Kesara Manchusree became President of the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) in June 2014, committed to fulfill SET vision “To make the Capital Market ‘Work’ for Everyone.” She aims at pioneering new products and services to advance the Thai capital market and its ecosystem forward, with the ultimate goal of developing the exchange on all fronts for the benefit of all stakeholders.

Over the past three years, her stewardship has led SET to become the most appealing fund-raising platform for IPOs, with newly-developed products and services, as well as the most liquid exchange in ASEAN. Specifically, her focus on sustainability has steered SET to strengthen awareness among listed companies on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) with the goals of increasing the number of companies included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) and raising its ranking in ASEAN CG Scorecard as well as international profiles. Indeed, the strong recognition of ensuring sustainable development in Thai society implies the Thai capital market itself must also embrace sustainability, thus SET became the first ASEAN exchange and the 13th in the world to join the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchange (SSE) Initiative.

Being a pioneer is Kesara’s natural strength during her 30-year-long career at the exchange. Prior to becoming SET president, Kesara was in charge of marketing and product development of SET group. Among her significant achievements included new types of financial products and instruments for SET, the establishment of Thailand Futures Exchange, which today ranks No. 2 in ASEAN, and the creation of social impact platform and startups platform. Presently, SET is working toward the adoption of T+2 clearing and settlement cycle in line with the international best practice as well as world class infrastructure for exchange operations.

Kesara is the first SET President elected to the Board of Directors of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) in 2016. She won the Outstanding Women Award 2016 from the National Council of Women of Thailand under the Royal Patronage of HM the Queen, and an Outstanding Women Leaders for Green Growth Awards 2016 from the Federation of Business and Professional Women Under the Royal Patronage of HM the Queen in recognition of her leadership and achievements in developing SET at regional and international levels.