Has Timur Turlov turned the Kazakh market into a perpetual motion machine?
Almaty — As Kazakh stocks staged a world-beating rally since the end of 2015, few have benefited more than Timur Turlov. The 29-year-old owner of Freedom Finance JSC, Kazakhstan’s biggest brokerage, is so active on the main stock exchange that his company’s turnover is three times bigger than its closest competitor and profits are soaring. But Turlov isn’t just riding the equity market boom fuelled in part by a rebound in the commodity exporter’s economy — he helped engineer it. Freedom Finance has been building positions in a handful of Kazakh companies by borrowing money to pay for them, then acting as the market maker for the shares, which have witnessed almost uninterrupted rallies for months. Critics warn his strategy could backfire, potentially saddling Turlov and his customers with considerable losses. Regulators, though, aren’t raising any red flags. "This model can work eternally," Turlov said in an interview from his first-floor office in central Almaty, where he displays ...
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