JPMorgan Chase has recently appointed Martin Marron as CEO of Latin America. Marron will also continue to serve as head of Americas sales and trading for global emerging markets, a position he has held since 2007, which includes oversight for teams in Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and New York. He will be responsible for overseeing all… Continue Reading
Category Archives: News
NOMOS-BANK makes new senior appointments
New senior appointments have been made in the management team of NOMOS-BANK. Yelena Budnik is appointed Senior Vice President of NOMOS-BANK. In this role, Yelena will lead the Bank’s retail business. Alexey Karahan is appointed Senior Vice President in charge of both Strategic Communications and HR departments. Dmitry Romaev is appointed Advisor to the President of NOMOS-BANK. He will be responsible for the coordination of NOMOS-BANK integration into the structure… Continue Reading
Marguerite Fund expands its wind farm portfolio with the acquisition of a stake in an 80 MW project in Romania
The Marguerite Fund announced today that it has acquired a 50% stake in the Chirnogeni (80MW) wind farm in Romania, from Cyprus-based developer EP Global Energy, which will remain a 20% shareholder. The project, which is about to start construction, comprises 32 Nordex N90/2500 2.5MW wind turbines for a total installed capacity of 80MW. It… Continue Reading
Elbrus Capital buys out stake in Russian Delivery Co SPSR-Express
Elbrus Capital, Russian venture capital firm, has bought out Svarog Capital Advisors‘ stake in Russian express delivery company SPSR-Express. Svarog’s investment vehicle in the holding was the Russian Retail Growth Fund, which has exited partially from the delivery company as a stakeholder. Elbrus managing partner Dmitri Krukov led the transaction for the buyer, while Svarog was… Continue Reading
Mail.ru early investor adds $75 Mln to IMI.VC
IMI.VC, the investment company founded by Igor Matsanyuk, has bagged USD 75 mln from one of the early investors in Mail.ru – Mikhail Vinchel. Along with Gregory Finger, another Mail.ru investor in the early stage, the three form the board of directors for IMI.VC. Social gaming player Game Insight and Farminers (mobile incubator) are products of the… Continue Reading
Softline Goes Mobile with Apps4All Russia
Softline Venture Partners have made their first investment in the mobile applications sector with a USD 500,000 equity purchase in Apps4All, a Russian platform where mobile app developers can participate in training, events, research and other activities along with their peers in the industry. In 2011, Softline made investments in the range of USD 100,000 to USD… Continue Reading
Grishin Robotics Invests $250,000 Into the RobotAppStore
Grishin Robotics, the personal robotics fund kickstarted by Mail.Ru Group co-founder and CEO Dmitry Grishin, has pumped $250,000 into RobotAppStore, an open, online marketplace for robotics applications. The investment firm had earlier backed Y Combinator graduate Double Robotics with the exact same amount. In both cases, detailed terms of the deal were not disclosed. RobotAppStore… Continue Reading
SBERBANK COMMENT FROM CHRIS WEAFER: Russia in context – an expected journey
By Chris Weafer, Chief Strategist, Sberbank Investment Research. It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit US budget worries have balanced out macro optimism. Markets have been in something of a zero-sum game in recent weeks as the lingering concern over… Continue Reading
SBERBANK COMMENT: Fixed income – 2013 preview: nothing is (im)possible
By Alexander Kudrin, Head of Fixed Income Research, Managing Director, Sberbank Investment Reseach. The performance of most bonds at end 2012 promises to be impressive. Liquidity njections by leading central banks, the main tool against the financial crisis, have sent interest rates in developed markets down to almost zero. Moreover, the key guide for such… Continue Reading
Fastlane Ventures booster of startups gets Kazakh tycoon Rakishev on board
By Andrei Skvarsky. Fastlane Ventures, a Moscow-based venture capital firm specialising in support for startup Web businesses, has given a seat on its board to Kenges Rakishev, a Kazakh tycoon and high-profile international technology industry investor. Fastlane received a $13m investment from Rakishev, according to a statement from the company, which takes about 50 days… Continue Reading
VTB Capital issues Micex index-linked ruble bonds
Moscow-based VTB Capital has issued ruble bonds to a total of one billion rubles ($32m) linked to the Micex index. International rating agency Moody’s has assigned a rating of Baa1 to the bonds, which have a tenor of a little more than a year and have been put on sale at Moscow’s Micex stock exchange.… Continue Reading
SBERBANK COMMENT: Muddling through with modernization
By Evgeny Gavrilenkov, Chief Economist, Managing Director, Sberbank CIB. Economic growth slows. GDP rose 2.9% y_o_y in 3Q12. Formally, GDP growth slowed from 4.5% over 1H12, but this was due mainly to a 5.6% drop in agricultural output in 3Q12, versus an increase of 29.7% in 3Q11. Although growth decelerated in other sectors, such as… Continue Reading
VTB Capital appoints Lewis Wong as Head of Asia Illiquid Credit Trading
VTB Capital has appointed Lewis Wong as Managing Director, Head of Illiquid Credit Trading, Asia, to take the responsibility for the regional development of illiquid credit trading. He will be based in Hong Kong and will report directly to Roman Nagaev, Head of Investment, Credit & Project Finance, and regionally to Damian Chunilal, CEO Asia at… Continue Reading
Ukraine: First snowfall already turning to slush
By Conal Campbell of www.Growth-Communications.com. The week started with twin signs of optimism with the government of Mykola Azarov resigning (with the hope being that he may be replaced as PM by National Bank governor and relative liberal Sergiy Arbuzov) and announcement of an official IMF visit aiming to restart cooperation to help Ukraine meet its… Continue Reading
Sberbank hires Credit Suisse banker to look after UHNWIs
Sberbank has announced it has hired Vasiliy Sofiyskiy from Credit Suisse to head the ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWI) unit in the newly set-up private banking arm of Russia’s biggest lender. Sofiysky’s arrival at Sberbank Private Banking and other recent senior hires by Sberbank are part of a major buildout of business launched by the lender in 2011… Continue Reading
RenCap appoints John Hyman, Igor Vayn as co-CEOs
Renaissance Capital has divided the job of chief executive officer between two bankers by promoting John Hyman, who joined the Russian investment bank last year, and hiring Igor Vayn from Otkritie. Hyman was also appointed as chairman of the Moscow-based company, according to a statement from the firm. Hyman was interim chief executive after Stephen… Continue Reading
Sberbank hires manager from UBS to help get private banking off the ground
Sberbank Private Banking, a newly set-up division of Russia’s Sberbank, has given a senior managerial role to Anna Tokaeva from Swiss bank UBS, where she has held top positions in wealth and asset management. Tokaeva spent 12 years with UBS, being posted in Chicago and Moscow, before coming over to help develop what is a new… Continue Reading
Ukraine: Downgraded growth, downgraded ambitions
By Conal Campbell of www.Growth-Communications.com. Ukraine’s government has approved its macroeconomic forecast for 2013, projecting GDP growth of 3.4% (vs. 0% expected this year) in line with the latest IMF forecast but exceeding Kiev based Dragon Capital’s projection of 2.5%. With Ukraine’s GDP growth expected to under-perform most regional peers on the back of a deteriorating investment… Continue Reading
VTB pulls off $107.1m securitisation deal with Investtradebank
VTB Capital has pulled off a 3.3bn-ruble ($107.1m) deal to securitise a mortgage portfolio for Investtradebank, a Moscow-based lender also known as Investtorgbank. The senior tranche of the mortgage securities, placed on Moscow stock exchange Micex by open tender, is expected to raise about 2.4bn rubles ($77.8m) for Investtradebank, according to a statement from the… Continue Reading
RenCap: Africa a great place to invest
By Andrei Skvarsky. A Renaissance Capital team of analysts have brought out a book making a passionate case for investment in Africa, crediting the continent’s economy with developing by leaps and bounds. “The economies of most African nations have transformed beyond recognition, and are set to surpass the growth seen in Asia and India over… Continue Reading
Sberbank hires head of equities portfolio management
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s Sberbank Asset Management has hired Roman Filatov, a banker with nearly 20 years’ experience, as head of equities portfolio management. Filatov held senior roles at Russia’s Renaissance Investment Management in 2008-2009 and at Templeton Asset Management for 11 years before that. He arrives at Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, from IXIA Asset… Continue Reading
Revere launches consultancy for early-stage hedge funds
By Andrei Skvarsky. Revere Capital Advisors, a hedge fund management specialist, has launched a strategic marketing and business development consultancy for early-stage hedge funds. The consultancy, REM Marketing Solutions, is based in London and offers marketing, sales, product management and business management services. Its managers for Europe are Camilla Balmer and Yvonne Barker-Layton, according to… Continue Reading
Ukraine agribusiness co-owned by RenCap hires CFO
By Andrei Skvarsky. Ukrainian Agrarian Investments (UAI), a major Ukrainian farming business co-founded and co-owned by Russia’s Renaissance Capital, has hired Alexandre Joseph from French agricultural company AgroGeneration as chief financial officer. A statement from RenCap, which is currently selling out to billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov’s Onexim Group. credits Joseph, who will be based in Kyiv, with… Continue Reading
Magnitsky case defendant’s life in danger, witness says
By Andrei Skvarsky. A Moscow court has been told there is a conspiracy to murder Dmitry Kratov, the only defendant in the Magnitsky case, said British investment fund Hermitage Capital. Olga Grigorieva, a former head of the medical service for Moscow’s prisons, told the Tverskoi Court that a former prison official had warned her in… Continue Reading
GOLDMAN SACHS COMMENT: Washington and Beijing
By Jim O’Neill, Chairman, Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Washington and Beijing. This week has been an important news week, at least for the media, for political developments in the US and China. I would question whether anything has materially changed as a result of the US election and the Chinese leadership handover. The stock markets… Continue Reading
Russia sets up central securities depository
By Andrei Skvarsky. The National Settlement Depository, part of Moscow’s Micex-RTS stock exchange, has been granted the status of Russia’s central securities depository (CSD). “Foreign central depositories will now be able to open nominee accounts with Russia’s CSD,” Micex-RTS said in a statement. Russian state and corporate bonds will have links to international central securities… Continue Reading
EXCLUSIVE: BrokerCreditService hires quant strategist from Gulf Intl Bank
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russian brokerage BrokerCreditService (BCS), which has been recruiting intensively over the past few months, has hired Shan Jiang from Gulf International Bank as a quant strategist. Jiang took up his duties at BCS’s London office on Tuesday, Luis Saenz, the London-based head of equity and derivatives sales and trading at the brokerage,… Continue Reading
Troika Dialog name scrapped for good as last unit gets under Sberbank brand
By Andrei Skvarsky. The name Troika Dialog is coming out of use altogether as the brokerage’s asset management arm has changed its name to Sberbank Asset Management (Sberbank AM) effective from November 6. The renaming of Troika Dialog Asset Management is the final act of merger between the 21-year-old Moscow brokerage and Sberbank, according to… Continue Reading
Kazakh oil pipeline aims to raise $199 mln in IPO
Kazakhstan’s oil pipeline monopoly KazTransOil plans to raise 30 billion tenge ($199 million) via an initial public offer (IPO) as part of the Central Asian nation’s “People’s IPO” programme, a senior sovereign wealth fund official said on Friday. The oil-rich country’s government plans to invigorate the small local stock market and raise around $500 million… Continue Reading