Microsoft, VISA, SWIFT and many banks will take part in a planned international conference in Azerbaijan in April this year that will discuss an Azeri government strategy to digitise the oil-rich country’s banking and financial sectors. Continue Reading
Tag Archives: EMEA
Bitcoin vs forex trading: understanding the difference
By David Webb, business consultant, Sydney, and contributor to BizzmarkBlog. Since 2008, people have kept a close eye on all cryptocurrencies, bitcoin in particular. Being the flagship of all cryptocurrencies, bitcoin has come a long way since those early days, yet it still hasn’t established itself as other trading methods have. It’s still extremely unstable,… Continue Reading
Goldman Sachs said to have bought stake in Russian online recruitment firm
By Andrei Skvarsky. Goldman Sachs is said to be among investors that have bought out online recruitment agency HeadHunter (hh.ru) from Mail.Ru Group, a leading Russian Internet company listed on London Stock Exchange, for 10bn roubles (about $145.5m at the current market exchange rate). Continue Reading
Azerbaijan money supply shrinks by half since mid-2015 – newspaper
By Andrei Skvarsky. Azerbaijan’s money supply excluding bank assets has contracted nearly by half since mid-2015, an Azeri newspaper said, claiming that the reason is that Azeris have been changing national currency for dollars on a wide scale. Continue Reading
Kroll risk consultancy promotes execs based in UK, Asia, Russia to managing director
Kroll, a consultancy specialising in risk mitigation, compliance and security, has promoted five executives based in various parts of the globe to the position of managing director. Continue Reading
Duet Group To Launch Emerging European UCITS Fund With Two Former Armajaro Execs
Alternative asset manager Duet Group is launching a new emerging European UCITS fund this month and has recruited two former Armajaro Asset Management executives to run it. Michel Danechi and Kalim Aziz are joining Duet as fund manager and research analyst, respectively, on the Duet Emerging European European Fund. The new vehicle is expected later… Continue Reading
AXA IM Mergers Asian, EM Debt Teams into Single Global Emerging Debt Unit
AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) has restructured its emerging market debt team as Damien Buchet’s August departure from the firm nears. AXA IM will merge its emerging market and Asian teams into one group to better address the importance of the global emerging market debt asset class to investors in the future. The newly merged… Continue Reading
Oceanwood Raises $250M Fund For Bets on European Economic Recovery
Oceanwood Capital Management has raised $250 million in a new hedge fund to capitalize on economic recovery in Europe. Oceanwood has raised the capital from existing investors and plans to have a $350 million final close for the fund in September, according to a Reuters report. The new fund, named Oceanwood Peripheral European Select Opportunities… Continue Reading
GSAM Launches Global Long/Short Equity UCITS Sub-Fund
Goldman Sachs Asset Management is offering a new high-conviction global equity portfolio to European clients. Managed by the company’s Goldman Sachs Investment Strategies team (GSIS), the Global Equity Long Short Portfolio is based on a fundamental, bottom-up approach and structured as a new sub-fund of the firm’s UCITS-compliant, Luxembourg-domiciled Goldman Sachs Funds SICAV, according to… Continue Reading
Carlyle Raises €565M For Third European Technology Buyout Fund
Global alternative investments powerhouse Carlyle Group has closed on its third European technology and media buyout fund, raising €656 million. It is the company’s largest such fund to date. The fund, named Carlyle Europe Technology Partners III, shows the global appetite for tech and media companies in the region. It began raising money a year… Continue Reading
Hedge funds climb in April as Chinese, EM equities surge
Hedge funds posted gains in April as regional equity and currency markets across China, Russia, Brazil and the Middle East posted sharp gains. Volume surged on the Shanghai/Hong Kong Connect program to a daily record driving Chinese A-shares to a gain of over 18 per cent for the month. The HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index®… Continue Reading
Northern Trust Promotes Burnett to Head of EMEA Hedge Fund Services
Northern Trust’s fast-growing hedge fund administration business has promoted David Burnett to head of Northern Trust Hedge Fund Services in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Based in London, Burnett will lead Northern Trust Hedge Fund Services in EMEA, reporting to Peter Sanchez, global head of Northern Trust Hedge Fund Services, according to a press… Continue Reading
Marshall Wace has hired Citi’s ex-head of hedge fund trading
The former head of EMEA hedge fund trading at Citigroup, who left the bank to head up Evercore ISI’s European trading business in the summer of last year, has re-emerged at Marshall Wace. Charlie Mansour joined Marshall Wace earlier this month according to filings with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) after just five months at… Continue Reading
Assets Surge For Top Emerging Managers
Emerging managers have their work cut out for them when it comes to attracting assets, but recent data shows the majority of the top new funds grew AUM last year. 74% of hedge funds on Hedgetracker’s Top Emerging Hedge Fund Managers list saw equity assets increase during the fourth quarter of 2014, while the group… Continue Reading
Man Group Launches Two New Quant Equity UCITS
Man Group’s 2014 acquisition of Boston-based quant shop Numeric Holdings has resulted in two new quantitative UCITS being debuted to the European market. The Man Numeric Market Neutral Alternative fund and the Man Numeric Emerging Markets Equity fund are both domiciled in Dublin. The Man Numeric Market Neutral Alternative fund is a UCITS-compliant version of… Continue Reading
Carlyle Raises $2.5 Billion for New International Energy Fund
Carlyle Group has closed on a new international energy fund with commitments of $2.5 billion from 160 investors, according to media reports. The new fund, which surpassed Carlyle’s initial $1.5 billion target, will invest exclusively in oil and gas projects located outside the U.S. Carlyle is in good company. Since the collapse in oil prices… Continue Reading
Survey: Hedge Fund Industry “Blind Spots” Persist
The hedge fund industry’s rapid growth and an increasingly complex regulatory environment have fueled differing views on transparency and independent controls among hedge fund managers and institutional investors, according to a new survey by Northern Trust. An overwhelming majority of managers (90%) said that all or nearly all of their investors are satisfied with the… Continue Reading
HFR: Hedge Funds Sour On Emerging Markets
Hedge fund capital invested in emerging markets declined to conclude 2014, falling from the record level established in 3Q14 on a combination of performance losses and investor outflows concentrated in funds with exposure to Russia. The HFRI EM: Russia/Eastern Europe Index declined 18.6% in 4Q14, bringing the 2014 full year loss to 26.5%, making 2014… Continue Reading
Cordiant hits $350 million at final close of latest emerging markes loan fund
Cordiant, a leading emerging market private debt fund manager, has raised US $350 million at the final close of its latest debt fund, the Cordiant Emerging Loan Fund IV (CELF IV). The fund’s primary focus will be on senior, secured loans issued to emerging market private sector borrowers, with an emphasis on diversification across countries… Continue Reading
Russia's RenCap promotes Ilgin Erdogan to chief exec of Turkey office
By Andrei Skvarsky. Renaissance Capital has promoted its head of Turkey research, Ilgin Erdogan, to chief executive of the Russian investment bank’s Turkish office. Continue Reading
Moody’s predicts stability for EMEA’s PFI/PPP sector
By Andrei Skvarsky. Moody’s predicts stability over the next 12 to 18 months for the Europe-Middle East-Africa (EMEA) region’s practice of project co-financing by private companies and government agencies. Continue Reading
Abraaj chief hypes Mexico’s “unique” investment opportunities
By Andrei Skvarsky. The chief executive of Abraaj, a global private equity firm, argues that “diverse urban economies” in Mexico offer “unique” opportunities to international private equity investors. Continue Reading
Sberbank report compares Russia and Turkey
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, has released a research report comparing Russia and Turkey as similar markets and arguing that Turkey is doing somewhat better than Russia today but that the situation may reverse before long.cheaper penetration stories like X5 Retail Group in Russia, they say. Continue Reading
RenCap makes top appointments for Turkey team
By Andrei Skvarsky. Renaissance Capital has hired Mike Harris from Bank of America Merrill Lynch as chief strategist for the Russian investment bank’s business in Turkey and made four other senior appointments for its Turkish team. {{{?}}} Harris will be based between London and Istanbul and report to David Nangle, Head of equity research at… Continue Reading
TURKEY: When it rains, it pours – EAST CAPITAL COMMENT
By Emre Akcakmak, Portfolio Manager, East Capital.* It was not so long ago that Turkey was the darling of international investors. Political stability, a young population, a fast-growing economy, declining inflation and a series of rating upgrades encouraged investors to buy Turkish equities and pushed Borsa Istanbul to all-time highs by May 2013 – with… Continue Reading
Turkey’s Akbank says got through tough year with flying colours
By Andrei Skvarsky. Akbank, one of the biggest Turkish lenders, has reported robust performance for 2013 with its total assets growing 20% despite capital outflows from emerging markets and abysmally low interest rates in many countries, including Turkey. {{{?}}} The total assets of the Istanbul-based firm, which The Banker, Euromoney, World Finance, and Global Banking… Continue Reading
An intelligent , English CV Template
{{{?}}} For professionals working in a new culture, it’s crucial that employers can easily grasp the value of your past experience to them and their company. Unfortunately, there is a lot of terrible advice on the internet and some terrible ‘standard’ formats. The Europass CV template is the most common and probably the worst and… Continue Reading
In 2014 – the big career challenge is to sell our skills
{{{?}}} In 2013, the number of companies involved in corporate recruitment expanded again, for better or for worse. In 2014 there will be type of chaos in the market, which will effect how real people achieve career-defining steps and changes. Executive recruiters; in-house recruiters; HR directors; outsourcers; procurement teams; Linked-in junkies, employer brand managers; company… Continue Reading
RenCap hires banker from Merrill for Turkey sales
Russia’s Renaissance Capital has hired Ozlem Turgay from Merrill Lynch as an equity salesperson for its Istanbul office. {{{?}}} Turgay will report to Benjamin Samuels, global head of equities at RenCap, and to Burak Akbulut, head of execution for Turkey, the Moscow-based investment bank said in a statement. Turgay has held Istanbul- and New York-based… Continue Reading