“The only way to stay consistently ahead of the game is to adopt a long-term view and, if appropriate, with a strong contrarian spin.” – Marc Mobius. AFC Funds Performance Summary This past month we have again received several accolades for the outstanding work of our team: Lipper’s Citywire has again listed AFC Asia… Continue Reading
Category Archives: News
Over 20 countries represented at Moscow Exchange event
By Andrei Skvarsky. Investment professionals from more than 20 countries were among the more than 1,900 participants in an annual conference in Moscow on April 12 that was hosted by Moscow Exchange and had key Russian ministers and the Russian central bank governor among its speakers. Continue Reading
Football contest organised by UAE’s Bayut becomes networking opportunity
By Andrei Skvarsky. Bayut.com, a Dubai-based property portal, has said it organised an amateur football tournament for United Arab Emirates real estate companies which has proved to be a “great” networking opportunity for businesspeople as well as a sports event. Continue Reading
Ernst & Young says Moscow Exchange IOSCO-compliant
By Andrei Skvarsky. Moscow Exchange’s benchmarks for its currency, equity, bond and money market segments have been declared by Ernst & Young to be compliant with the principles of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), an association of securities regulators. Continue Reading
Russian startups selected for programmes to help them move to Ireland – Pulsar
By Andrei Skvarsky. Some Russian startups planning to relocate to Ireland have been declared eligible for accelerator programmes run by NDRC, an Irish early-stage investor in technology companies, NDRC and Russian venture find Pulsar Venture Capital announced today, on St Patrick’s Day. Continue Reading
Azerbaijan money supply shrinks by half since mid-2015 – newspaper
By Andrei Skvarsky. Azerbaijan’s money supply excluding bank assets has contracted nearly by half since mid-2015, an Azeri newspaper said, claiming that the reason is that Azeris have been changing national currency for dollars on a wide scale. Continue Reading
Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) – February 2016 Newsletter
“The individual investor should act consistently as an investor and not as a speculator.” – Ben Graham. AFC Asia Frontier Fund (AAFF) USD A-shares lost -0.8% in February 2016. The fund this month underperformed the MSCI Frontier Markets Asia Index (+0.4%) and the MSCI Frontier Markets Index (+3.5%), but outperformed the MSCI World Index (−1.0%).… Continue Reading
Russia’s Pulsar firm to give priority status in acceleration programme to women-founded startups
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia-based seed accelerator Pulsar Venture Capital has promised to give priority status in an acceleration programme to Russian high-tech startups founded by women in a bid to boost female presence in industries where it remains low. Continue Reading
India to resume full-scale trade with Iran
By Andrei Skvarsky. India plans to resume full-scale trade with Iran, a British business communications agency said, citing a decision by the Indian government that followed the lifting of international anti-Iranian sanctions. Continue Reading
Iran’s Bank Mellat to reopen Seoul branch
By Andrei Skvarsky. Bank Mellat, Iran’s largest private lender, plans to reopen its branch in Seoul next month after effectively suspending its business in South Korea in 2010 because of Western sanctions against the Islamic Republic, a London-based business communications agency said. Continue Reading
Sberbank: Russian real estate market afloat despite economic troubles
By Andrei Skvarsky. Though battered by current national economic troubles, Russia’s real estate market remains very much afloat, according to studies by Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender. Continue Reading
Kazakhstan bans forex pricing in e-commerce to ‘de-dollarise’ economy
By Andrei Skvarsky. Rules on electronic commerce put into force in Kazakhstan on February 2 prescribe setting all prices in Kazakh tenge and ban pricing in foreign currency as part of the “de-dollarisation of the economy”. Continue Reading
Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) – January 2016 Newsletter
“Consistency is far more important than rare moments of greatness.” – Scott Ginsberg. AFC Asia Frontier Fund (AAFF) USD A-shares lost -3.5% in January 2016. The fund this month outperformed the MSCI Frontier Markets Asia Index (-6.3%), the MSCI Frontier Markets Index (-6.8%), and the MSCI World Index (-6.1%). The performance of the AFC Asia Frontier… 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
Carrefour, Kaufland enmeshed in Poland bribery scandal – newspaper
By Andrei Skvarsky. France’s Carrefour and Germany’s Kaufland are among retailers that have found themselves entangled in a corruption scandal in Poland as executives were accused of accepting massive bribes from beverage producers for putting some of their drinks on supermarket shelves, according to a Polish daily. 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
Moscow Exchange reports major y-o-y trading volume increases
By Andrei Skvarsky. Trading volumes on Moscow Exchange grew significantly in terms of rubles between November 2014 and November 2015, with the bourse’s money market posting the lowest increase of nearly one fifth and its precious metals trade more than quadrupling, the exchange has said. Continue Reading
Kroll: Companies worldwide report increasing fraud
A survey commissioned by global risk solution provider Kroll suggests that corporate fraud has continued to increase in scale across the world in 2015 and has affected three quarters of companies worldwide this year. 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
Russia’s Promsvyazbank sets up IT development firm
By Andrei Skvarsky. One of Russia’s biggest private banks, Promsvyazbank, has set up a company to develop software that would primarily be used by the lender itself but might also be offered for sale to other firms. Continue Reading
Big Russian companies heading for Shanghai to discuss investment in Russia
Major Russian companies such as Gazprombank, the country’s third-largest lender, and development bank VEB are getting together at a forum in Shanghai on November 6 organised by Moscow Exchange and Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) to discuss investment opportunities in Russia. 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
Moscow Exchange boosts dividend payout floor to 55% of net profit
By Andrei Skvarsky. Moscow Exchange has announced that, from this year onwards, it will allocate a minimum of 55% of its net profit as calculated under international financial reporting standards for dividend payouts to its shareholders. 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
Plenty of affordable luxury real estate on sale in emerging markets – Lamudi
By Andrei Skvarsky. There is “an abundance of affordable luxury real estate on offer”, says Paul Philipp Hermann, co-founder and managing director of global online real estate trader Lamudi. Continue Reading
Moscow Exchange’s RTS Index marks 20th birthday
The RTS Index, one of Moscow Exchange’s two main stock market benchmarks, celebrates its 20th birthday on September 1. Continue Reading
EXCLUSIVE: B2B firm Uppler doing business in 150 countries a year after birth
By Andrei Skvarsky. Business-to-business (B2B) deals are a fast-growing market, and B2B company Uppler, set up by three young Frenchmen in Tel Aviv a year ago has been able to extend its multi-industry business to more than 150 countries. The entire personnel of the dot-com firm are about a dozen people one of whom works… Continue Reading
Dubai’s Morison Menon audit firm wins Superbrand status for 2nd year running
By Andrei Skvarsky. Dubai-based audit firm and business consultancy Morison Menon has for the second consecutive year been named as a top brand by a highly reputed international branding arbitration group. Continue Reading
Asia Frontier Capital Newsletter – Country Snapshot: Iran
In July 2015, the AFC Asia Frontier Fund gained +1.1%, underperforming the MSCI Frontier Asia Index (+4.3%) and the MSCI World Index (+1.7%) and outperforming the MSCI Frontier Index (-3.1%). The year to date performance of the AFC Asia Frontier Fund A-shares stands now at +2.1% versus the MSCI Frontier Asia Index which is up… Continue Reading