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Max Lapin, the CFO of Moscow Exchange
Making Russia’s stock market predictable
Despite the ongoing showdown with the West, last year saw international investors increase their share of Russian domestic treasury bonds to an all-time high of 31% of the total outstanding,
or some $20bn worth.
The Russian equity market has come alive again. The dollar-denominated RTS index rose 52% in 2016 and while the index was almost flat in 2017 Russian companies starting tapping the market again for capital.
“The stock market performance in 2017 was not as strong as the previous year where the index returned over 50%, but the number of IPOs and SPOs doubled. I expect that 2018 will stay at least
in line with 2017 in terms of primary issuance,” says Lapin.
The Russian market has reached a new plateau and Lapin believes the future performance of the market will be fuelled by high-growth sectors such as Russian technology – the most vibrant part of the Russian economy these days.
The exchange has moved to capture more of this sector by launching a new platform to help smaller more dynamic companies gain access to capital by streamlining the listing requirements.
“We are the go-to place for capital raising – whether you’re a blue chip or
a smaller, rapidly growing firm; whether you’re looking to sell equity or raise debt,” says Lapin.
Russian equities have always traded at a discount to emerging market peers,
Ben Aris in Moscow
Russia can be a schizophrenic place to work. On the one hand the news is full of geopolitics, tension with the West and sanctions. But on the other hand, the economy has finally emerged from the Great Reces- sion that started in 2008 and Russian entrepreneurs are getting on with their lives, building up businesses, making things that people want and improving what they already have.
The boom years of the fast emerging market catch-up phase are clearly over, but while Russia’s macroeconomic indicators increasingly look like those of a developed market, there are still many commercial lacunae and plenty of opportunities for the intrepid. This all makes Russia an exciting place to invest if you can get it right – especially for portfolio investors, says Max Lapin,
the CFO of Moscow Exchange (MOEX) in an exclusive interview with bne IntelliNews.
“To some, Russia is as Churchill described it: a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma,” Lapin tells
“We are the go-to place for capital raising – whether you’re a blue chip or a smaller, rapidly growing firm”
bne IntelliNews in the exchange’s offic- es, a stone’s throw from the Kremlin.
Maybe Lapin should have finished the quote: “... but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest.”
but thanks to the current geopolitical tension, there is a discount on the discount; Russian stocks are worth half of what they should be compared to the other emerging markets, says Lapin.
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