CONTACT - Guernsey Chamber of Commerce

ussia strives to be a mainstream
investment destination, it will seek
and comply with the regulations
of the well established financial
centres,’ said advocate Boyce.
‘the challenge in bringing
business to the island is two-fold.
Fund managers need to be able and
willing to provide the information
needed to satisfy Guernsey’s robust
regulatory requirements and equally,
as a jurisdiction, we need to be able
to adapt to the needs of russianbased
funds without compromising
our regulatory integrity.’
Mr Bernstein agrees that reputation
is important for investors and that
Guernsey has a reputation as a
jurisdiction that takes compliance and
anti-money laundering very seriously.
this is particularly important
for funds looking to attract
foreign investors as they prefer
the association with Guernsey,
since it helps to overcome the
nervousness often associated
with russian investments.
‘to be successful in taking
advantage of the opportunities
available we need to make sure that
we get the Guernsey brand known
and understood and this includes
reinforcing the message that the
island offers good governance and
robust yet pragmatic regulation.
Guernsey Finance is focussed on
raising awareness of the island
and its strong reputation while at
the same time facilitating business
opportunities for the rest of the
team who we are working with very
closely,’ said peter Niven, chief
executive of Guernsey Finance.
The threat – or is it just propaganda?
there is much talk these days about
the eU aiFM directive and the impact
which it might have on Guernsey and
other offshore jurisdictions. there is
no question that jurisdictions within
the eU are ramping up their
marketing campaigns - notably
ireland and luxembourg are
promoting themselves as the next
jurisdiction for investment business.
like Guernsey, they are targeting
russia and we have seen a russian
prospect fall away from our Guernsey
pipeline as a result, it seems, of
extensive relationships between the
respective russian and luxembourg
ambassadors. the lobbying is at the
highest level it seems,’ said Mr Davy.
Mr phillips said that the external
competition proves the need to be
proactive to ensure Guernsey meets
the needs of investment managers
going forward and that this would
be on of the key aims of GreeFF.
‘Guernsey has a very strong offering
and i am confident that the island will
continue to benefit from the growth of
the russian economy. We are hoping
to work with Guernsey Finance to
take a delegation to russia next year,
Case Study: Baring Vostok Capital Partners
Baring Vostok capital partners is one
of the leading private equity houses
operating in russia and the ciS. the
Baring Vostok private equity Funds
have invested over $1.2 billion in 54
companies since 1994, and currently
have committed capital of $2 billion
for new investment.
the Funds’ portfolios are diversified
among financial services, oil and gas,
consumer products,
telecommunications, and media.
Since 2005, for five years in a row,
Baring Vostok capital partners has
been voted ‘russian private equity
Firm of the Year’ by readers of private
equity online and private equity
international in their annual Global
private equity awards.
During a recent interview with
David Bernstein, Director of investor
relations at Baring Vostok, a number of
subjects were discussed including on
why russia is showing signs of greater
activity than other jurisdictions;
“its down to opportunity” said
Bernstein “organised private equity is
still relatively under-developed in
with the aim of expanding our contact
base and developing a number of
new opportunities. russia looks
set to continue to grow, and we’re
certainly bullish about the Bear.’
GreeFF can be contacted at
guernseyrussianforum@yahoo.
co.uk or search for Guernsey
russian Forum on linkedin.
russia and there are only a small
number of private equity Funds with
institutional investors. Hence new
fund managers are trying to set up or
spin out”.
“at a macro level, there are some
foreign strategic investors who
understand that there is plenty of
opportunity in russia, which offers
higher growth, richer margins and less
competition than their home markets.
once investors can get over the initial
fear of investing in russia then they
can open themselves up to the smart,
energised business entrepreneurs that
can create wealth for them”.
“We believe russia is in the middle
of a 30-40 year transition from a
completely state-controlled economy
to one that resembles an open, market
economy. there are new market
segments and growth opportunities
which make it ideal for investment”.
“We chose Guernsey because of its
reputation for compliance and due to
our high level of satisfaction with our
service providers there.
www.guernseychamber.com | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2010 | CONTACT | 23