Freedom Holding Corp (FRHC)

[Quintessence]

Good interview of Timur Turlov by Tatarstan Business electronic newspaper, and some good pictures as well. Translation below.

https://www.business-gazeta.ru/article/385813

"Our analyst is using Bloomberg. It speaks volumes."

General Director of IC "Freedom Finance" talks about how he gave employees shares of Tesla and how investors earn up to 40% per annum without leaving their homes.

Open Company "Investment company" Freedom Finance "expands its presence in Tatarstan: on June 7, a branch of the bank was opened in Kazan, as well as an updated office of the company. About how Freedom Finance has managed to become one of the fastest growing brokers in Russia, how much you can make on companies that did not go public on an IPO, and why Tatarstan has become the most profitable region for a Moscow company, said Timur Turlov, director general of Freedom Finance.

- What is your company specializing in now and how do you differ from many other brokers in the market?

- Historically, our competencies were outside of Russia. Moreover, for a certain time we positioned ourselves as professionals specializing in foreign investments, in particular, in the US stock market. In fact, we managed to build a unique technical infrastructure to give our customers direct access in a global format to Chinese, European and American companies. By the way, it still remains our main competitive advantage. And thanks to one of the strongest analytical teams in the post-Soviet space, we work very well with the primary IPO market.

- What is the strength of the analytical department?

- Our analyst on the US market is often used by one of the two leading providers of financial information for professional participants in financial markets - Bloomberg. In my opinion, it says a lot. The team is generally the main value of our company. Thanks to high-quality investment ideas, we have earned a good reputation and are trusted unconditionally.

- In April of this year, the rating of the Moscow Stock Exchange showed that "Freedom Finance" confidently holds in the top ten largest number of registered clients of brokerage companies. Do you think that for a long time it will be possible to maintain the given growth rate?

- Unfortunately, in Russia only 2 percent are investors. Of course, at least we have all chances to achieve service penetration at the level of Turkey, where this figure is 15 percent. For example, in the US, 70 percent of the population is directly or indirectly in the stock market.

Moreover, recently some tax problems have been settled: the tax conditions have been aligned, and now the investments are at the level with bank deposits. And most importantly, against the backdrop of a slowdown in the growth of the domestic economy and not the most favorable interest on deposits in banks, there is more and more free money from the population, which wants to invest them profitably.

- Tell on an example, how you can help to increase investments.

- In fact, the stock market gives unlimited space for creativity. One of the most powerful aspects of Freedom Finance is the ability to find interesting investment ideas. We have a legendary story associated with the company Tesla. We, before other domestic brokers, understood the potential of the American manufacturer of electric cars thanks to the fundamental analysis of our team of analysts and bought up part of the shares. Then their cost was around 32 dollars apiece. This was for the New Year, therefore some of the purchased securities were granted to employees of "Freedom Finance" as bonuses - this is our tradition.

Of course, someone immediately sold the papers, and those who kept them for just a few months, could earn 5 times more - that's how the Tesla shares soared in price, as soon as the first cars left the assembly line.

By the way, very often you can earn 35-40 percent if you buy securities before they are placed on an IPO. In particular, such a pattern often meets with companies that are engaged in cloud storage. And you can earn these funds remotely, even without leaving home.

"THE AMERICAN ECONOMY IS NOW ON THE LIFT AS NEVER"

- What can you earn now, where to invest?

- In my opinion, one of the most interesting investment ideas for this year is the large universal commercial banks of the United States, to which customers still pay for the storage of cash. Credit organizations receive almost 2 percent per annum, which generates about 80 billion additional profits for the entire sector. Plus, the tax reform that Donald Trump conducted led to a lowering of the income tax rate. Thus, banks this year can show the dynamics better than the market. The American economy is generally on the rise as never before. Low inflation, cheap loans - all this creates favorable conditions for the growth of the stock market.

- Is there a minimum entry threshold for your potential customers?

- No. Here by analogy with the bank: you can go literally with any amount, but its volume directly depends on the "exhaust". Does it make sense to invest 5-10 thousand rubles? In my opinion, no. I know quite a few cases where people have postponed monthly 10 thousand rubles a year and gradually invested these funds. By the end of the year they already had a decent amount from which it was possible to work in the markets.

- And yet our compatriots are used to carrying money to the bank, because there is at least insurance of deposits from the DIA.

- We also have a bank, although it does not deal with lending, it still serves our group: it places money in liquid securities, offers savings products and is also insured by the DIA.

On the other hand, we do not use client money to finance any projects, as banks do. Freedom Finance is a commission agent. This means that you can keep securities with us, or you can in another place. And since we do not bear direct credit risk, you can not lose your shares. And even if we take away a license, you simply transfer the papers to another broker, without losing anything.

"IN KAZAKHSTAN WE CREATE 60 PERCENT OF THE MARKET"

- In autumn Freedom Finance celebrates 10 years. How large is the portfolio of client assets for the first anniversary?

"We have more than $ 600 million of client assets and nearly 100,000 customers in different countries. According to the latest audit, the capital of our company is close to 120 million dollars, and by the results of the last year we showed a profit of 20 million dollars.

- There is information that you intend to display the company on the IPO of the New York Stock Exchange. Does this information correspond to reality?

"We became public in America, and our shares are traded at $ 7.5 per share, but we have not yet invested in the New York Stock Exchange. I hope that by the end of the year this issue will be resolved. And, while there is a settlement of various issues, we continue to develop in the Russian Federation and the CIS.

- What potential do you see in Tatarstan?

- Kazan is our first branch, which we opened in 2010. And today Tatarstan is one of the most profitable regions for "Freedom Finance".

- Besides 26 branches in the Russian Federation, your company is present in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine. Are you planning to further develop the territory of the CIS countries?

- We have a European license, we will try to open an office in Berlin before the end of the year. CIS for us - the "home" market. For example, in Kazakhstan we occupy 60 percent of the market. And this despite the fact that "Freedom Finance" is the only foreign broker there. A similar situation exists in Ukraine. At the same time, we continue to develop in Uzbekistan, where the economy is on the rise.

In fact, our company is the largest retail broker in all regions of Russia's presence. This idea charges us: we will continue to actively develop. Moreover, we will give an opportunity to foreign investors to invest in Russia.