Reuters Events is due to run a free interactive webinar on April 28 to look into how companies following environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment criteria can help emerging markets to survive the havoc wrought by Covid-19 and to cope with climate change effects in this situation. The one-hour webinar, ‘ESG in Emerging Markets: How… Continue Reading
Renaissance Capital makes five hires for distribution team
By Andrei Skvarsky. Renaissance Capital, an investment bank with operations in emerging and frontier markets across the globe, has made five hires for its distribution team to fill roles such as oversight of structured products and the high-net-worth individual (HNWI) clientele. RenCap quoted one of its senior managers as saying that, despite the Covid-19 pandemic,… Continue Reading
Tranio: Most property purchases abroad by Russians, CIS nationals are commercial investments
By Andrei Skvarsky. The returns of a 2018/2019 survey by Moscow-headquartered real estate broker Tranio suggest that commercial investment was the purpose of the majority of those years’ property purchases abroad by nationals of Russia and Russian speakers living elsewhere in the Commonwealth of Independent States. About 70 per cent of real estate purchases by… Continue Reading
Sberbank hires ex-CEO of key Russian insurer to run insurance subsidiary
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank said it has hired Mikhail Volkov from Russian insurance company Ingosstrakh as CEO of its subsidiary Sberbank Insurance to replace Dmitry Popov, who is going over to Ingosstrakh. Volkov had been CEO of Ingosstrakh, which is one of Russia’s largest insurers, since April 2014 and since November 2019 combined this role… Continue Reading
Sberbank hires Viktor Shkipin, ex-manager at Alfa-Bank, VTB to run marketing, communications
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, has hired Viktor Shkipin, a former head of marketing at Russian lenders Alfa-Bank and VTB, as senior vice-president and head of marketing and communications. Shkipin’s duties will include oversight of Sberbank group companies specialising in advertising and media projects in addition to managing marketing and communications at the… Continue Reading
EVENTS: Venture capital, blockchain, cryptos, classic investment to be discussed during free 4-day Global Investors Online Summit in May
More than 50 experts are going to talk on a range of investment issues during the Global Investors Online Summit, a free online conference on May 21-24 organised by DAO.digital, a California-based autonomous organisation of investors. There will be a separate theme for each day of the conference – Venture Capital for Day 1, Blockchain… Continue Reading
US fund Princeville Capital provides Russian e-retailer with $50m convertible loan
By Andrei Skvarsky. US investment fund Princeville Capital has provided Russian online retailer Ozon with a $50m loan convertible into equity. The money came as part of a round of financing in which Ozon also received convertible loans totalling $100m from its main stakeholders Sistema and Baring Vostok, according to an Ozon statement. Sistema, which… Continue Reading
RenCap: Covid-19, cheap oil spell sharp economic slowdown for Sub-Saharan Africa
By Andrei Skvarsky. The Renaissance Capital investment bank has revised its 2020 annual growth forecast for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) down to 1.3 per cent from 3.5 per cent, chiefly because of the Covid-19 pandemic and plunged oil prices. The coronavirus outbreak has brought about a “demand shock”, which “implies a sharp slowdown across all SSA… Continue Reading
Russia’s Sberbank parting company with marketing chief Marina Zhigalova-Ozkan
By Andrei Skvarsky. Marina Zhigalova-Ozkan, senior vice-president of Russia’s biggest lender Sberbank and head of its marketing and communications department, is leaving the bank nine months after joining it. “In these difficult times I’ve made up my mind to focus on developing my own business,” a Sberbank statement quoted Zhigalova-Ozkan as saying. Zhigalova-Ozkan has overseen… Continue Reading
African Development Bank’s anti-Covid-19 social bond raises $3bn
By Andrei Skvarsky. The African Development Bank (AfDB) has raised $3bn via a three-year bond to help to alleviate impacts that the Covid-19 pandemic is expected to have on livelihoods and economies in Africa. Bids exceeding $4.6bn have come in for the Fight Covid-19 bond, which has a yield of 0.75 per cent and… Continue Reading
Russian conglomerate Sistema boosts share in Ozon retailer to 43%
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russian conglomerate Sistema has enlarged its direct stake in Russian online retailer Ozon to 31.3 per cent from 21.9 per cent by converting earlier loans, with its total interest in Ozon swelling to 43 per cent as a result. The loans were made in 2019. In 2019, Sistema and the Baring Vostok… Continue Reading
EVENT POSTPONEMENTS DUE TO COVID-19
Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the following conferences with whose organisers EmergingMarkets.me has media partnership agreements have been postponed: The Digital Banking Summit organised by ICSA has been rescheduled for August 17-18 and will take place in Accra, Ghana. It was originally planned to be held on April 6-7 in Lagos. Blockchain Life, initially scheduled… Continue Reading
EVENTS: Reuters Events to host webinar on climate change-related aspects of ESG investing
Reuters Events is due to host an interactive webinar at 14:30 GMT on March 26 entitled “Climate Leaders in the Investment Community” to discuss climate change-related aspects of investing based on environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles. Those who register for the webinar will be sent recordings of the event so being unable to join… Continue Reading
Russia close to financial crisis – Russian credit agency
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia has come close to a financial crisis, Gazeta.ru and other Russian media cited Russian credit rating agency ACRA as warning. The recent collapse of OPEC-Russia talks with global oil prices plunging, the rouble dropping and the Russian stock market plummeting, and the havoc played with the world economy by the coronavirus… Continue Reading
EVENTS: APAC wealth management forum to look into emerging market opportunities, family office modernisation
The Private Wealth Management Asia Pacific Summit in Kuala Lumpur on June 3-5, an invitation-only conference organised by the marcus evans company, will have an extensive agenda, including suggested ways to find hidden opportunities in low-key asset classes and emerging markets and to capitalise on asset bubbles. The forum was originally planned to take place… Continue Reading
EVENTS: Private Wealth Management Summit, Boston, March 11-13
Risk and volatility in emerging markets and tax-efficient investing will be among key topics at the Private Wealth Management Summit in Boston, Massachusetts, on March 11-13, an invitation-only conference organised by corporate marketing company marcus evans. Other subjects to be raised are cybersecurity in the family office, the role of blockchain and ways to react… Continue Reading
Standard Chartered: profits up 8 per cent year-on-year but headwinds to affect 2020 performance
By Andrei Skvarsky. Banking group Standard Chartered has reported an underlying profit increase of 8 per cent for 2019 but predicted possible worse performance than expected for this year because of macroeconomic factors and the coronavirus outbreak. Standard Chartered’s earnings per share grew by 23 per cent in 2019, the London-headquartered lender, which is present… Continue Reading
EVENT UPDATE: App, meeting area to be provided for networking at Blockchain Life 2020
Networking facilities will be a key organisational element of Blockchain Life 2020, the fifth in a series of annual international conferences on blockchain and cryptocurrencies, which is due to be held in Moscow on April 22-23. There will be a special app, Networking 2.0. Afterstating one’s interests when registering at the conference, one will be… Continue Reading
Dubai’s Mashreq hires ex-HSBC banker Joel Van Dusen as head of corporate & investment banking
By Andrei Skvarsky. Mashreq has hired former HSBC and Bank of America banker Joel Van Dusen as head of corporate and investment banking, according to a statement from the Dubai-based lender. At HSBC, where he worked from 2013 to 2016, Van Dusen was the first global head of large corporates, which was a London-based position.… Continue Reading
African Development Bank parting company with senior vice-president Charles Boamah
By Andrei Skvarsky. Charles Boamah is stepping down as senior vice-president of the African Development Bank, according to a statement from the lender. Boamah has spent 23 years at the development bank, having held the positions of director of accounting, controller and chief financial officer (combining the latter post with that of vice-president), before being… Continue Reading
Paxful bitcoin exchange: 2020 to be ‘landmark year’ for African crypto industry
By Andrei Skvarsky. Peer-to-peer bitcoin exchange Paxful reiterated this month that its African business is booming and was still upbeat about the use of cryptocurrencies in Africa in general, arguing that 2020 will be a “landmark year for the African crypto and blockchain industry”. In tune with a statement it issued in autumn 2019, Paxful… Continue Reading
Da Vinci obtains investment pledge for new fund from German development agency
By Andrei Skvarsky. Da Vinci Capital, an emerging markets private equity fund manager, has launched its third successive fund, Da Vinci Emerging Technologies Fund III, with German state-owned development finance institution DEG having pledged to be an anchor investor in it. DEG (Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft) made a pledge in December 2019 to invest more… Continue Reading
EVENTS: Scores to take the floor at Opal’s Family Office Winter Forum in NYC
Scores of speakers, among them prominent Wall Street figures, will address an audience of more than 500 at the Family Office Winter Forum in New York City on March 3 organised by Opal Group. The topics will include a global macroeconomic and geopolitical outlook, family governance, impact investing, and key challenges in seeking to preserve… Continue Reading
Sberbank reports three senior appointments, one stepdown
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, has made two hires to run its business in the health sector, appointed one of its staff members as head of government relations (GR), and is parting company with the head of an investment subsidiary. Both newcomers come from the Russian government. Olga Golodets, a former deputy prime… Continue Reading
Da Vinci Capital passes control of Global Fintech Solutions to Prytek
By Andrei Skvarsky. Guernsey-based private equity company Da Vinci Capital has sold a majority stake in software developer Global Fintech Solutions (GFS) to the Prytek investment firm in what has been described as “one of the fastest exits” in Da Vinci’s history. According to a joint statement from Da Vinci and Prytek, the sale makes… Continue Reading
Angola to privatise oil firm stake, advertise other foreign investment opportunities
By Andrei Skvarsky. Angola has decided to partially privatise its state oil and gas company Sonangol as part of a campaign to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) that includes plans for a global roadshow and a large-scale conference at home. Up to 30 per cent of Sonangol is planned to be sold off by 2022,… Continue Reading
EVENTS: MoneyNext Summit, London forum in July on finance world digitisation
MoneyNext Summit, a conference to be held in London on July 1-2, 2020, will focus on the digitisation of the financial world, delving into the future of payments, banking, blockchain, insurance and regulation. The wide range of issues to be raised at the forum include digital solutions to risk management, ethical considerations in the use… Continue Reading
RenCap: Russia entering time of ‘strong’, stable growth
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russian investment bank Renaissance Capital argues that Russia is entering a time of “strong” and stable economic growth and has become a country with splendid investment opportunities. “We expect growth in Russia to more than double to 2.6% YoY in 2020”, which “could surprise the markets”, RenCap economist Sofya Donets has said… Continue Reading
EVENTS: Moscow to host Blockchain Life 2020, key blockchain and crypto forum
On April 22-23 Moscow is going to host Blockchain Life 2020, an event in the Blockchain Life series – annual flagship international conferences on blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Blockchain Life 2020 is expected to bring together about 5,000 participants from about 70 countries, among them investors, cryptocurrency miners, blockchain developers, startup founders and government figures. The… Continue Reading