From our CEO

Due to the enormous growth rate of Kazakhstan’s economy, there is increasing demand for foreign investment in this resource-rich country. Since 2006 investors from all over the world have had the opportunity to work with a locally based, independent Investment Banking partner.

Over its first year and a half, Visor Capital has established itself as the leading brokerage in Kazakhstan, and as the premier investment bank across Central Asia. As of May 2007, Visor Capital is the leading broker on the KASE, the Kazakhstan stock exchange. Visor also served as the domestic lead manager for KazMunaiGaz’s $2.3 billion dual initial public offering on the LSE and KASE in fall 2006, the largest IPO by a Kazakhstan company to date. The company demonstrates flexibility and versatility, providing a broad array of investment banking services while maintaining independence from large banks, unlike many other brokerages and investment houses in the region.

Visor also benefits tremendously from its diverse management team that combines international experience and acumen with local expertise. The core members of Visor Capital’s management team are also shareholders in the company, which underscores their confidence in and commitment to Kazakhstan’s exciting market opportunity. This stability and self-assurance allow Visor to pursue its mission with integrity, to innovate, and to achieve excellence.

Kazakhstan has already emerged from a former Soviet Republic to a country with international standards of performance and banking practices. The country is perhaps the strongest remaining emerging market opportunity in the world, having:

• Vast resources in oil, natural gas, and metals commodities
• Central geographic location in the heart of the Eurasian continent, including long borders with Russia and China as well as ports on the Caspian Sea
• Highly-developed transportation facilities, including air, rail, sea, and road
• Huge unrealized agricultural potential
• Skilled professional and industrial workforce
• Favorable tax laws for foreign investors, including fixed-asset investment deductions, exemptions from property and land taxes, and customs exemptions on imported equipment

Such an environment provides an ideal situation for the launching of Visor Capital, an independent, Kazakhstan-based investment banking institution. Our international team will have a mission to develop long-term relationships to build a world-class institution. To achieve this goal, we must work steadfastly to help our local and international clients reap the benefits of Kazakhstan’s economic growth.

Michael Sauer,
CEO