Emerging markets fund manager Da Vinci Capital has hired Gregory Bedrosian, co-founder of four investment firms, to head the evaluation committee for companies being considered for inclusion in the portfolio of the firm’s Emerging Technologies Fund III. Da Vinci expects to launch the fund, a vehicle for investment in technology companies across Eurasia, late in 2020… Continue Reading
Islamic Development Bank pledges $100m in aid to Yemen
By Andrei Skvarsky. The Islamic Development Bank Group (IDB) has pledged $100m as part of a global relief effort for Yemen to help it deal with a crisis caused by a five-year civil war and thwart the spread of Covid-19, which spells disaster for a country where half the population has no access to clean… Continue Reading
Islamic financial body ITFC tries to help Senegal ride out Covid crisis
By Andrei Skvarsky. The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) has provided a murabaha (Sharia-compliant) loan of 8m euros ($9m) to the Islamic Bank of Senegal to support operations within the African country’s private sector, traumatised by the Covid-19 pandemic. The money is planned to advance trade between Senegal, which is a predominantly Muslim country,… Continue Reading
African capital markets make poor showing, and not only due to Covid – study
By Andrei Skvarsky. According to a study by economists and financial experts, African equity capital markets have generally seen a serious activity decline over the past three years because of debts built up by key African economies and slow growth shown by them. Last year African capital markets showed some of their meagrest total annual… Continue Reading
EVENTS: Webinar speakers to argue that flexibility key to avoiding IT-caused risks in insurance
Speakers at a planned webinar on June 3 to be hosted by the Insurtech Insights intelligence group and event organiser will argue that a flexible infrastructure can help avoid risks involved in the use of information technologies (ITs) in insurance. The free webinar, “De-Risking Digital Decisions”, is one in a weekly webinar series run by… Continue Reading
Sberbank hires Sofia Ivanova from Kalashnikov gunmaker as press service chief
Sberbank has hired Sofia Ivanova from Kalashnikov Group, maker of the famous assault rifle, as head of the largest Russian lender’s press service. Ivanova was head of marketing and public relations at Kalashnikov. During her three years’ work at the weapons firm, “the world-known and legendary product had its image changed radically” and a media… Continue Reading
EVENTS: Reuters Events-hosted webinar to discuss health-related aspects of investment
With the link between health and investment being unprecedentedly close because of Covid-19, a Reuters Events-hosted webinar on May 27 will focus on investment during the pandemic and on what post-Covid-19 recovery would look like for investors. The webinar, “Roundtable: An Investor’s Perspective on Global Health”, will take place at 16:00-17:00 GMT (15:00-16:00 BST or… Continue Reading
Law firm Centurion launches service to help investors navigate in post-Covid Africa
By Andrei Skvarsky. Pan-African law and advisory conglomerate Centurion said it has launched a full-suite tax and investment advisory service to help investors find their way around Africa’s private sector during its recovery from woes inflicted on it by Covid-19. The service, to be managed by the Johannesburg-headquartered firm’s Centurion Plus unit, will enable businesses… Continue Reading
EXCLUSIVE: Russia’s Matrix Capital thinks oil may hit $42 mark by end of summer
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russian boutique asset manager Matrix Capital expects that oil prices, which have been edging up over the past few weeks, will continue to rise slowly and might reach between $40 and $42 per barrel by the end of summer. “I think we might see this price closer to the end of summer,”… Continue Reading
African Development Bank lending to Kenya, Mauritius to deal with Covid-19 havoc
By Andrei Skvarsky. The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved loans for the governments of Kenya and Mauritius, with each country to receive 188m euros ($205m), to combat Covid-19 and mitigate the economic and social impacts of the pandemic. The loan for Kenya, approved by the AfDB’s board of directors on May 22, is, among… Continue Reading
EVENTS: August’s MoneyNext Summit Online to mirror subsequent namesake forum on money’s future
More than 180 senior figures in banks, insurance companies and other firms are going to speak during MoneyNext Summit Online, a virtual conference on August 18-21 on the future of money that will mirror the planned physical MoneyNext Summit in London on October 20-21. Banking transformation, payments and transfers, blockchain, open banking, insurtech, lending finance,… Continue Reading
EVENTS: Importance of data clarity in ESG investment the theme of Reuters Events June 4 webinar
Reuters Events will host three experts in a free webinar at 14:30-15:30 BST (9:30-10:30 EDT) on June 4 to discuss the importance of data clarity in investment based on environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles. Being unable to attend live will not be a problem as recordings of the webinar, “Achieving ESG Data Clarity: Practical… Continue Reading
EVENTS: 4-session webinar to precede Reuters Events-organised Energy Transition Summit
Reuters Events is going to host a four-session interview-format webinar in the run-up to the Energy Transition Summit in London on November 23-24, a planned Reuters Events-organised conference to discuss new challenges to face energy companies over the next two decades. You can register for the “Energy Transition: In Conversation” webinar here. Each session will… Continue Reading
EVENTS: Insurers to discuss future claims agendas during Reuters Events webinar
Senior figures at Generali, Allianz, Tractable and Aite Group will talk about future priorities and strategies in claims business during a planned webinar on May 21 hosted by Reuters Events. The one-hour webinar, “The New Claims Agenda – Strategic Priorities for Claims in the New Insurance Landscape”, starts at 1.30pm BST. It is the first… Continue Reading
EXCLUSIVE: Matrix Capital says supply-demand balance keeps rouble stable
By Andrei Skvarsky. The Russian rouble owes its relative stability amid the havoc wrought by Covid-19 and low oil prices to a balance of supply and demand in the foreign exchange market, according to Russian boutique asset manager Matrix Capital. Russia’s central bank has been selling foreign currency to plug a forex market shortfall caused… Continue Reading
RenCap study: oil sells at half of what it costs to produce
Today’s global price of oil is equivalent to about half the money spent on its production by the supermajors, the world’s largest oil and gas companies, according to a study by investment bank Renaissance Capital. The current average price for Brent, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and the OPEC basket of 13 crudes is just under… Continue Reading
Permira Debt Managers prices new CLO at $225.5m
By Andrei Skvarsky. London-based debt investors Permira Debt Managers (PDM) has set the price for the Providus IV collateralised loan obligation, the fourth CLO in its Providus series, at 207.6m euros ($225.5m). Just as the previous Providus CLOs, Providus IV has environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards among its eligibility criteria, which puts restrictions on… Continue Reading
Covid-19 rules send Emirates NBD’s online corporate banking onboarding sharply upwards
By Andrei Skvarsky. Emirates NBD, Dubai’s biggest lender, has said its corporate banking division has recorded a month-on-month increase of 60 per cent in digital onboarding as businesses have been responding to lockdowns imposed in the United Arab Emirates in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. The division today processes 96 per cent of its payment volumes… Continue Reading
Sberbank PR chief Anna Kozlovskaya quitting
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank has announced that Anna Kozlovskaya, its head of public relations, is leaving Russia’s biggest lender seven months after joining it. Kozlovskaya, who came to Sberbank in October 2019 from Mastercard, has overseen the bank’s press service and the communications and media relations of its ecosystem, which consists of more than 40… Continue Reading
EVENTS: Effects of Covid-19 on ESG investment to be discussed at Reuters Events webinar on April 30
Effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on businesses complying with environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment criteria is the theme of a planned free webinar on April 30 organised by Reuters Events. The webinar, “ESG and Sustainable Investing in the Midst of Covid-19”, starts at 2.30pm BST/9.30am EDT/1330 GMT on April 30. You may register for… Continue Reading
EVENTS: Reuters Events webinar on April 28 to look at ESG firms’ role in dealing with Covid-19 impacts on emerging markets
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