Investment Capital Ukraine


Investment Capital Ukraine is a Kyiv-based financial group specialising in trading, investment banking and asset management. The group is owned by members of its top management, including Makar Pasenyuk and Konstantin Stetsenko. Valeria Hontareva served as the group's chairperson from 2007 to 2014, resigning to assume the position of head of the National Bank of Ukraine. In 2013, Avangard Bank joined the ICU Group.
According to information provided by the bank, the former Minister of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine, V. Demchyshyn, holds approximately 10% of ICU.
Funding for a US$10 million project was provided to the British hedge fund Autonomy Capital Research LLP.
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Structure

ICU Holdings Limited includes the following entities:
  • LLC "Assets Management Company 'Investment Capital Ukraine'"
  • Investment Capital Ukraine LLC
  • Westal Holdings Ltd
  • PJSC "Bank Avangard"
  • ZNPF "Investment Capital – Bond Fund"
  • ZNPF "Investment Capital – Action Fund"
  • PIF "Investment Capital Balanced"
  • Open Pension Fund "Dynasty"
  • Investment Company "Ludvinovka 31"

Operating activities

ICU specialises in debt and equity origination, buy-side and sell-side M&A advisory, financial consulting and debt restructuring. As of 2015, ICU had completed transactions for the restructuring of public and private debt totalling more than US$5 billion. ICU was recognised as a leading agent for restructuring in 2009–2010 and as Ukraine's best investment bank in 2015 by the Cbonds financial news agency.

Trading

ICU is active in trading shares and fixed income instruments. It became the first Ukrainian entity to join the International Swaps and Derivatives Association as a leading member in September 2013. ICU holds a central position in the local stock exchange market, conducting operations on Ukraine's main trading platforms, including the Perspektyva Stock Exchange, the PFTS Stock Exchange, and the Ukrainian Exchange. It is also a member of the self-regulating organisation, the Association of Ukrainian Stock Traders. In 2007, ICU was selected as an official IPO partner of the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Asset management

ICU is a Ukrainian asset management company operating both domestically and internationally. It provides services to private and institutional investors, including residents and non-residents. As of July 2015, ICU managed investments valued at more than US$250 million.
Key funds include:Investment Capital Bond Fund – a Ukrainian public fund investing in fixed income instruments;CIS Opportunities Fund – a foreign fund investing in securities markets across the CIS;Global Strategy Fund – a foreign fund focused on global markets.
The Investment Capital Bond Fund is noted for its high returns. According to the Investfunds rankings, it achieved 308% growth between September 2011 and June 2015, outperforming the UX Index by 348%.

ICU Business Books

In spring 2015, the group launched the publishing project ICU Business Books. The aim of the project is to raise the level of intellectual discourse in Ukraine and to help reduce the influence of mystical thinking, cargo cults, and populism within wider Ukrainian society.
The project is implemented through the publication of non-fiction literature, primarily business and economics books that, according to ICU, merit the attention of a wide Ukrainian readership. As of 30 March 2020, eleven books had been published in the #ICUbooks series.
Notable titles in the series include:Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty by Daron Acemoglu and James RobinsonZero to One: Notes on Startups by Peter ThielPlutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else by Chrystia FreelandCapital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas PikettyTalking to My Daughter About the Economy by Yanis VaroufakisThe Euro and the Battle of Ideas by Markus Brunnermeier, Harold James and Jean-Pierre LandauBlockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin Is Changing Money, Business, and the World by Alex Tapscott and Don Tapscott

Avangard Bank

PJSC "Bank Avangard" was registered by the National Bank of Ukraine on 5 July 2013. In accordance with Bank Licence No. 269, the General Licence for conducting exchange operations No. 269, and the relevant annexes, the bank provides a range of banking services and products. Its primary activities are focused on the forex market, the money market, and the stock market, conducting operations using both its own funds and client funds.
On 17 July 2014, Credit-Rating, a nationally recognised credit rating agency in Ukraine, confirmed the bank's long-term credit rating at uaA with a stable outlook.
According to the financial statement as of 31 December 2015, the bank served 228 accounts belonging to 98 customers and employed 23 staff members.

Government officials who worked at ICU

Since 2014, Investment Capital Ukraine has employed several individuals who later held public positions in Ukraine, including:

Selected awards