Geopolitical rifts will mean more segmented markets for capital
It was a moment of triumph for Kirill Dmitriev in May 2012. Dmitriev — whose CV included stops at Goldman Sachs, McKinsey as well as Harvard and Stanford universities — had been tapped to lead the Russian Direct Investment Fund, a then newly-created sovereign wealth vehicle that envisioned bringing in smart global money to the mysterious but promising frontier market.
Still, research firm PitchBook Data reports the fund has an active portfolio of 89 investments. And RDIF says it has $10bn of capital under management and has “attracted $40bn into joint funds from 16 different countries”. It says it had helped fund the development of the Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine.
Interestingly, most of the storied private capital firms steered clear of Russia as well. For example a person familiar with Blackstone’s Russia plans told the FT in 2014, “In the good times, Blackstone couldn’t find anything to do and in the bad times, Blackstone can’t imagine doing anything.”
Read more: FT
