I Tried to Trade Like Qullamaggie
One-man hedge fund challenge: the Analyst audits a famous trader A quick reminder of where we are: I am trying to answer one question: can one person,…
Central Asia & CIS Research and Investment Portal
Institutional-grade equity research on frontier-market equities across Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan & Turkey.
Last updated: Aug 28, 2026
Central Asia / CIS Bank Monitor
| Ticker | Bank | Country | Conviction | P/BV | ROAE FY25 | Div. Yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BGEO | Lion Finance Georgia | Georgia | Neutral | 2.0x | 28.2% | 5.0% |
| TBCG | TBC Bank | Georgia | Neutral | 1.6x | 24.2% | 5.7% |
| HSBK | Halyk Bank | Kazakhstan | Neutral | 1.2x | 32.2% | 9.9% |
| PB | PASHA Bank | Azerbaijan | Neutral | 0.9x | 19.9% | 7.2% |
| ABB | ABB Bank | Azerbaijan | Long | 0.5x | 16.7% | 15.6% |
| KSPI | Kaspi.kz | Kazakhstan | Neutral | 3.7x | 51.1% | 5.6% |
| SKBNK | Şekerbank | Turkey | Neutral | 0.8x | 1.5% | 0.7% |
| GARAN | Garanti BBVA | Turkey | Neutral | 1.3x | 27.5% | 7.9% |
| CCBN | Bank CenterCredit | Kazakhstan | Long | 1.1x | 36.1% | 12.0% |
| HMKB | Hamkorbank | Uzbekistan | hold | 1.8x | 28.1% | 4.0% |
Top longs: Highest-conviction picks: ABB (Long — 0.5x book, 16.7% ROAE, 15.6% dividend yield) and Bank CenterCredit (Long — 36.1% ROAE, 1.7% NPL). Hamkorbank still screens strong on returns (28.1% ROAE, 30% FY26E loan growth) but is now a Hold, re-rated on valuation (10.1x FY25 P/E, 1.8x book).
Cheapest on book: ABB screens cheapest in the set at 0.5x book — on a 16.7% ROAE and a 15.6% dividend yield.
Highest ROAE: Kaspi leads on paper at 51.1% ROAE, but it's a platform, not a bank; among pure banks, Bank CenterCredit is the standout at 36.1%, ahead of Halyk (32.2%), BGEO (28.2%) and Hamkorbank (28.1%).
Kazakhstan vs Georgia: Georgia trades richer on book (BGEO 2.0x, TBCG 1.6x) than Kazakhstan (Halyk 1.2x, CenterCredit 1.1x) at comparable-or-higher returns — Kazakhstan looks like the better risk-adjusted value.
Latest Research Publications
Regular equity research notes, earnings updates, and market commentary published on Substack. Topics include quarterly earnings for Azerbaijani, Georgian, Kazakhstani, Uzbekistani, and Turkish banks; conviction updates; and occasional global bottom-up trade ideas.
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One-Man Hedge Fund Challenge: How to Test an Investment Hypothesis
Building one-man hedge fund, with AI Agents playing the role of Analyst, Portfolio Manager, Risk Manager and Trader. In this post we are looking for investment…
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Can multi-agent AI replace a hedge fund team? A hands-on experiment in building an autonomous fund from scratch
Can you build a one-man hedge fund? The core of any investment fund is 4 key functions, each requiring in-depth expertise. Every investment fund requires an…
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Acqusition of AccessBank by Bank Respublika
Several points, worth noting about the acqusition of AccessBank by Bank Respublika (all from public sources): - Founding shareholders of AccessBank, among…
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2Q26: Central Asian Banking Update
Kaspi Bank 2Q revenue +15% YoY to KZT1.1Trl, with all three platforms contributing. E-Commerce GMV rose 28% (constant prices); on top of that monetization…
About Investor Club Research
We publish institutional-grade research on banks and capital markets across Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. Occasionally, we publish high-conviction global, bottom-up, research-driven trade ideas with the potential to deliver double-digit returns.
Research by Mansur Mammadov, Equity Research Analyst.
Published ideas & live positions
Follow the Investor Club Research track record, including live positions, realized returns, and the reports behind each idea.
Investor Education
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