By Andrei Skvarsky. Portuguese businessman Pedro Manuel Pereira da Silva, chief executive of Russian food retailer Dixy, argues that the current economic situation in Russia, though described by many as a crisis, means opportunities for business. Continue Reading
Category Archives: Views
Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) – October 2016 Newsletter
AFC Funds Performance Summary Now that the race for the Presidency of the United States of America is concluded, many analysts are pondering the possible consequences of the outcome of the election for their investments and how to best position investment portfolios for return maximization or risk management. As the US is the most important… Continue Reading
Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) – September 2016 Newsletter
AFC Funds Performance Summary September has been another good month for AFC. The AFC Asia Frontier Fund returned +2.3%, up for the seventh month in a row to a new all-time high, bringing the year to date performance to +14.2%. At the same time, the MSCI Frontier Markets Asia Index was down by -0.5% for… Continue Reading
Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) – August 2016 Newsletter
“Successful Investing takes time, discipline and patience. No matter how great the talent or effort, some things just take time: You can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.” – Warren Buffet AFC Funds Performance Summary The AFC Asia Frontier Fund has recorded its 6th month of positive performance in… Continue Reading
Sun Global Investments CEO: 5-fold rise in US direct investment in India is Modi’s work
By Andrei Skvarsky. The chief executive of Sun Global Investments, a London-based financial services firm, has confirmed that US direct investment in India has increased fivefold over the past two years, and has put it to the credit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been in office since May 2014. Continue Reading
Brexit bad for Poland but may have upsides to it too – Polish minister
By Andrei Skvarsky. Britain’s exit from the European Union means that in Poland GDP growth could slow by as much as one per cent in 2017 and 2018, a Bloomberg analyst has said, citing the Polish economic development minister. Continue Reading
Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) – May 2016 Newsletter
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” – Chinese Proverb Continue Reading
Russia consumer sentiment barometer of MNI Indicators down to ‘record low’
By Andrei Skvarsky. Surveys by a research subsidiary of Deutsche Boerse suggest that consumer sentiment in Russia dropped to a “record low” in May after edging up steadily for a few months. Continue Reading
The Best Market in the World?
By Carl T. Delfeld Vice Chairman, ASEAN Investment Council. This article has been kindly made available to EmergingMarkets.me by Thomas Hugger, CEO and Fund Manager of Asia Frontier Capital Wouldn’t it be great if you could create an ideal market to invest in out of thin air? Right off the bat you would want growth – lots… Continue Reading
GUEST ARTICLE: China’s aggressive hunt for overseas property as yuan goes down
By Ivan Stupachenko, Tranio.com real estate brokerage.* With so much money flying into overseas real estate markets, it begs the question: Who are these Chinese investors and why are they so eager to get their funds off the mainland? Continue Reading
Lombard Odier: Brexit may shake London’s status as global financial hub
By Andrei Skvarsky. Swiss private bank Lombard Odier has warned that a Brexit – Britain’s potential exit from the European Union through the June 23 referendum – may threaten London’s status as a global financial centre, thereby depriving Britain of one of its key assets. Continue Reading
Russian companies increasingly upbeat for 3rd month running – Deutsche Boerse intel arm
By Andrei Skvarsky. Surveys by an intelligence subsidiary of Deutsche Boerse suggest that Russia’s business community has been increasingly optimistic in February, March and April. Continue Reading
Developers sure to hail China’s real estate destocking policy – CEIC
By Andrei Skvarsky. A current Chinese government policy to stimulate real estate sales as a way to clear the country’s stocks of unused properties is likely to benefit developers and hence give a boost to construction, according to a subsidiary of the Euromoney Institutional Investor publishing group. Continue Reading
FXPrimus analyst: Oil price likely to sink back, oil market to stay volatile overall
A senior analyst at the FXPrimus global financial and commodities brokerage believes that the oil price, having risen by about 60 per cent since February, is likely to drop again but that in any case it will remain volatile in the foreseeable future. Continue Reading
MNI Indicators poll suggests business sentiment in Russia has gone up markedly
By Andrei Skvarsky. Monthly surveys by Deutsche Boerse-owned research company MNI Indicators suggest that Russian companies were by and large doing better in March than in February and that overall business sentiment in Russia went up with optimists and pessimists making up roughly equal proportions of the country’s business community. Continue Reading
Lombard Odier banker: Financial situation in Russia ‘under control’
By Andrei Skvarsky. Lombard Odier, a Swiss private bank with a presence in Russia, does not see the latter’s economic troubles as a major crisis and believes that the country might be at the start of a path towards recovery. Continue Reading
Lawyer suggests EU govts help dispel banks’ fears of returning to Iran
By Andrei Skvarsky. A London lawyer has suggested that European Union governments pilot European banks through a grey area that makes them afraid of moving into the Iranian market despite the United States’ lifting of nuclear programme-related sanctions against Iran in January. Continue Reading
MNI Indicators: Consumer sentiment in Russia up slightly but still low
By Andrei Skvarsky. Surveys by MNI Indicators, a research arm of Deutsche Boerse, suggest that consumer sentiment in Russia remained quite low in February but that on the whole consumers were a wee bit more optimistic than in January. Continue Reading
Sberbank strategist: Oil, rouble to drop again but to resume ascent
By Andrei Skvarsky. A top analyst at Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, has argued that the current oil price rise and the consequent re-appreciation of the rouble represent a stable long-term trend but that both the oil price and the Russian currency are likely to sag again before resuming their upward movement. Continue Reading
MNI Indicators poll: Business sentiment in Russia up but production 19% down month-on-month
By Andrei Skvarsky. Barometric monthly surveys by a Deutsche Boerse subsidiary suggest that overall business sentiment in Russia edged up in February but that pessimists still outnumbered optimists among company executives and that production had plummeted by one-fifth month-on-month. Continue Reading
Consumer sentiment in Russia down for 2nd month in a row – MNI Indicators
By Andrei Skvarsky. Consumer sentiment in Russia edged down for the second consecutive month in January after rising a little in November, according to monthly polls by a Deutsche Boerse affiliate. Continue Reading
Business sentiment in Russia falls ‘sharply’ – Deutsche Boerse intel arm
By Andrei Skvarsky. Deutsche Boerse’s intelligence arm, citing monthly surveys, says Russia’s business community sank back into pessimism in January after a rise in optimism in December. Continue Reading
RenCap thinks Russian economy will shrink 0.6% in 2016
Russian investment bank Renaissance Capital says in a revised forecast that Russia’s economy is likely to shrink by 0.6% in 2016. Continue Reading
RenCap analyst: Iran electricity sector booming but shut to private money
An analyst at Russian investment bank Renaissance Capital says Iran generates enough electricity to cope with a hypothetical pace of economic growth that would double its GDP, but that it may be a while before private investors are let into the country’s state-controlled electricity sector. Continue Reading
GUEST ARTICLE: Is it time for the robot (advisors) to take over?
By Kim Iskyan,* founder of Truewealth Publishing, an independent Asia-focused financial website, and editor of Truewealth Asian Investment Daily, a daily e-letter. Investing can be intimidating, especially when you don’t have much experience. Some people rely on private bankers or stock brokers – who don’t always have their customers’ best interests in mind. Some people… Continue Reading
RenCap: Iran GDP may grow 4.5% by end of 2017 but stock market needs sorting out
Russian investment bank Renaissance Capital estimates that the GDP of post-sanctions Iran may grow 4.5% by the end of 2017 if the oil price stays at around $30 per barrel. Continue Reading
Consumer sentiment in Russia edges down in December – MNI Indicators
By Andrei Skvarsky. Consumer sentiment in Russia edged down again in December after going up slightly in November but was only negligibly below its start-of-2015 level, according to polls by Deutsche Boerse-owned intelligence company MNI Indicators. Continue Reading
Asia Frontier Capital Newsletter – December 2015
AFC Asia Frontier Fund (AAFF) USD A-shares gained +3.0% in December 2015. This month the fund outperformed the MSCI Frontier Markets Asia Index (+1.5%), the MSCI Frontier Markets Index (-0.3%), and the MSCI World Index (-1.9%). AFC Asia Frontier Fund A-shares ended the year with a performance of +0.8% versus the MSCI Frontier Asia Index… Continue Reading
Lamudi suggests Middle East, Asia, South America locations for property investors to look at
By Andrei Skvarsky. A statement by online real estate trader Lamudi tries to draw property investors’ attention to five areas in the Middle East, Asia and South America that it says are little-known “hotspots for buying apartments”. Continue Reading