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
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