By Andrei Skvarsky. A survey by Deutsche Boerse-owned intelligence company MNI Indicators detected an overall rise in optimism among Russian companies in December after a major drop into pessimism found by a previous survey. Continue Reading
Category Archives: Views
Sberbank: ‘New economic model’ developed in Russia, growth likely to resume in 2016
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, this week came up with an unusually upbeat economic forecast, arguing that the Russian economy has adjusted to the low oil price and is likely to resume growth in 2016. Continue Reading
Lawyer: Iran a feast of business opportunities but think of red flags before partaking
By Andrei Skvarsky. A London-based Iran-focused solicitor argues that Iran needs to make quite a bit of effort to make foreign investors feel safe about tapping into its vast business opportunities after the anticipated lifting of some of the international sanctions against the country. Continue Reading
Asia Frontier Capital Newsletter – November 2015
“Knowledge is Power” – Francis Bacon AFC Asia Frontier Fund (AAFF) USD A-shares declined -3.4% in November 2015. This month the fund outperformed the MSCI Frontier Markets Asia Index (-7.2%) and the MSCI Frontier Markets Index (-4.6%) but underperformed the MSCI World Index (-0.7%). The year to date performance of the AFC Asia Frontier Fund… Continue Reading
Lamudi: More money to pour into emerging markets real estate business in 2016
By Andrei Skvarsky. Emerging markets-focused online real estate trader Lamudi forecasts greater investment activity, including foreign investment, in the real estate sectors of emerging market countries in 2016. Continue Reading
EXCLUSIVE: Sberbank CIB chief economist denies that oil pivotal to Russian economy
By Andrei Skvarsky. Evgeny Gavrilenkov, chief economist at Sberbank CIB, the investment arm of Russia’s biggest lender Sberbank, denies that Russia’s economy hinges on oil, taking issue with a common view among economists worldwide. Continue Reading
Deutsche Boerse analysts: Russia business sentiment at record low
By Andrei Skvarsky. Monthly surveys by Deutsche Boerse analysts suggest that in November Russian companies had much gloomier feelings about the general business conditions in Russia than for a long time before. Continue Reading
Lombard Odier: Russia may be past its worst but recovery would still be hard
By Andrei Skvarsky. According to analysts at Swiss bank Lombard Odier, the Russian economy is likely to be past its worst but remains beset by problems too serious to make smooth recovery possible. Continue Reading
MNI Indicators: Consumer sentiment in Russia bleakest since 2013
By Andrei Skvarsky. Monthly surveys by MNI Indicators, an intelligence subsidiary of Deutsche Boerse, suggest that consumer sentiment in Russia went down for the second consecutive month in October and overall hit its lowest mark that month for the past two and half years. Continue Reading
Lamudi: Online real estate trade increasingly dependent on mobile devices
By Andrei Skvarsky. Lamudi, a two-year-old real estate portal focusing on emerging and frontier markets, says the number of visits to it from mobile devices has surged by an average of 32.17% since 2014. Continue Reading
EXCLUSIVE: Times rough in Russia but DIXY retailer remains a success story
Interview with DIXY CEO Ilya Yakubson. In the rugged economic landscape of today’s Russia it’s not easy for any company to even survive, least of all to do booming business. Yet DIXY, one of Russia’s oldest and biggest food retailers, is doing quite well, having grown by 26% last year. Set up in 1992, DIXY… Continue Reading
Asia Frontier Capital Newsletter – Country Snapshot: Myanmar
AFC Asia Frontier Fund (AAFF) USD A-shares gained +2.1% in October 2015. The fund this month underperformed the MSCI Frontier Asia Index (+3.2%), the MSCI World Index (+7.8%) and the MSCI Frontier Index (+3.6%) after outperforming the same indexes in September. The year to date performance of the AFC Asia Frontier Fund A-shares stands now at… Continue Reading
Russian businesses’ spirits sinking again – MNI Indicators
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russian companies’ roller coaster-like sentiment about the general business environment in their country edged down again in October after bouncing back somewhat in September and August, according to surveys by MNI Indicators, part of the Deutsche Boerse group. Continue Reading
Russian Reserve Fund may be empty by end of 2016 – finance minister
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s Reserve Fund, a sovereign fund for plugging budget deficits, may go empty by the end of 2016 if the global oil price and the value of the ruble stay at their current levels, media cited Finance Minister Anton Siluanov as saying. Continue Reading
India’s interest rate cut may spur capital outflow – CEIC
By Andrei Skvarsky. September’s unexpectedly big interest rate cut by the Indian central bank obviously aims to boost economic growth but is likely to spur the current outflow of capital from the country, intelligence company CEIC Data argues. Continue Reading
RenCap: Iran’s banking has more emerging market than frontier market characteristics
Russian investment bank Renaissance Capital, citing sources including Iranian commentators and business people, says Iran’s banking looks more like an emerging market than a frontier market sector in terms of penetration of services. Continue Reading
Putin: German businesses have ‘wise’ strategy for Russia
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russian President Vladimir Putin has credited German companies with a “balanced and wise” attitude to doing business in Russia and with investing in key Russian industries. Continue Reading
MNI Indicators: Russian consumers gloomier in September than in August
By Andrei Skvarsky. Monthly polls by intelligence company MNI Indicators, part of the Deutsche Boerse group, suggest that in September Russian consumers had the greatest pessimism about the current economic situation in their country since the firm launched its surveys in March 2013. Continue Reading
MNI Indicators poll: Russian companies slightly more upbeat in September
By Andrei Skvarsky. A monthly survey by Deutsche Boerse-owned think tank MNI Indicators suggests that in September Russian companies were a little more optimistic about the current business environment in their country despite the China-led global equity and commodity rout of the previous month. Continue Reading
Dubai UAE’s best market for long-term property investment – Bayut
By Andrei Skvarsky. Dubai-based real estate portal Bayut.com says the city’s property market “continued its price correction” in August, eliminating “all fears of another boom and bust cycle” and becoming the United Arab Emirates’ “best market” for mid- to long-term real estate investment. Continue Reading
Asia Frontier Capital Newsletter – Country Snapshot: Sri Lanka
“The stock market is a device for transferring wealth from the impatient to the patient” – Warren Buffet In September 2015, the AFC Asia Frontier Fund returned -1.4%, outperforming the MSCI Frontier Markets Asia Index (-7.5%), the MSCI World Index (-3.9%), and the MSCI Frontier Index (-2.6%), which all dropped significantly. The year to date… Continue Reading
Middle classes a key source of emerging markets’ growth – Lamudi
By Andrei Skvarsky. The economies of emerging market countries are largely driven by their rapidly growing middle classes, whose relative and increasing affluence boosts demand and hence spurs production and job creation, says online real estate trader Lamudi. Continue Reading
GUEST COMMENT: Russian credit decoupling, geopolitics
By Luis Saenz,* Head, Equity Sales & Trading, Managing Director, BCS Financial Group, Russia. In the last few months we have seen a decoupling of Russian credit from the Ruble. We find this intriguing since currency and credit in Russia has moved in lockstep for quite a while. Not a huge surprise since the underlying… Continue Reading
Russian consumers more upbeat in August but optimism fragile – MNI Indicators
By Andrei Skvarsky. The average Russian consumer felt slightly more upbeat in August than in July, Deutsche Boerse-owned intelligence company MNI Indicators said with the reservation that the alleged uptick was “barely off the lows witnessed in March” and warning it might be short-lived. Continue Reading
Asia Frontier Capital Newsletter – Country Snapshot: Mongolia
In August 2015, the AFC Asia Frontier Fund lost -1.4%, outperforming the MSCI Frontier Asia Index (-8.1%), the MSCI World Index (-6.8%) and the MSCI Frontier Index (-5.8%), which all dropped significantly. The year to date performance of the AFC Asia Frontier Fund A-shares stands now at +0.7% versus the MSCI Frontier Asia Index which is down… Continue Reading
MNI Indicators: Russian companies a bit happier but loans harder to get
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russian companies were slightly more upbeat about the overall business environment in their country in August than they had been in July despite the plunge in oil prices in recent months, according to surveys by Deutsche Boerse-owned intelligence company MNI Indicators. Continue Reading
Lamudi: Emerging markets a world of ‘financial centres of tomorrow’
By Andrei Skvarsky. Investors shouldn’t neglect financial centres in emerging markets, some of which, though little known, have excellent prospects, according to online real estate dealer Lamudi, which does business in 34 emerging- and frontier-market countries. Continue Reading
Antal Russia: Russia-based expats having financial problems
By Andrei Skvarsky. Western expats have been leaving Russia in droves since the Ukrainian crisis erupted and economic woes began to beset the country, and a survey by a headhunter suggests that those who stay are on the whole less than affluent. Continue Reading
GUEST ARTICLE: How to find a reliable real estate agency in Dubai
The article has been contributed by Dubai-based real estate portal Bayut.com. Dubai’s lucrative real estate market is a haven for thousands of real estate agents who are aiming to help customers make a worthwhile investment, while saving a “slice of the cake” for themselves. Continue Reading