"Frontier is part travelogue, part investment research on one of the hottest topics in finance at the moment: frontier markets, countries far off the beaten track of most money managers. Gavin Serkin is an adept guide to these fascinating, recondite corners of world, ably assisted by a slew of prominent investors – including Mark Mobius, a pioneer of emerging market investment. Investors unfamiliar with the new stars of the developing world will find this book an invaluable introduction."
Robin Wigglesworth, Financial Times, Deputy Head of FastFT & former Capital Markets Correspondent
"I love it! Great job! It gives the reader real insights into how these markets behave and, more importantly, how fund managers like us cope. Beautiful descriptive writing."
Dr. Mark Mobius, Executive Chairman, Templeton Emerging Markets Group
"Gavin Serkin′s book is a unique combination of expert journalistic insight and knowledge gained from continent to continent, using his gifted inner compass to tell a compelling, muscular, engaging and humorous story. Powerful narratives, eye–witness accounts and captivating tales, masterly woven, paint a beautiful portrait – albeit with some dark alleys – of hope among emerging frontier markets where returns are high and irresistible for discerning investors.
"The book provides the indispensable guidance investors are seeking to understand the complex texture of doing business in a rapidly changing landscape. It could not have arrived at a better time."
Aliko Dangote, Africa′s Wealthiest Person, Dangote Group President & Chief Executive
"Frontier brings together some of the best known names in emerging markets to portray what is truly happening on the ground in the newest and most exciting investment destinations. Gavin Serkin′s unique approach makes his book incredibly useful, with a compendium of ideas on how to build a portfolio. Better still, the reader absorbs the information while enjoying a compelling travelogue of little charted territories."
Ivan Ritossa, Chairman of Exotix, Barclays Investment Bank former Head of LatAm, Central and Eastern Europe, Mideast & Africa
"This is essential reading for investors exploring investment frontiers. Gavin Serkin unpacks the good, the bad and the ugly behind the numbers, painting a realistic picture of the challenges and the potential."
Caroline Lambert, Center for Global Development Visiting Fellow, The Economist′s former Bureau Chief in Johannesburg & Author of ′Oil to Cash′
"Gavin Serkin is a journalist well known to veterans of emerging markets. His book is an eclectic rollercoaster presenting a diversity of frontier market experiences from the ground up. It contains fascinating insights into how a cross–section of investors think and perceive risks and opportunities."
Dr. Jerome Booth, Chairman of New Sparta & Co–Founder of Ashmore, Author of ′Emerging Markets in an Upside Down World: Challenging Perceptions in Asset Allocation & Investment′
About the Author
Disclaimer
Prologue
Introduction to Frontier
Mark MobiusChapter 1: Kenya
I – Mamboz
II – Can t Believe You re Going to Kenya
III – Sleeping Serpent
IV – Prowling Leopard
V – Clinker
Chapter 2: Myanmar
I – Halcyon Days
II – Uncle
III – Yoma
IV – Son
V – Gaung Baung
VI – Monk of Mandalay
Chapter 3: Romania
I – Ro–man–ee–a!
II – Systematization
III – Brown Envelopes
IV – Mega Mall
V – Drac–u–la
VI – Crossroads
Chapter 4: Argentina
I – Arbolitos
II – Del Fin Del Mundo
III – Vaca Meurta
IV – Adelante
Chapter 5: Vietnam
I – Confucius
II – Aristotle
III – Panacea
IV – Equitization
V – Automaton
VI – From Noodles
Chapter 6: Nigeria
I – Eko Beach
II – Crude Politics
III – Sugar King
Chapter 7: Egypt
I – Revolution II
II – Cleopatra
III – Sahl Hasheesh
IV – Audacity of Hope
V – Zahma!
Chapter 8: Saudi Arabia
I – Virtue and Vice
II – Socialist Monarchy
III – Desert Farming
IV – Opening Bell
V – White Balloons
Chapter 9: Sri Lanka
I – Family Economy
II – China City
III – Pawn
IV – Kilinochchi
V – Rising Sun
Chapter 10: Ghana
I – Goatanomics
II – Highlife and Death
III – Gold Diggers
IV – Cassava King
V – Egg and Stone
Conclusion: Journey s End
Acknowledgements
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..as a book on emerging markets, Serkin certainly set the standard with Frontier .a must read for investors wanting to find out how valuation in emerging markets really works (Financial Times, March 2015)