Freedom Holding targets the global market

Freedom Holding has undergone a remarkable transformation in just a few years. When the company went public on Nasdaq in 2019, it was primarily known as a Kazakh brokerage house - the first in the country to be listed on a US stock exchange. Today, Freedom presents itself as a fintech platform with a market capitalization of USD 9.6 billion and locations in Central Asia, Europe, the USA and the Middle East. The takeover of a Turkish bank, ongoing talks with supervisory authorities in Georgia and Europe and the openly formulated global ambitions of CEO Timur Turlov show that expansion plans are increasingly turning into concrete steps. The business figures also underline this development. Since the IPO, the share price has increased more than tenfold, rising by more than 20 percent to USD 157.27 this year alone. In the quarter to December 31, the Group achieved a turnover of 628.6 million US dollars. In the first nine months, revenue amounted to 1.69 billion US dollars, while net profit reached 76.2 million US dollars. Total assets rose by 25 percent to 12.38 billion US dollars, while equity amounted to more than 1.3 billion US dollars. The shareholder base includes names such as BlackRock, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan. S&P Global Ratings gives the company a B- rating with a stable outlook. Kazakhstan remains the home market. However, Freedom's financial strength and technological model are now clearly geared towards international expansion. From broker to digital ecosystem The basis for this rise lies in Kazakhstan. Freedom has quickly built up a digital ecosystem there that goes far beyond the traditional brokerage business. Two years ago, the Group's super app had around half a million users. Today, there are 5.2 million - more than a quarter of the country's entire population. In total, the ecosystem now comprises over 11 million customers. The app is the key growth driver. It was launched in April 2024 and is now one of the most downloaded applications in Kazakhstan. It combines banking services, investments, travel, ticket purchases and loyalty programs in a single user interface. For Freedom, it has long been more than just a product - it is the most important sales channel for the entire integrated financial offering. The platform's bonus program is particularly striking. Cashback is automatically converted into fractions of Freedom Holding shares. This gives customers a direct stake in the company. For Turlov, this is more than just a marketing tool. He describes it as a form of shared value creation: as the company grows, the value of its users' participation also increases. Freedom is also growing rapidly in other areas. In the travel business, the Group has increased its market share for domestic flights from around 10 percent to 25 to 30 percent in less than two years. This growth was achieved despite the dominant market position of Kaspi, Kazakhstan's leading payment service provider. According to Freedom, it was able to gain a market share of around 15 percent within a year. For Turlov, this is proof that new competitors can prevail even in a highly concentrated market if they build a convincing ecosystem. However, expansion costs capital. Personnel costs rose by 43.4 percent year-on-year to 42.3 billion tenge. This is due to new hires, high technology investments and the development of additional capacities. Freedom is now working with Nvidia and OpenAI and operates a development center in Cyprus with 500 employees, which is intended to further expand the Group's digital infrastructure. Further acquisitions are planned, although the company has not yet provided any details. Central Asia as a testing ground Kazakhstan remains the center of the business, but Freedom is now gradually transferring its model to other markets in the region. The clearest example is Tajikistan. The group received a banking license there in autumn 2024 and launched what it describes as the country's first fully digital bank within a year. Freedom now offers credit cards, mortgages and other consumer services there via its super app model. The company is also expanding its presence in other Central Asian countries. In Kyrgyzstan, Freedom opened a brokerage firm in Bishkek. In Uzbekistan, the group is already one of the larger providers in the private customer business with securities. Whether comprehensive digital banking services will soon follow there is still being examined. The next focus is on Georgia. According to Freedom, it is actively preparing an application for a banking license. The National Bank of Georgia has already confirmed that the group is investing considerable resources in this process. A formal application is still pending, but preparations are underway. The logic behind this sequence is clear: Freedom is first tapping into markets that are closer in terms of culture, language and regulation. There, the company wants to build trust, obtain licenses and test its model in a familiar environment before entering more complex markets. Turkey as a bridge market Turkey plays a special role. It is currently Freedom's most important short-term acquisition target and also a potential bridge market between Asia and Europe. In 2025, the Group received a full broker license there. It also acquired a 99.2 percent stake in Turkish Bank A.Ş. - a move that is likely to require investments of up to USD 300 million in the coming years. If the regulatory authorities approve the full integration, Freedom in Turkey could bring together payments, deposits and commerce in a single digital ecosystem. It is precisely this model that the company would like to roll out in Western markets later on. From the management's perspective, Turkey appears more accessible than the EU. Freedom sees more regulatory openness and fewer cultural hurdles there. At the same time, the country is located at a strategically important interface between European and Asian capital flows. This makes Turkey a bridgehead with a regional and international function for Freedom. Europe as a strategic core target In the long term, however, Europe is the most important target market. Freedom is already present there with its brokerage platform Freedom24 and, according to its own information, serves more than 600,000 customers. Within the EU, Greece, Germany, Poland, Lithuania and Spain are among the most important markets. The technological backbone for this business is based in Cyprus, where Freedom Finance Technologies works with more than 500 developers on the infrastructure of the global ecosystem. Freedom has a broker license from the Cypriot CySEC, which allows the company to serve investors throughout the European Union. However, from the management's point of view, brokerage is just the start. The real goal is a European banking license. This would enable Freedom to offer its fully integrated financial model in the eurozone - and thus compete directly with companies such as Revolut, N26 and Trade Republic. Turlov formulates this goal openly. Expansion into Europe and later into the USA is crucial for the long-term survival of the company. Ultimately, the success of a technology also depends on the markets in which it is present. Freedom is pursuing a step-by-step approach. The company is initially entering the markets via brokerage. Banking services will only follow once the regulatory requirements have been met. It is also striking what Freedom deliberately does not offer: neither cryptocurrencies nor CFDs. The company is thus presenting itself as a deliberate alternative to riskier or more speculative fintech models. At the same time, Freedom is preparing the necessary infrastructure for larger markets. Plans include membership of the stock exchanges in Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Euronext. Turlov also sees a certain amount of movement on the regulatory side. He believes that regulators are now more open to new providers than they were a few years ago. Eastern Europe as an intermediate stage In addition to the large target markets in Western Europe, Freedom is gradually establishing smaller locations in Eastern Europe. Offices are to be opened in Romania and the Czech Republic this year and recruitment is already underway. The company already has a presence in Bulgaria. Lisbon is also being considered as a possible location for 2026. The pattern is similar everywhere: small local teams for sales, compliance and technical support, while the actual services are provided centrally from Cyprus. Eastern Europe thus serves as a springboard. Freedom wants to build credibility and operational presence here in order to take the next regulatory step later on. Growth with an image hurdle In addition to regulation and capital, Freedom faces another challenge: its own image of origin. In Western markets, knowledge about Central Asia is limited, and a company with post-Soviet roots has to do additional persuasion work. The Group's response is two-pronged. On the one hand, Freedom is accelerating the development of AI-supported products that are being created in Cyprus. On the other hand, the company is trying to build trust through its long-standing Nasdaq listing, regulation by CySEC and its deliberate distance from cryptocurrencies and CFDs. Ultimately, Turlov has a clear strategic conviction: In the technology sector, a few large providers secure the majority of the market. He sees this mechanism not only in search engines, social media and artificial intelligence, but also in the financial sector in the future. For Freedom, it is therefore not just about expansion, but about long-term relevance - and ultimately about survival in global competition. The company, which went public as a brokerage house in New York six years ago, is more difficult to categorize today than it was then. Whether the Central Asian market leader will become a global competitor remains to be seen. However, there is no doubt about the management's ambitions. The post Freedom Holding aims for the global market appeared first on ostwirtschaft.de.