By Andrei Skvarsky. Two financial services firms are launching a $200m fund to provide loans to Russian fintech companies in a bid to help a sector starved of financing because of legal constraints. Continue Reading
Category Archives: News
Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) – July 2017 Newsletter
“I think you have to learn that there’s a company behind every stock and there’s only one real reason why stocks go up. Companies go from doing poorly to doing well or small companies grow to large companies.” – Peter Lynch AFC Funds Performance Summary Most major equity markets in the world performed well this past… Continue Reading
Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) – June 2017 Newsletter
AFC Funds Performance Summary Rallies in frontier markets and emerging markets continued in June 2017 as the MSCI Frontier Markets Asia Net Total Return USD Index added +3.1%, while the global MSCI Frontier Markets Net Total Return USD Index returned +0.6% and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index Net Total Return Index rallied +1.0%. Worldwide, developed… Continue Reading
CEIC: Europe’s ex-communist nations record strong growth for Q1
By Andrei Skvarsky. The former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe showed impressive economic growth in the first quarter of 2017 with an average gross domestic product increase of 3.5 per cent, according to New York-based data provider CEIC. Continue Reading
Sberbank joins syndicated mezzanine loan for O1 Group investment firm
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, has bought an $80m stake in a syndicated mezzanine loan extended to Russian company O1 Group, one of the biggest owners of Russian non-state pension funds and a manager of commercial real estate. Continue Reading
Sberbank to stay out of Crimea, CEO reiterates
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank’s chief executive recently again excluded the possibility of Russia’s biggest lender establishing any presence in Crimea in the foreseeable future. Continue Reading
Asia Frontier Capital – May 2017 Newsletter
“Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing. – Warren Buffet AFC Funds Performance Summary May 2017 was characterized by a strong performance for emerging markets and for a number of frontier markets in our universe as well. Developed markets were also mainly positive with the S&P 500 Index up +1.2%, though the Nikkei… Continue Reading
Russia’s CarMoney fintech lender reports fast business growth
By Andrei Skvarsky. CarMoney, a Russian online retail provider of loans secured on motor vehicles, has reported rapid business growth for the little more than a year it has existed as a rebranded company. Continue Reading
London forum to look for ways for retail banks to survive competition with fintechs
Financial technology (fintech) companies, even startups, are a major threat to retail banks as they can lend more cheaply, easily and quickly. Ways for traditional retail lending to keep its ground will be examined at the Lending Products in Retail Banking conference in London on June 19-20, 2017. Continue Reading
Moscow Exchange happy with its 2016 record
By Andrei Skvarsky. Moscow Exchange, the company managing Russia’s main securities, money and precious metals exchange, has expressed satisfaction with its own corporate performance last year and with the volumes of trade it hosted in 2016. Continue Reading
Vienna risk management forum to look into Brexit, CEE risks, cybersecurity
With Brexit being a serious challenge to bankers, the extensive agenda of this September’s planned 7th Annual Risk Management Forum in Vienna includes a session on what the conference organisers describe as a “new generation of risks” posed by Britain’s planned 2019 secession from the European Union. Continue Reading
Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) – March 2017 Newsletter
March 2017 was generally a mixed month for world markets with some markets giving back part of their gains from earlier this year, including the Dow Jones Index (−0.7%), the Nikkei 225 (−1.1%), and the Shanghai Composite Index (−0.6%). In contrast, other markets continued ahead, such as the Euro Stoxx 50 Index which rose by… Continue Reading
European payments forum to discuss fintech, blockchains, Brexit
A debate on whether banks should fight or cooperate with financial technology (fintech) and blockchain technology news are some of the hot points on the programme of the planned 4th Annual European Payments Forum in Vienna on September 14-15, 2017. Continue Reading
ITI Group buys UK brokerage from Russia’s Uralsib financial corporation
By Andrei Skvarsky. ITI Group, an emerging markets brokerage focusing on technology and algorithmic trading, has bought a London-based brokerage from Russian financial corporation Uralsib. Continue Reading
More Russians, CIS nationals invest in real estate abroad – Tranio broker
By Andrei Skvarsky. A 2016 survey by Moscow-based property broker Tranio suggests that, among Russians and other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) nationals buying real estate abroad, the proportion of those doing this as a form of investment has grown significantly since 2014. Continue Reading
Ukraine central bank asks police to shield sanctioned Russian-controlled banks from riots
By Andrei Skvarsky. The Ukrainian central bank has urged the police to make nationalist rioters stop forcibly disrupting the business of Ukrainian outlets of Russian state-controlled banks that have had sanctions imposed on them by Kiev for alleged support for Ukraine’s Moscow-backed separatist industrial east, and to prevent them from vandalising the lenders’ offices. Continue Reading
Apartment rents in Dubai, Abu Dhabi keep going down – Bayut
By Andrei Skvarsky. Last year’s decline in apartment rents in Dubai and Abu Dhabi has overall continued into 2017, though there were minor rises in January and February, according to Dubai-based real estate portal and private company Bayut.com, which argues that the real estate markets in both cities are by and large doing well. Continue Reading
Two Sberbank employees accused of stealing $700K from customer
By Andrei Skvarsky. Two Moscow-based employees of the customer service of Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, are accused of stealing 40m roubles ($700,000) from one of the bank’s clients. Continue Reading
Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) – February 2017 Newsletter
“While it might seem that anyone can be a value investor, the essential characteristics of this type of investor – patience, discipline, and risk aversion – may well be genetically determined.” – Seth Andrew Klarman is an American value investor, hedge fund manager, philanthropist, in the hedge fund manager hall of fame, and founder of… Continue Reading
China finance minister says govt debt risks under control
By Andrei Skvarsky. China’s finance minister has put the total debt ratio of the country’s central and local governments at 36.7 per cent, arguing that this level is not high and will not change much by the end of 2017, that government debt risks are controllable, and that the government still has room for borrowing. Continue Reading
Top diplomat raps US bill to put Russia under ‘something like an economic blockade’
By Andrei Skvarsky. In a fresh sign of waning hopes in Moscow of a rapprochement with the United States, a top Russian diplomat has slammed “ill-wishers” in the US Congress for a plan to put Russia under “something like an economic blockade”. Continue Reading
Aton: institutional investors think West unlikely to ease Russia sanctions
By Andrei Skvarsky. In a survey by Aton, one of Russia’s oldest investment companies, 76 per cent of more than 100 Russian institutional investors said they thought the West is unlikely to soften its sanctions against Russia. Continue Reading
With money-laundering scandal over, Deutsche Bank’s Russian unit has backdated tax bill to sort out
By Andrei Skvarsky. On top of having been at the centre of a money-laundering scandal that forced the parent company to pay large fines to British and US regulators in January, Deutsche Bank’s Russian subsidiary has received a 10bn-rouble ($174m) backdated tax bill from the Russian government. Continue Reading
Over 80 pct of buyers in Detsky Mir IPO foreign investors – Sberbank CIB
By Andrei Skvarsky. More than 80 per cent of buyers of the stock sold in the current highly successful initial public offering (IPO) of shares in Russian children’s goods retailer Detsky Mir were foreign investors, according to Sberbank CIB, a co-book runner of the sale. Continue Reading
Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) – January 2017 Newsletter
“What you pay for an investment is the single biggest determinant for how successful that investment will be. When equity prices are high, your returns will be lower. When they are cheap, your returns will be higher.” – Barry Ritholtz AFC Funds Performance Summary The team at Asia Frontier Capital would like to wish all… Continue Reading
Money launderers smuggle at least $2.4m from Russia in 2016 by manipulating judiciary – newspaper
By Andrei Skvarsky. At least 16bn roubles ($2.4m) was taken out of Russia last year through a simple money-laundering scheme that had a practically unchallengeable cloak of legality over it due to the manipulation of the country’s arbitration courts, according to Russian business daily Kommersant. Continue Reading
Sberbank Europe’s 6th most valuable banking brand – Brand Finance
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank, the name of Russia’s largest bank, is the sixth most valuable banking brand in Europe, according to Brand Finance, a global business valuation and strategy consultancy. Continue Reading
Russia’s no. 1 children’s retailer hopes to raise up to $434.5m via IPO
By Andrei Skvarsky. Detsky Mir, Russia’s number-one children’s goods retailer, hopes to raise up to 26bn roubles ($434.5m) through a planned initial public offering (IPO) of shares to be managed by several banks including Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Continue Reading
Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Sberbank to run IPO for Russia’s Detsky Mir kids retailer
By Andrei Skvarsky. Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, UBS and Sberbank will oversee an initial public offering of ordinary shares announced on January 16 by Detsky Mir, Russia’s iconic, largest and booming goods retailer for children. Continue Reading