a unified culture across. That continuity became a stabilising force and a competitive advantage.
How Values Became Operating Principles
JXG’s culture wasn’t something that was formally drafted into existence in a boardroom. “So, my father as the founder did not see it as establishing values. He was just who he was. And those characteristics became part of the DNA of the company,” said Ramesh.
Integrity came first. “My father did not believe in small print,” Ramesh says. C.T.A Schaffter had policy exclusions printed in bold, so customers were clear about what was not covered. That clarity became organisational practice, an early expression of the firm’s founding ethos.
Performance was equally central. The bid for the NIC, Ramesh says, was “driven by performance.” What he describes today as exponential growth was already under way 25 years ago. A company of 300 absorbed a business of 700, effectively tripling its staff overnight. That appetite for scale is codified as he describes JXG as, “A performance-driven business. We encourage and reward performance. Every staff member has their KPIs. This is one of our foundational values.”
Innovation formed the third pillar. C.T.A. Schaffter introduced products that challenged established conventions. “He innovated in a way the industry had not seen,” Ramesh says. Over time, that instinct was embedded in the organisation. Innovation is encouraged rather than controlled, with responsibility given to teams. “We want to empower people to take the baton and run,” he says.
Culture as a Strategic Asset
Each of these founding values were forged in the furnace of JXG’s daily operations. In its formative years, C.T.A. Schaffter took staff from the wholesale markets in Pettah to factory warehouses where the goods they insured were stored and traded. He spoke with merchants and labourers alike to show underwriters how these goods were transported and handled.
Insurance, then, was treated as a physical business. Risk was observed before it was priced. Decisions were grounded in what could be observed and discussed in person.
Internally, the culture felt personal. The early team was small and closely managed. Staff describe C.T.A Schaffter’s influence as direct and far-reaching. Employees often cited the phrase “like family.” His leadership drew less on theory than on experience, shaped by his own rise from clerk to insurer. As the firm expanded, that ethos endured. Many early employees retained a sense of ownership.
“Janashakthi’s culture originates in my father’s relationship with his staff. He felt a deep sense of responsibility towards them and believed every individual mattered”, said Manjula Mathews, Chairperson at First Capital Treasuries PLC and Deputy Chairperson at First Capital Holdings PLC.
Manjula Mathews, Chairperson at First Capital Treasuries PLC and Deputy Chairperson at First Capital Holdings PLC.
Integrity, performance, and innovation formed the formal structure. Personal leadership and individual ownership gave it force. Over time, this culture evolved into a strategic asset, supporting growth as the group faced larger tests over the years.
The Role of Culture in Sustaining Performance Today
Three decades on, the operating environment bears little resemblance to the one in which Janashakthi was founded. Today, algorithms and digital platforms define the terrain. Yet as the third-generation steps forward, JXG’s view is that its founding values are the assets to succeed.
“Business and operating environments may be volatile, but values provide the consistency that guides us through every economic and business cycle. While the world has changed over the past 30 years, our guiding principles have remained the same,” explains Tehan Schaffter, Strategy & Planning Lead at Janashakthi Insurance PLC.
Tehan Schaffter, Strategy & Planning Lead at Janashakthi Insurance PLC.
“Business and operating environments may be volatile, but values provide the consistency that guides us through every economic and business cycle. While the world has changed over the past 30 years, our guiding principles have remained the same.”
The group embeds its values through structure. Every recruit across subsidiaries undergoes a common induction. “The first thing they learn is what the values are,” he says, adding that there can be no gap between stated principles and lived culture.
Sashi Schaffter, Vice President, Corporate Finance at First Capital Holdings PLC.
“I do think leadership is responsible for creating culture. When I see JXG, I see financial empowerment of Sri Lankans.”
“I do think leadership is responsible for creating culture,” said Sashi, arguing that culture is shaped by leaders who live the values they promote. “It must be something one can believe in, find relevant and contribute to, and that the next generation can build on,” she adds. “When I see JXG, I see financial empowerment of Sri Lankans.”
Founding Vision & Early Convictions
Today, JXG stands as a financial conglomerate managing billions in assets, with its reach extending island wide. Yet its story began modestly.
It was C.T.A. Schaffter’s confidence, shaped by years of experience in the insurance sector, that gave life to his vision. In a modest room in the cricket pavilion at the Moors Sports Club, he launched Protection and Indemnity Co. Ltd (P&I).
The company began as a principal agent of the NIC and then shifted into brokering after the industry liberalised in 1987. The firm grew rapidly and expanded in 1993 when it acquired Acland Insurance Services, a government-owned principal agent for Rs13.5 million.
In 1988, he helped launch CTC Eagle, one of the first private insurers after liberalisation. He recruited staff, shaped policy structures and ran life operations. But insurance brokering had its limits. Hence, founding his own company was the logical next step. “I either started my own company or would have remained a salesman all my life.”
In 1992, at the age of 64, when most consider retirement—C.T.A. Schaffter founded the company, driven not by corporate ambition but by conviction. The Janashakthi Life Insurance Company was registered. But licensing took time, with approvals coming only in August 1994, two years later. Operations began four weeks later, as Sri Lanka’s first specialised life insurer on September 15th 1994, with a team of hand-picked professionals.
His vision was neither financial engineering nor scale for its own sake. It was in his own words, “Insurance should be something that looks after people. It’s to provide a family with funds in the case of the death of the breadwinner. The objective we had was to be as fair as we could to the policyholder.”
Around this time, the second generation of the Schaffter family entered the business. At his father’s urging, Prakash worked across functions in those early days before assuming a managerial role.
Similarly, Ramesh alongside Dinesh led the effort then to raise capital for Janashakthi Life. “We closed the issue when the capital reached Rs175 million, seven times the statutory requirement. At that point, we had the highest paid-up share capital among private insurers,” Ramesh recalls.
A year later, in 1995, Janashakthi expanded into general insurance, recording over Rs200 million in premiums in its first year. The market was intense, and capital raising proved demanding. Janashakthi chose to differentiate. “We did some things which others didn’t. We took more risks,” said C.T.A Schaffter.
The boldest move was to make motor insurance its spearhead. At the time, private insurers either avoided the segment or accepted it under tight conditions, as it was widely viewed as loss-making. To make that risk viable, the company reshaped its reinsurance. “We negotiated with some British companies to reinsure us on a completely different basis, on an excess of loss basis, so we were able to keep this business profitable,” recalls Prakash. “Later, other companies began to do the same thing, but by then we had got ourselves a head start.”
In 1997, those risks began to pay off. Janashakthi General lifted its policy count to 30,000 and recorded a profit of Rs15 million, building on the 21,000 policies and Rs209 million turnover achieved a year earlier. Janashakthi Life, in its third full year, broke even and declared its first bonus to customers invested in with bonus policies.
In 2000, Janashakthi Life and Janashakthi General merged to form Janashakthi Insurance Company Ltd. The move followed the exit of the National Development Bank and CIC from Janashakthi Life, a development that allowed the Schaffter family to increase its stake. The millennium closed with a single insurer under the Janashakthi name.
Subsequently, the 2000s brought growth and strain in equal measure. Economic shocks, regulatory change and sharper competition tested the Group’s resolve. Strategy evolved with the changing times, yet its core principles held.
Legacy Beyond Ownership and Reflections on Continuity
Across three decades, what endured at JXG was not simply ownership, but a set of habits. Some were explicit, such as discipline in underwriting and restraint in capital allocation. Others were less formal, passed on through example rather than contract. Risk was to be understood, not avoided. Growth was to be earned, not extracted.
C.T.A. Schaffter, looking back, frames the early years in those terms. The company began as a small, largely one-man operation. It survived, he says, by doing “some things which others didn’t” and by accepting that insurance, at its core, is about taking measured risks. As the business expanded, he stepped aside from daily management. The institution, he believed, had to outgrow the founder.
For the second generation, stewardship meant building scale with purpose. For Ramesh, that purpose is measured in impact. “Yes, we measure profit, and the Janashakthi Group isn’t small.” he says. “But how many lives do we actually impact? How are we transforming people’s lives?”
With that scale has come responsibility. For a conglomerate operating across insurance, finance and capital markets, impact is not abstract. Since its inception, Janashakthi has paid out Rs68.91 billion in insurance claims. Ramesh also points to First Capital’s financial-literacy initiatives, aimed at widening participation in a still-shallow capital market. The same logic, strengthening the system that underpins the firm, informs its broader financial operations.
Reflecting on the company’s expansion over three decades, Prakash says, “Along the way, we have embraced our responsibilities in supporting the people through some very challenging times, and our history will show that we have always been there when the chips were down. It has been a long, hard journey, but I believe we have truly made our mark, emerging as one of the leading players in the field. And now we are poised for another very interesting phase of growth.”
Across generations, continuity has been built on governance and institutional discipline rather than on ownership alone. Success, in this case, is measured not only in profit or market share but in durability, social impact, and the ability to build an institution that can outlast those who lead it.