Russia May Give Green Light to Hedge Funds

Filed in archive Hedgetalk on November 12, 2007

According to Russian internet newspaper, Gazeta.KZ, hedge funds for qualified investors could appear in Russia as soon as next year.

Valery Petrov, General Director of the Ingosstrakh Investitsii management company, noted that Russian hedge funds could also be seen as an alternative to investment in futures and options. "Market traders who prefer hedge funds will be able to invest at home, improving the country's competitiveness," Petrov said.

Meanwhile, he doubts that Russian management companies will begin to transfer funds from foreign into Russian hedge funds, as western funds are tailored for either foreigners or Russians who already had taken their funds abroad. "That is why competition between local and foreign hedge funds, run by our management companies, will be not for old assets but for new clients," Petrov stressed.

It will be more convenient for Russian management companies to service local clients through domestic hedge funds, believes Oleg Zheleznov, managing partner at Da Vinci Capital. "It would also be good if these funds, as well as mutual funds, were exempt from tax. In some countries such as Ireland or Luxembourg, this is possible," he said.