URALSIB CAPITAL sponsors Fifth Annual CFA Association (Russia) Conference

URALSIB Capital sponsored the Fifth Annual CFA Association (Russia) Conference entitled The Changing Landscape of the Financial Sector, which took place in Moscow at the Marriott Royal Aurora on 20 November.

Among the topics discussed were government policy aimed at attracting investment; anti-crisis measures in the banking sector; foreign investors’ perceptions of the Russian market; Russia’s strong and weak points in competing for investment; and the restructuring of financial instruments.

Fuad Mekhti, director of corporate finance and consulting at URALSIB Capital, made a presentation entitled Russian Market As Seen by Foreign Investors: Russia’s Strong and Weak Points in Competing for Investment.

Among the strong points, Mekhti noted the nascent trend of flexible-asset valuation by current asset owners and the two ways of buying into companies’ capital, namely via equity investment and partial debt restructuring. “Quite a few companies are still interested in the investment opportunities opening in some high-growth sectors of the Russian economy, and all the more so with the relatively low production costs and significant national currency devaluation. On the whole, Russian assets are still quite attractive fundamentally – unlike, say, Dubai commercial real estate”.

Negative factors such as the weak legal framework, high debt burden of Russian companies, undercapitalised banking sector, high inflation, and depreciation expectancy, however, remain strong.

Among those participating in the conference were Andrey Klepach, deputy minister for economic development; Anatoliy Aksakov, state Duma deputy and president of the Russian Regional Banks’ Association; Richard Heisnworth, president of the CFA Association (Russia) and CEO of RusRating; Aleksey Savatyugin, director of the Ministry of Finance’s financial policy department; Aleksandr Murychev, executive vice president, the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Trade; Oleg Joos, deputy chairman of the Board of the Russian Bank for Development; and representatives of the Central Bank; Troika Dialog; Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc (UK); UniCredit Bank; Barclays Wealth (UK); Firebird Management, LLC (USA); HSBC Bank; Finam; MIFP’s Centre for Economic Studies; HSE’s Institute of Banking; and the Association of Independent Directors.

The conference was organised by the CFA Association (Russia) and the rating agency RusRating. CFA Association (Russia) is a nonprofit organisation that represents and promotes the interests of CFA charterholders in Russia and the CIS.