Aisoli heads stock exchange

KAREN Aisoli, the new general manager for Port Moresby Stock Exchange (POMSoX), attributes her success to her “loving parents”.
Although she lost both parents while she and her three sisters were still in school, the influence and guidance they left behind drove the girls to achieve their goals in life.
“I come from a family of all girls — four in the family, with good professions,” Aisoli said.
“Both our parents are from New Ireland. Our achievements today are due to our parents.
“Our late father (Konda Aisoli) was a prominent figure in the education arena in the early 70s and 80s.
“He was a school inspector in Lae, Morobe, when he died in 1984 from an heart attack.
“Mum (Susan Aisoli) was a school teacher as well.
“She died a couple of years after dad.
“But the great things that we girls are always proud of is that both our parents were very intelligent, having being Australian (scholarship) awardees.
“They studied in Australia in the early 50s, 60s.
“Upon their return to PNG after studies, they ended up getting married and started their careers in the education sector.
“We saw our parents as role models and worked hard to be like them and also to achieve our goals to share with our parents.
“Unfortunately, they both died while we were still in school,” she said.
“Growing up, we were privileged to see most provinces of PNG through our father’s employment, travelling to his job engagements in various provinces — a privilege that most Papua New Guineans never had in those years.”
The four sisters are Rachel, Christine, Karen and Stella.
Racheal, now Dr Rachel Aisoli-Orake, is a senior lecturer at the University of Technology in Lae.
Christine Aisoli is the first assistant secretary in the policy and budget division of the Department of National Planning and Monitoring in Port Moresby.
Karen is the new POMSOX general manager.
Stella Aisoli is the training coordinator with HBS PNG Ltd.
“I must say, I have always proud of my sisters’ achievements in their respective roles and professions to where they are today,” she said.
“All our achievements, and the rewards we bear today, unfortunately won’t be appreciated by our lovely parents.
She relates their success to the advancement and achievements by Papua New Guinea women today who have come far to hold senior positions in the public and private sectors.
Karen Aisoli replaced Vincent Ivosa as the POMSoX general manager.
He resigned as general manager on February 20 this year to pursue other interests.
Aisoli is a former stock broker with the Kina Group of Companies in Port Moresby.
She was employed there for 11 years — five years in broking and six years as an investment analyst.
She had worked for Bank of South Pacific in the early 1990s.
She is also a qualified economic policy analyst.
POMSoX’s major aim is to provide a medium for the mobilisation and raising of national and international capital for the long-term benefit of the citizens of Papua New Guinea.
This is important to ordinary people because they can buy a small number of shares in a company and they can be part of the launching of new companies in PNG and overseas.
It is an investment option that they can use their savings on productively rather than holding them in a savings account.
Aisoli is settling into her new job and drawing up plans on what she wants to achieve there.