Emerging Europe

A new investment banking boutique has been established to service clients in the Baltics and the Commonwealth of Independent States looking for moderate-yield, low-volatility investment opportunities. Maximus Capital is headquartered in the Latvian capital, Riga, but also has offices in Baku, Kiev, London and Moscow.

Eurasia Capital Management (ECM) has created the first-ever Uzbekistan-dedicated hedge fund. The Uzbekistan Growth Fund was launched in September with initial capital of just $5 million but ECM founder and managing partner Alisher Ali Djumanov believes that the open-ended investment vehicle could grow substantially over the next couple of years.

UniCredit is one of the world’s biggest financial groups but concerns over its capital base have made it vulnerable to panic-stricken investors.

Even Kazakh bank employees are joining investors in a flight to quality away from the sector. BTA Bank and Kazkommertzbank are overwhelmed by foreign debt too eagerly lent out at home and only Halyk is in good shape. Although there are still a few potential foreign buyers nosing around Kazakh financial assets, Raiffeisen for one has decided that its ambitions in the country will be best fulfilled through a greenfield operation. Elliot Wilson reports.

The firm’s long-established research operation, with a worldwide network of analysts, enables it to offer client-driven information on the whole range of real estate sectors. Laurence Neville reports.

It’s been all change in the real estate market since the last Euromoney/Liquid Real Estate poll was published. The cast of characters is largely the same, despite market turmoil. CB Richard Ellis has regained the top spot in global advisory and consultancy from Jones Lang LaSalle. The Los Angeles-based firm dominated in the global categories, such as valuation, letting, corporate real estate services, topping six. It also made a strong showing in western Europe and Asia.

The FTSE Group, in conjunction with the European Public Real Estate Association (Epra) and the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (Nareit), is readying a new family of real estate indices for emerging markets. The indices, made up of listed property stocks, will be launched in December.

Immoeast’s recent purchase of Constantia Privatbank’s real estate division has set the stage for the next act in the Austrian investment manager’s growth story. Rachel Wolcott reports.