Markets


WOOD & Company is a leading regional Investment Bank and one of the fastest growing financial institutions in Emerging Europe. We offer a wide range of products and services for investors, including Equity Sales, Electronic Trading, DMA and FIX, Equity Structured Products, Equity Research and Equity Capital Markets.

Our teams are located in Warsaw, Prague, Bucharest, Bratislava, Milan and London. In 2010 we expanded our product footprint to Russia and Turkey by hiring a group of senior professionals from leading houses in European Emerging Markets. With this step we have complemented our traditionally strong position in Central Europe, built up over the past two decades.

Our new team members are highly experienced, have deep roots in Emerging Europe, averaging 15 years’ experience each and an unmatched amount of product and market knowledge. Many of them have been top ranked consistently in the most prominent investor surveys, such as Thomson Reuters Extel and Institutional Investor.

CEE Investment Opportunities Slovenia & Croatia Investor Days From: 1 June To: 2 June Location: Zagreb CIS Up Close: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia From: 5 June To: 9 June Location: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia Emerging Europe and Central Asia conference 2023 From: 7 June To: 7 June Location: London
Events and Roadshows

Conferences

Corporate Roadshows

Analyst Roadshows


5 - 9 JUNE 2023

Regional Trip

CIS Up Close: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia




USA

Georgia Capital
Boston: 30 May-2 June


Europe

Photon
Prague: dates TBC


USA

Elbit Systems
Boston: 5-6 June


UK

HELLENIQ Energy
London: 7 June


USA

Alpha Bank
Boston, New York: 14-15 June


Europe

Kordsa
Budapest, London: 5-6 July TBC


Corporate Access Contact

Equity Sales and Sales Trading

We are the largest dedicated EME sales team, with unparalleled investor access, voted the Number 1 CEE Brokerage Firm in the 2018 Extel Europe Survey. Our 19 sales and sales trading professionals are experts in the region, and in the needs of our clients. Spread across offices throughout Central East Europe and in key financial hubs such as London, we are 'close to the ground’, but within easy reach of every EM fund. This is one of our greatest advantages as a distribution ‎force.

As our client base is diverse, we provide a complex and tailored service.

  • Brokerage ‎firms interact with a highly experienced team of Execution Sales professionals, who couple 'high touch' care order management with cutting edge electronic trading options.
  • A team of 19 dedicated sales people serve institutional investors from around the globe, facilitating access to our top Extel-ranked Research product and to corporate managements. WOOD's signature investor conference Prague Winter is the largest EMEA event of the year, with over 160 regional companies attending, which we complement with a wide variety of more focused gatherings throughout the year. 
  • Private clients ‎are serviced by a dedicated, senior individual. They also benefit from our state-of-the-art interface, and integrated information portal and trading platform.
Equities Sales and Sales Trading Team


Kristen Andrasko
Head of Equities

Kristen joined WOOD & Co.’s EME Equities sales team in 2006, following four years with Goldman Sachs (London) and four years with Paribas (New York). Kristen took leadership of the sales desk in 2012 and since 2014, has managed Equities.

 

Vladimír Vávra
Equity Sales & Sales Trading

Vladimir joined WOOD & Co. from Patria Finance in 2008 as part of our Execution team. His primary responsibilities are CEE Equity Execution. With more than 17 years of experience, he has unmatched knowledge of the local market. Vladimir graduated from the University of Economics in Prague, where he majored in Finance.

Zuzana Mora
Equity Sales Trading

Zuzana joined WOOD & Co. in 2007. She is responsible for providing coverage to predominantly European, and selected UK and US long-only institutions and hedge funds, both to buy-side dealers and portfolio managers. Previously, Zuzana worked on both the Trading and Execution & DMA desks at WOOD & Co.

Ermir Shkurti
Equity Sales Trading

Ermir joined the Execution & Electronic Trading department at WOOD&Co. in 2015, specialising in High Touch and DMA Sales Trading. He graduated from the European University in Munich, as the best student of his graduating class, and presented the best undergraduate thesis. Additionally, he leads the Sales efforts for the Antillean Fund focused on Cuban Trade Finance. Ermir is fluent in English, German and Albanian.

 

Ilgin Erdogan
Equity Sales

Ilgin joined WOOD & Co.’s EME Equity sales team in 2019 as a Turkey specialist, following more than 20 years of equity research experience at Renaissance Capital, Credit Agricole Cheuvreux, and HSBC.

Lukáš Novotný
Equity Sales

Lukas joined WOOD & Co. in 2017 as part of the Execution and Private Clients teams. He graduated from the Prague University of Economics and Business, where he majored in Corporate Finance and Valuation.

Patrik Štefek
Sales Trading

Patrik joined WOOD & Co. in January 2020 as part of our Trading team. Prior to joining WOOD & Co., he worked as a financial analyst at Mercer in Minneapolis. Patrik graduated from St. Olaf College in Northfield, where he double-majored in Physics and Economics, with an emphasis on Finance.


Execution desk offers high touch and low touch market execution services to local and international banks and financial houses. As a leading financial services provider in the Central and Southeastern Europe we are able to offer block and risk trades on most of the regional blue chips. Our clients can execute via our Direct Market Access or take advantage of WOOD&Co professional trading team who guarantees CE3 vwaps and official closing prices.

By leveraging the services of other divisions within WOOD & Co., we offer clients the unique ability to invest not only within CEE & SEE space,  but also in most of OECD markets. We offer leading-edge execution via propietary suite of algorithmic trading strategies, tools and analytics. Our clients can take advantage of the online trading platform Infront, with live news and market data, offering them precise and timely excecution from a PC, tablet or phone. Many of our clients look to us not only for our execution capabilities and outstanding research product, but also for our comprehensive  and tailored-made clients aproach. We are determined to carefully understand clients overall financial situation, unique needs and goals, and deliver an optimal investment solution to meet them in a changing market environment.  We not only leverage our internal capabilities, but also look outside the firm to third-party partners, finding the appropriate solutions to address clients‘ objectives.

Equity Research

Bucking the trend of ‘research as a commodity product’, WOOD offers real insight into a dynamic but thinly-covered region. Our clients depend on us for information they can find nowhere else. The team of 22 analysts provides original, unbiased stock and industry research on Emerging and Frontier Europe.

Small caps are analysed with as much care and depth as liquid blue chips. We mine the landscape for investible, off-benchmark companies, providing ‘overlooked’ exposure to CEE.

Boasting the top-ranked CEE Analyst Team in Extel, year in, year out, WOOD tailors its services to the investment needs of each client. We embrace a ‘matrix’ approach: strong regional sector coverage for comparative analysis, underpinned by country-specific expertise.

With close to 200 companies covered in over 15 countries, we are specialists, but with an enviable breadth.  We tie this all together with equity-relevant macro and strategy views.

WOOD is delighted to introduce its award winning team.

Research Team


Alexandros Boulougouris, CFA
Co-Head of Research

Alex joined WOOD & Co.in 2014, following more than 22 years’ experience in equity research and portfolio management. Prior to joining WOOD & Co., Alex was a Senior Equity Analyst at Credit Agricole Cheuvreux. Most recently, Alex ran a EUR 1.1bn global portfolio for a Greek public pension fund. He is consistently ranked in the top positions in the EXTEL, Institutional Investors and client voting surveys.

 

Sector:
Industrials
Consumer
Materials
Construction
Financials

Bram Buring, CFA
Equity Analyst

Bram first joined WOOD & Co. in 2005 to relaunch its regional Sales Research business; he has a broad cross-country coverage universe following healthcare, pharma and utility stocks across five CEE markets as well as Georgia, Greece and Turkey. Previously, he spent six years at Raiffeisen covering the pharma and chemical sectors. Bram is a go-to analyst on Richter and CEZ but also several interesting off-benchmark names like Krka, MedLife, MLP Care or Georgia Capital and Brisa.

 

Sectors: 
Utilities
Healthcare

Atinc Ozkan *
Equity Analyst

Atinc joined WOOD & Co. in 2017, following almost two decades of equity research experience, covering mainly the Turkish TMT, defence, utilities and contracting sectors. Prior to WOOD & Co., Atinc was the Director of Turkish Research at Credit Suisse, where he was highly recognised for his leadership and top contributions to the research, strategy and corporate access efforts in the EMEA region, achieving “key contact” status in his sectors for global clients. Atinc was previously a regional TMT analyst at CLSA, a research analyst at Global Securities, a commercial manager in Siemens AG’s telecommunications division and an auditor at PWC in Turkey. He is currently leading our Turkish research effort and was ranked among top 10 in Turkey Research category in the EXTEL and Institutional Investors surveys in recent years.

 

Sectors:
Turkey strategy
TMT & IT
Defence & Aerospace
Industrials

Can Yurtcan
Senior Analyst

Can joined WOOD & Co. as a senior research analyst in charge of the Turkish consumer universe in September 2021. With 25 years of solid research experience, covering Turkish equities, Can is one of the most senior and well-recognised professionals in the Turkish Capital Markets. He has worked as a senior analyst and Research Director at local and multinational firms, such as EFG Securities, Finans Invest, Global Securities, Credit Agricole Chevreux, and Erste Securities, before joining WOOD. Most recently, he worked at Tacirler Securities as Executive Director and Head of Research. He graduated from Yildiz Technical University, with a BSc in Mechanical Engineering, and Koç University, with an MBA.

Jakub Caithaml
Equity Analyst

Jakub joined WOOD & Co.’s research team in June 2011. He demonstrates a deep knowledge and understanding of CEE property dynamics – many global industry experts turn to him regularly for his local insight. Jakub covers 11 real estate stocks in the region currently – he follows the key real estate companies listed in Vienna (Atrium, CA Immo, Immofinanz, S Immo and Warimpex) and Warsaw (Dom Development, Echo Investment and GTC), as well as the fast-growing Globalworth and NEPI Rockcastle, the largest CEE office and shopping centre landlords, respectively. In Hungary, Jakub covers office specialist Graphisoft Park. In 2019, Jakub initiated coverage of the EMEA airlines: Wizz Air, Turkish Airlines, Aeroflot and Aegean. In the latest Extel survey, Jakub again ranked among the top-10 analysts in the EMEA Real Estate category.

Sector: Real Estate

Ondřej Sláma
Equity Analyst

Ondrej joined WOOD & Co. in February 2016 from Roklen Fin, where he was part of the corporate finance team. For WOOD, Ondrej covers Polish and Turkish utilities, as part of our utilities team; and specialist energy names, such as Petrol Group, NIS, Nostrum Oil and Gas, and Aygaz, as part of our energy team. In the 2019 Extel survey, Ondrej ranked among the top-10 analysts in the EMEA Utilities category.

Sectors:  

Energy
Utilities

 

Fani Tzioukalia *
Equity Analyst

Fani joined WOOD & Co.’s equity research team in 2017 from LXM Group, a financial services subsidiary of Libra Group, to cover the Greek market. She earned her BSc in Business Administration in 2016, majoring in Finance from the American College of Greece.

 

 

Miguel Dias
Equity Analyst

Miguel joined WOOD & Co.’s equity Research team in May 2022 from EY Parthenon, where he was a senior restructuring consultant for the CESA region, to focus on financial services sector coverage. He earned his MSc in Economics from the University of Economics, Aveiro.

Peter Palovič
Equity Analyst

Peter joined the WOOD & Co. equity research team as an intern in March 2020. He has supported our senior analysts with initiations of coverage of companies in different sectors across CEE. In September 2022, he took on the role of analyst in our equity research team with a focus on real estate companies and airlines. Peter has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Finance from the Charles University in Prague.

* in association with WOOD & Company Financial Services, a.s.

Coverage Universe



Austria
Addiko Bank
CA Immo
Erste Bank
Immofinanz AG
OMV AG
RBI
S Immo

Bulgaria
Allterco
Gradus
Sirma Group Holding
Sopharma  

Czech Republic
Ceska zbrojovka Group
CEZ
CTP
Komercni Banka
Kofola
Moneta Money Bank
Philip Morris CR
Pilulka Lekarny

Croatia
AD Plastik
Arena Hospitality Group
EBRD company
Ilirija d.d.

Cyprus
Bank of Cyprus
Hellenic Bank

Estonia
Ekspress Grupp

Georgia
Bank of Georgia
Georgia Capital
TBC Bank

Greece
Aegean Airlines
Alpha Bank
Athens Exchange Group
Coca-Cola HBC
Eurobank
Fourlis
HELLENIQ Energy 
Jumbo
Motor Oil Hellas
Mytilineos
National Bank of Greece
OPAP
OTE
Piraeus Bank
Piraeus Port Authority
Public Power Corporation
Sarantis
Terna Energy
Titan Cement

Hungary
4iG
ANY Security Printing Company
Gedeon Richter
Graphisoft Park
Magyar Telekom
MOL
OTP Bank
Wizz Air
Iceland
Arion banki
Islandsbanki

Israel
Elbit Systems

Kazakhstan
Halyk Savings Bank
Kaspi.kz
KAZ Minerals
Kazatomprom
Kcell

Lithuania
AUGA Group
Ignitis Group
Siauliu Bankas

North Macedonia
Alkaloid AD Skopje
Komercijalna Banka
NLB Banka

Poland
11 bit studios
Alior Bank
Allegro
AmRest Holdings
Asseco Poland
Auto Partner
Bank Handlowy
Bank Millennium
Bank Pekao
Benefit Systems
Bogdanka
CCC
CD Projekt
Ciech
Cyfrowy Polsat
Dino Polska
Dom Development
Echo Investment
Enea
Eurocash
Famur
Globe Trade Centre (GTC)
Grupa Pracuj
ING Bank Slaski
InPost
Inter Cars
Jeronimo Martins
Jastrzebska Spolka Weglowa (JSW)
Kety
KGHM Polska Miedz
LiveChat Software
Lotos
LPP
mBank
Orange PL
Pepco Group
PGE
PGNiG
PKN Orlen
PKO Bank Polski
PZU
Santander Bank Polska
STS Group
Tauron
Ten Square Games
VIGO Photonics
Warsaw Stock Exchange
Wirtualna Polska
Romania
Alro
Banca Transilvania
Bittnet Systems
BRD
Bucharest Stock Exchange
Conpet
DIGI Communications
Electrica
Fondul Proprietatea
Globalworth
MedLife
NEPI Rockcastle
Nuclearelectrica
OMV Petrom
Patria Bank Group
Purcari Wineries
Romgaz
TeraPlast 
Transelectrica
Transgaz Sa Medias

Russia
Aeroflot
Alrosa
Evraz
Gazprom
HeadHunter
Lukoil
Magnit
MMK
Mobile TeleSystems
Moscow Exchange
NLMK
Norilsk Nickel
Novatek
Ozon
Polyus
QIWI
Rosneft
Rostelecom
Sberbank
Severstal
Surgutneftegas
Tatneft
TCS Group Holding
VK
X5
Yandex

Saudi Arabia
Jahez
Solutions by STC

Serbia
Fintel Energija 

Slovenia
KRKA
NLB Group
Petrol Group

Turkey
Akbank
Anadolu Efes
Arcelik
Aselsan
Aygaz
BIM
Brisa
Coca-Cola Içecek
Enerjisa Enerji
Erdemir
Ford Otosan
Garanti Bank
Isbank
Mavi
Migros
Otokar
Pegasus Airlines
Petkim
Sisecam
SOK Marketler Ticaret
Tekfen Holding
Tofas
Tupras
Turkcell
Turkish Airlines
Turk Telekom
Ulker
Vakifbank
Vestel Beyaz
Yapi Kredi

Ukraine
Kernel Holding SA
Ferrexpo

United Arab Emirates
ADNOC Distribution
Execution and Electronic Trading

We offer our clients single point access to trade on multiple stock exchanges in Emerging Europe. Through investment in our platforms and infrastructure, we are the leading provider of electronic access for both direct market access and algorithmic trading. Our systems comfortably accommodate the needs of high frequency trading desks, index and basket traders, as well as regular cash traders.

We believe that the easy interface and the breadth of our market access are the keys to our success. We continue to add new market destinations and meet the industry`s highest standards.

WOODstock is a trading front-end screen aimed at institutional clients. This robust solution allows our clients to get live market data, instant news feed and access to research, as well as the option to execute clients´ trade flows across global markets. WOODstock supports DMA and EDA access, basket trading and algorithms.

Execution and Electronic Trading Team


Václav Karpíšek
Head of Electronic Trading

Vaclav is responsible for the company's electronic products, including order routing and automated algorithmic execution strategies. Along with his team, he provides electronic services to international, domestic and internal clients. Vaclav joined WOOD&Co. in 2004 and has pioneered the electronic trading and other electronic products in the region.

Josef Kohout
Head of Trading Prague

Josef has a wealth of experience in trading team management, setting priorities and performance objectives, and trading strategy, as well as managing risk and market exposure. His equity trading focus is on Czech, Austrian, Polish and Hungarian stocks, receiving and processing orders in these markets. He is a master at analysing client’s needs and supporting them with the best possible service.

Ladislav Chvátal
Deputy Head of Trading Prague

Ladislav has been a member of the WOOD & Co. team for more than 15 years and is responsible for trading in Romania. He is an efficient trading team member, providing a high-quality service for our clients in all our covered markets.

Nikita Lopatin
Equity Trading

Nikita joined WOOD & Co. in July 2021 as part of Trading team. Prior to WOOD & Co. he worked as an audit analyst at KPMG Czech Republic. Nikita graduated from Prague University of Economics and Business where he majored in Finance.

Institutional Execution and Brokerage

WOOD & Company Milan Branch has more than 20 experienced dealers across five brokerage desks: its clients are major financial services companies (banks and other financial institutions, such as hedge funds and wealth management companies) across Europe.

In its capacity as an institutional broker, WOOD & Company Milan Branch has an excellent industry reputation and offers tailor-made solutions ensuring speed, anonymity and discreet execution.

WOOD & Company Milan Branch is a member of the European Brokers Network (EBN): six European brokers providing the best possible market coverage (www.europeanbrokersnetwork.com) on Money Market Products.

Institutional Execution and Brokerage Senior Management


Marco Brambilla
Branch Manager and Head of Asset Management

Before joining WOOD & Co. in May 2017 as Head of Asset Management, Marco Brambilla was Managing Director, Country Manager and Legal Representative of DekaBank in Italy from June 2005, in charge of all the start-ups at the company and the DekaBank’s business in Italy. Based in Milan, he was also DekaBank’s member of the European Business Development Committee, and was responsible for DekaBank’s Asset Management Business and Capital Market in Italy, Italian Switzerland, Malta, Monte Carlo and France from 2014.

Marco has 18 years’ experience in the asset management industry in Italy, France and Ireland. He was the head of NATIXIS Asset Management’s Italian and Swiss Business Development from its foundation in Italy in 2002. From 1998 to 2001, he worked for Credit Agricole’s Business Development Unit in Nice and Paris, and at UBS Capital (Private Equity) in Milan. He studied economics and finance at the University Sophia Antipolis in Nice, and was the External Professor for Finance at the LUISS University in Rome in 2004-06. 

Sergio Zora
Managing Director

Sergio has been working in the brokerage industry since 1976. He was Head of Domestic Deposits at Sige Tradition S.p.A. from 1982 to 1986, after which he became a board member of Intlux S.A. and Nuova Interfin S.r.l. He has also been Chairman of ICM Forex, a company authorised by Banca d’Italia in FX trading for non-institutional clients. In 1989, he founded and became Chairman of the Board of International Capital Markets SIM S.p.A. He was later appointed CEO. From 2005 to 2014, he acted as Managing Director of IFP Milan Branch. In January 2005, he was elected a member of the Audit Committee of ATIC-Forex, the Italian financial markets association. In February 2010, ATIC-Forex and Assiom merged into AssiomForex, and Sergio was confirmed until January 2016 as a member of the Audit Committee of the new association involving over 1,400 Italian financial market operators. Since February 2016, he has been a member of the board of AssiomForex. Sergio joined WOOD&Co as Branch Manager in September 2014, following the acquisition of IFP.

Dario Sala Veni
Head of Reception and Transmission of Orders and Head of Sales and Marketing

Dario joined WOOD & Co. in 2014 as Head of Funds/Marketing. Previously, he was a member of the board at International Capital Markets SIM S.p.A, becoming Head of Placement Service and Marketing at Integrated Financial Products (Milano) in 2005.

Roberto Cartoceti
Head of Dealing on own Account

Roberto is Head of Dealing on won Account at WOOD & Co.’s Milan branch. Prior to WOOD & Co. he worked for Martin Buerbaum Milan from 1986-89, Eurobroker Milan from 1989-96, Icm sim Milan from 1996-2005, and Ifp Milan branch from 2005-14 as a FX spot broker.

Iolanda Messina
Chief Operating Officer

With over 10 years of experience in the legal field, Iolanda joined WOOD & Co. in 2018. She was appointed Chief Operating Officer of the Milan Branch in 2020 and, since then, she has covered all new projects, managing available resources, and focusing on problem-solving and optimising procedures.

Inter-Dealer Brokerage Products




Bonds:

Bonds, executions, with a focus on Italian government bonds (govies), and illiquid or structured bonds, including CEE and Latin America. We also offer our services on primary markets

 

Money Market Products:

Sophisticated brokerage services in Interbank Deposits, EONIAs & OIS, FX-Forward, Interest Rate Swaps & Options, Forward Rate Agreements



Asset Management

Distribution of Hedge Funds and Mutual Funds

 



Equities & Equity Derivatives:

Rapid and efficient Electornic Trading, Direct Market Access on European and US markets



FX-Spot:

Voice and electronic services, providing access to the market in Name Give-Up or through Prime Broker


 

 

 

 

Institutional Execution and Brokerage Team


Francesca Corti
Fixed Income Sales

Francesca joined Integrated Financial Products in 2010, focusing on broking corporate bonds, financial papers, government bonds and emerging bonds. She now holds the same position at WOOD&Co., bringing with her 11 years of experience. Prior to joining WOOD&Co., she worked for a number of Swiss and Italian brokerage firms.

Fernando Garatti
Fixed Income Sales

Fernando has been Head of Finance at several banking institutions over his 35-year career in finance, including: Credit Agricole-Indosuez, Cassa di Risparmio di Parma e Piacenza, Banca Popolare di Puglia e Basilicata and BCC Barlassina. He joined Integrated Financial Products in 2009 as an associate, focusing on government bonds and financial corporates, and now holds the same position at WOOD&Co..

 

Marco Bramati
Fixed Income Sales / Analyst

Before WOOD&Co., Marco worked for various Italian and international banks and life insurance companies in Milan, Zurich and London as a dealer, trader and asset manager on money market, repos and securities. Marco started in Integrated Financial Products as an associate in 2009, working on bond dealing and institutional research. He now holds the same position at WOOD&Co., bringing with him 25 years of experience.

Andrea Bussacchetti
Fixed Income Sales

Andrea joined WOOD&Co. in January 2017, and is working on our fixed income desk. He began his career in 2002 at Gottex GMBH, also on the fixed income desk, and he moved to Unicasim in 2006, where he developed their new fixed income desk. After this, Andrea covered illiquid credit and structured products at BGC partners in London in 2007.

 

 

Cecilia Sala Veni
Repo / Fixed Income Sales / Interest Rates Desk

Cecilia began her career as a money broker for Martin Bierbaum and Eurobrokers in Milan. From 1991, she worked for ICM Sim and then Integrated Financial Products as a dealer on interest rates, repos and bonds in name give-up. She joined WOOD&Co. in September 2014.

 

Ramzi Bouzayane
Fixed Income Sales

Ramzi joined WOOD & Co.'s Fixed Income Trading & sales team in 2021. He has seven years’ experience working as a senior salesperson for Akros. Previously, he worked for Dinosaur Group, in the Italian capital market, and was responsible for fixed income, trading and sales for four years. Ramzi also covered the role of head of EMEA for three years, hence his deep knowledge of the local market.

Giorgio Aguglia
Fixed Income Sales / Institutional Advisor

Before WOOD & Co., Giorgio worked for various Italian and international investment banks as a Fixed Income and Treasury specialist. He joined WOOD & Co. in 2019 as an associate, focusing on government and corporate bonds, bringing with him more than 30 years of experience.

Edoardo Giussani
Fixed Income Sales / FX-Spot / Equity execution / DMA

Edoardo joined WOOD & Co. in 2019 as an intern on the fixed income trading desk. He later also became part of the equity execution team and, from 2023, he has covered FX trading. He is currently a member of the Assiom Forex equity commission.


Equity Structured Products

We have a range of investment instruments that give our clients access to non-listed investment opportunities in Emerging Europe. These are usually issued in the form of a warrant, which is listed on a western stock exchange and quoted on a daily basis (prices available on Bloomberg, Reuters, etc.). WOOD & Company acts as a market maker in all of the warrants issued.

Access products can be tailor-made if certain volume requirements are met and are ideal instruments for exposure to the least developed frontier markets, such as Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus. In addition, they give the opportunity to invest in pre-IPO, private equity type companies which would not be investable otherwise.