FXPrimusEurope, a Cyprus-based online foreign exchange trading platform, has announced that it has put its clients’ funds under stronger protection by launching an insurance scheme with coverage of up to 2.5m euros. Continue Reading
Head of Dixy food chain: Russia’s economic woes mean opportunities for business
By Andrei Skvarsky. Portuguese businessman Pedro Manuel Pereira da Silva, chief executive of Russian food retailer Dixy, argues that the current economic situation in Russia, though described by many as a crisis, means opportunities for business. Continue Reading
VACANCY – Corporate Credit Emerging Markets Fundamental Analyst – New York
My client is a 3 billion multi-strategy credit-oriented NY investment firm that manages hedge funds, private equity funds and alternative investment accounts. The firm was founded in 2003 and has 50 employees. Ideal Profile (approx. 3-5 years of experience) Corporate Credit Emerging Markets Fundamental Analyst 1- Corporate Credit background – Sovereigns, corporates, macro, FX, equity… Continue Reading
Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) – October 2016 Newsletter
AFC Funds Performance Summary Now that the race for the Presidency of the United States of America is concluded, many analysts are pondering the possible consequences of the outcome of the election for their investments and how to best position investment portfolios for return maximization or risk management. As the US is the most important… Continue Reading
Dubai, Abu Dhabi real estate markets robust despite sliding rents – Bayut.com
By Andrei Skvarsky. Apartment rents in Dubai and Abu Dhabi kept edging down in the third quarter of 2016 but rent yields remained stable and the two emirates’ real estate markets on the whole stayed robust, according to Dubai-based real estate portal Bayut.com. Continue Reading
Svetlana Fedotova hired from Luxembourg bank to run Sberbank CIB’s vehicles unit
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank has hired Svetlana Fedotova from East-West United Bank (EWUB) in Luxembourg as head of the transport and vehicle manufacturing division of Sberbank CIB, the investment arm of Russia’s biggest lender. Continue Reading
Sergey Babayan joins Sberbank CIB as head of corporate client relations
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, has hired Sergey Babayan, a former senior manager at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, ABN AMRO and other banks, as head of client relations at Sberbank CIB, the Russian firm’s investment arm. Continue Reading
Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) – September 2016 Newsletter
AFC Funds Performance Summary September has been another good month for AFC. The AFC Asia Frontier Fund returned +2.3%, up for the seventh month in a row to a new all-time high, bringing the year to date performance to +14.2%. At the same time, the MSCI Frontier Markets Asia Index was down by -0.5% for… Continue Reading
Sberbank CIB hires Olga Altunina from Rosenergoatom as HR chief
By Andrei Skvarsky. Olga Altunina has joined Sberbank CIB, the investment arm of Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, as head of human resources. Continue Reading
Forty-bank forum looks at Mauritius Commercial Bank’s one-stop shop initiative
By Andrei Skvarsky. Forty African banks took part in last week’s iteration of an annual event in Mauritius whose main purpose is to showcase an initiative by Mauritius Commercial Bank Group (MCB), East Africa’s biggest lender, to be a one-stop shop for banks by providing a regional platform for trade finance, cards outsourcing and consultancy. Continue Reading
Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) – August 2016 Newsletter
“Successful Investing takes time, discipline and patience. No matter how great the talent or effort, some things just take time: You can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.” – Warren Buffet AFC Funds Performance Summary The AFC Asia Frontier Fund has recorded its 6th month of positive performance in… Continue Reading
Orange to provide more extensive financial services in four African countries
By Andrei Skvarsky. Orange SA, a multinational telecommunications operator, has obtained licences to provide more extensive mobile financial services in Senegal, Mali, Ivory Coast and Guinea. Continue Reading
Sun Global Investments CEO: 5-fold rise in US direct investment in India is Modi’s work
By Andrei Skvarsky. The chief executive of Sun Global Investments, a London-based financial services firm, has confirmed that US direct investment in India has increased fivefold over the past two years, and has put it to the credit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been in office since May 2014. Continue Reading
Money pours into UAE real estate market – Bayut
By Andrei Skvarsky. Dubai-based real estate portal Bayut.com says statistics prove that the United Arab Emirates’ real estate market “continues to inspire trust in investors”. Continue Reading
Barclays, Standard Chartered under fire from African environmentalists
By Andrei Skvarsky. Barclays and Standard Chartered last week had their London headquarters picketed by demonstrators protesting against the two British banks’ alleged funding of a Kenyan company accused of environmental and other crimes. Continue Reading
Kenya to get $118.5m as immediate bounty from intl forum – Daily Nation
By Andrei Skvarsky. Kenya expects about $118.5m to be immediately injected into its economy by the organisers and delegates of a planned large-scale international conference in Nairobi this week on African development. Continue Reading
Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) – July 2016 Newsletter
“In investing, what is comfortable is rarely profitable.” – Robert Arnott, Research Affiliates AFC Funds Performance Summary The Brexit surprise in late June caused a period of volatility in worldwide equity markets which was followed by a rebound in July with US markets posting significant gains, while most European markets recovered somewhat but are still… Continue Reading
Rents in Dubai, Abu Dhabi go down – Bayut
By Andrei Skvarsky. Apartment rents in Dubai and Abu Dhabi have fallen over the past year, according to the Bayut.com real estate portal. Continue Reading
Moscow Exchange makes two appointments to top executive body
By Andrei Skvarsky. Moscow Exchange’s supervisory board has promoted two of the bourse’s senior officers – Anna Kuznetsova, head of equity and bond trade, and Igor Marich, head of foreign exchange (FX) and money trade, – to two-year positions on the exchange’s executive board, its top executive body. Continue Reading
Goldman Sachs, Sberbank bankers join Moscow Exchange’s strategy crew
By Andrei Skvarsky. Two senior bankers – one from Goldman Sachs and one from Russia’s largest lender, Sberbank, – have been appointed to Moscow Exchange’s strategic planning body, the Exchange Council. Continue Reading
Moscow Exchange to buy back two subsidiaries in consolidation scheme
By Andrei Skvarsky. Moscow Exchange will buy back two subsidiaries in a planned consolidation process to be completed by the end of 2016. Continue Reading
Sberbank CIB hires Shemetov from Moscow Exchange to oversee global markets
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank has hired Andrey Shemetov, previously deputy chief executive of Moscow Exchange, as head of global markets at the biggest Russian lender’s investment arm, Sberbank CIB. Continue Reading
Brexit bad for Poland but may have upsides to it too – Polish minister
By Andrei Skvarsky. Britain’s exit from the European Union means that in Poland GDP growth could slow by as much as one per cent in 2017 and 2018, a Bloomberg analyst has said, citing the Polish economic development minister. Continue Reading
Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) – June 2016 Newsletter
“To invest successfully over a lifetime does not require a stratospheric IQ, unusual business insights, or inside information. What’s needed is a sound intellectual framework for making decisions and the ability to keep emotions from corroding that framework.” – Warren Buffett Continue Reading
O1 Properties thinking of putting $30m into Moscow apartment project
By Andrei Skvarsky. O1 Properties, a Russian investment company owning and managing premium-class office space, is considering investing about $30m into the planned construction of about 200 apartments on the premises of a cultural and business complex in central Moscow. Continue Reading
About 90 per cent of investments into Moscow economy private money – deputy mayor
By Andrei Skvarsky. Nearly 90 per cent of recent investments into Moscow’s economy has been private money, a deputy mayor announced last week. Continue Reading
Sberbank’s European subsidiary to be led by veteran Austrian banker
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank has hired Gerhard Randa, an ex-head of Bank Austria, as chief executive of Sberbank Europe AG, a Vienna-headquartered subsidiary of Russia’s biggest lender operating in Austria, Germany and eight Eastern European countries. Continue Reading
Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) – May 2016 Newsletter
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” – Chinese Proverb Continue Reading
Russia consumer sentiment barometer of MNI Indicators down to ‘record low’
By Andrei Skvarsky. Surveys by a research subsidiary of Deutsche Boerse suggest that consumer sentiment in Russia dropped to a “record low” in May after edging up steadily for a few months. Continue Reading