By Andrei Skvarsky. According to Markit, a global financial information services company, {{{*}}} the global business community is today much more upbeat about the year ahead than it was last October, with the United States and China showing the highest optimism. “Worldwide business confidence has revived from the post-crisis low seen late last year, with… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: US
GOLDMAN SACHS COMMENT: From the weekly Viewpoints of Jim O'Neill, Chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management
European Glory. So yet another year of European dreams comes {{{*}}} to an end for United, and this time in such harsh circumstances. Last Tuesday in Manchester had it all. As I wrote at the time of the draw for the last 16 in the Champions League, for me, it brought back memories as a… Continue Reading
EXCLUSIVE: Goldman Sachs hires ex-Deutsche banker to run MENA unit
Goldman Sachs has hired Saleh Romeih, who left Deutsche Bank in September, as head of {{{*}}} securities division distribution for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), according to a financial market source. Romeih, who spent 18 years at Deutsche, was the German bank’s head for Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa,… Continue Reading
Hungary’s Primus Capital launches iCatapult-designed acceleration programme
Hungarian venture capital investment company Primus Capital – unrelated to the Cleveland-based firm of the same name – is putting up a 400m-forint ($1.77m) fund to launch a newly-designed business acceleration programme in seeking access to the U.S. market for Hungarian technology companies. {{{?}}} The programme, designed by New York-based technology firm iCatapult, involves a… Continue Reading
FTI Consulting: global business “surprisingly” upbeat about world banking
By Andrei Skvarsky. FTI Consulting, a global business advisory firm, has said it has carried out a poll that suggests the world business community is “surprisingly” optimistic about the global banking industry. {{{*}}} Of more than 1,000 business leaders in major global economies who were questioned in the survey, 89% believed their home country’s banking… Continue Reading
Wermuth’s pro-environment fund pulls off second deal in short while
By Andrei Skvarsky. Wermuth Asset Management, a German firm with most of its business interests in Russia, has reported a second transaction by its sustainable energy-focused Green Gateway Fund, with the previous deal announced just three days ago. {{{*}}} Green Gateway Fund, whose legal name is Europe-Tatarstan Cleantech Fund, led a group of investors that put… Continue Reading
Sberbank says Russia’s economic growth driven by consumer sectors
{{{?}}} By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank has released an extensive body of research arguing that Russia’s economic growth is driven by consumer-related sectors and not by oil and gas, and that those sectors offer vast opportunities to investors. While extractive industries account for two-thirds of Russia’s stock market, and oil and gas dominate the country’s exports,… Continue Reading
SBERBANK the world’s 13th most valuable brand – Brand Finance
By Andrei Skvarsky. {{{?}}} Sberbank’s brand value has earned Russia’s biggest lender 13th place in this year’s Top 500 Banking Brands ranking compiled by Brand Finance, a London-based brand valuation consultancy. The 500-name league table values Sberbank’s brand at $14.16bn compared with the valuation of $10.77bn on the 2012 list, where the Moscow-based firm was… Continue Reading
Hermitage says Estonian banks involved in Magnitsky affair
{{{?:0}}} By Andrei Skvarsky. Hermitage Capital said, citing an Estonian prosecutor, that a $10m chunk of the $230m that Hermitage lawyer Sergei Magnitsky accused Russian officials of stealing from the state passed through Estonian banks in being transferred from Russia. Ten Estonian firms were involved in the alleged transfers, prosecutor Piret Paukstys said, according to… Continue Reading
Micex-RTS to sell part of its stock via IPO
{{{?:0}}} Moscow’s Micex-RTS stock exchange is planning to put some of its own stock on sale through an initial public offering on its Micex trading platform, with Credit Suisse, J.P. Morgan, Sberbank CIB and VTB Capital acting as joint global coordinators. The four banks will also be bookrunners for the IPO, a role in which they… Continue Reading
EXCLUSIVE: BrokerCreditService makes two high-tier hires
{{{?:0}}} By Andrei Skvarsky. Russian brokerage BrokerCreditService (BCS) has made two senior hires for its London office, bringing in John Barker from global electronic broker Liquidnet as non-executive director and Audrey Faveeuw from the London Stock Exchange as director of international prime brokerage sales. Barker oversaw Liquidnet’s pan-European business during his 11 years at Liquidnet,… Continue Reading
Abraaj hires EMPEA chief for top brass role
{{{?:0}}} The Abraaj Group, a Dubai-based private equity and venture capital firm, has handed a top managerial role to Sarah Alexander, head and co-founder of the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (EMPEA), an independent global business promotion body. In her new job, which she takes up next month, Alexander will look after the North American… Continue Reading
SunGard declared one of world’s top risk technology vendors
{{{?:0}}} SunGard is ranked third on a 2012 list of 100 top global risk technology providers compiled by Chartis Research, a risk technology market analysis company. While ranking third overall in Chartis’s RiskTech100 annual report, SunGard is declared by the London- and New York-based firm’s paper to have been last year’s number-one in terms of… Continue Reading
BAML hires RenCap ex-boss to run Russian business
Bank of America Merrill Lynch has hired Alexander Pertsovsky, a former chief executive of Renaissance Capital, to head its Russian operation. Pertsovsky, who takes up the reins at BAML in February, will also join the American bank’s executive committee for Europe and the emerging markets, excluding Asia, according to Reuters. BAML, which has not yet… Continue Reading
SBERBANK COMMENT FROM CHRIS WEAFER: Russia in context – an expected journey
By Chris Weafer, Chief Strategist, Sberbank Investment Research. It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit US budget worries have balanced out macro optimism. Markets have been in something of a zero-sum game in recent weeks as the lingering concern over… Continue Reading
Fastlane Ventures booster of startups gets Kazakh tycoon Rakishev on board
By Andrei Skvarsky. Fastlane Ventures, a Moscow-based venture capital firm specialising in support for startup Web businesses, has given a seat on its board to Kenges Rakishev, a Kazakh tycoon and high-profile international technology industry investor. Fastlane received a $13m investment from Rakishev, according to a statement from the company, which takes about 50 days… Continue Reading
GOLDMAN SACHS COMMENT: Our weird but beautiful world
By Jim O’Neill, Chairman, Goldman Sachs Asset Management. My week kicked off with a tough Monday start following the Rolling Stones concert Sunday night, but what a boost it gave me. Keith, Mick and the boys rocked on for two and a half hours. It really is quite an inspiration that such serious and serial… Continue Reading
Revere launches consultancy for early-stage hedge funds
By Andrei Skvarsky. Revere Capital Advisors, a hedge fund management specialist, has launched a strategic marketing and business development consultancy for early-stage hedge funds. The consultancy, REM Marketing Solutions, is based in London and offers marketing, sales, product management and business management services. Its managers for Europe are Camilla Balmer and Yvonne Barker-Layton, according to… Continue Reading
GOLDMAN SACHS COMMENT: Washington and Beijing
By Jim O’Neill, Chairman, Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Washington and Beijing. This week has been an important news week, at least for the media, for political developments in the US and China. I would question whether anything has materially changed as a result of the US election and the Chinese leadership handover. The stock markets… Continue Reading
RenCap carries out reshuffle to beef up equity products group
By Andrei Skvarsky. Renaissance Capital has carried through an internal reshuffle to improve cross-regional coordination in its equity products group by making senior appointments in New York, London, Russia and South Africa. Rupert Hope and Florian Hellmich were promoted to global co-heads of distribution in New York and London respectively. They will oversee operations in… Continue Reading
Russian capital markets hooked up to Euroclear system
By Andrei Skvarsky. The Euroclear financial services company has plugged Russia’s capital markets into its pan-European settlement and clearing system, according to Business New Europe (BNE). The Brussels-based system is now open to OFZs, one of the most actively traded classes of Russian government bonds, and to other Russian government and municipal bonds, corporate bonds… Continue Reading
VTB hires ‘global icon’ Jim Rogers as agricultural investment adviser
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s VTB Capital has hired Jim Rogers, an American investor and economist who in 1998 created the Rogers International Commodity Index (RICI), as an adviser to its agricultural division. Rogers, the 69-year-old author of several books who is based in Singapore and is chairman of Rogers Holdings and Beeland Interests, joined forces with… Continue Reading
Micex-RTS likely to stay shut from Dec 29 to Jan 7
Micex-RTS top brass have recommended that Moscow’s stock exchange stay closed for 10 days from December 29 to January 7, a period practically coinciding with Russia’s national non-working season. However, as a general principle, the top management recommended keeping trade going at Micex-RTS on Russian public non-working days if they make up more than one… Continue Reading
Morgan Stanley parting company with top managers for Russia
By Andrei Skvarsky. Morgan Stanley is parting company with the two top managers of its Russian office, chairman Rair Simonyan and president Elena Titova. Media reports have expressed a surmise that both may join Russian oil major Rosneft. Reuters cited Russian media as saying Titova, who spent around 12 years at Goldman Sachs before joining… Continue Reading
Troika Dialog hires ex-VTB banker to run intl fixed income sales
By Andrei Skvarsky. Troika Dialog has hired Dean Tyler from VTB Capital as head of international fixed income sales. The recruitment of Tyler, who took up his duties this month and is based in Troika’s London office, is part of the Moscow-based brokerage’s current integration with Sberbank that aims to give Russia’s biggest lender a… Continue Reading
GOLDMAN SACHS COMMENT: Markets and Moods
By Jim O’Neill, Chairman, Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Markets and Moods. So, here’s the situation. The mood is grim. A lot of economic data has turned grimmer, which makes many people so bearish about many things, markets included. Much of the “mood” centres on a sense of hopelessness about Europe, with the risk on/risk off… Continue Reading
RenCap beefs up global business with dozen appointments
By Andrei Skvarsky. Renaissance Capital has beefed up its operations across the globe this month with a series of senior hires and staff moves. The appointees have filled equity products, research, electronic trading and other positions at RenCap, the Moscow-headquartered investment bank said in a series of statements. They include five senior managers in the… Continue Reading
SunGard comes up with software to fight market manipulation
By Andrei Skvarsky. SunGard, a multinational software and technology services company, has extended the capabilities of its principal risk avoidance and transparency suite to help regulators, trading venues and firms to detect and prevent market manipulation and insider trading. One of the new features of the Protegent set of programs is a library of rules… Continue Reading
GOLDMAN SACHS COMMENT: Apple, China and the Growth Markets
By Jim O’Neill, Chairman, Goldman Sachs Asset Management. This past week, I spent 3 days in the US, in New York and Chicago. The main purpose of my NY visit was to host our 2nd GSAM Growth Markets Summit, which was quite an event, with many interesting speakers, panels and a great list of clients.… Continue Reading