Kazakhstan’s corporate bond market is gaining momentum. In 2025, corporate bond placements surged by 36.2% to KZT 4.73 trillion, as companies increasingly turned to capital markets to raise funding. Private placements have emerged as an important financing channel, while investor participation continues to expand. Freedom Investments, part of Timur Turlov’s Freedom Holding Corp., is playing an active role in this transformation by helping companies raise capital and connecting investors with major financial markets worldwide.
Kazakhstan’s Bond Market Is Expanding Rapidly
Kazakhstani companies raised KZT 4.73 trillion through primary corporate bond placements in 2025, compared with KZT 3.47 trillion a year earlier, according to the National Bank of Kazakhstan. The increase of 36.2% reflects growing activity in the country's debt capital markets.
By August 2026, the equity market capitalization of the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) had reached KZT 47.7 trillion. Government debt securities traded on the exchange totaled KZT 36.7 trillion, while corporate debt securities amounted to KZT 16.7 trillion.
Companies in Kazakhstan can issue corporate bonds through two main placement methods: public offerings, which are open to a broad range of investors, and private placements, which target a limited group of buyers.
KASE introduced its private placement mechanism in 2021, allowing companies to raise capital more quickly and with fewer administrative procedures. Participation is restricted to qualified investors, with a maximum of 50 investors permitted in each placement.
At the same time, Kazakhstan's retail investment market has been expanding significantly.
According to the Astana International Exchange (AIX), the number of retail investor accounts increased 35-fold over five years, with more than 90% of active brokerage accounts opened during that period.
Individual investors have also become increasingly important participants in the corporate bond market. Their share of corporate bond purchases rose from 3.8% in 2021 to 23.1% in 2025.
As of August 2026, Kazakhstan's Central Securities Depository recorded 5.85 million accounts, including approximately 700,600 individual client subaccounts and 5.15 million accounts maintained through brokers.
The figures illustrate a significant shift in Kazakhstan's financial landscape, with a growing number of individuals gaining access to investment instruments that were once primarily used by institutional investors.
How Freedom Holding Built Its Presence in Kazakhstan
Freedom Holding's history dates back to 2008, when entrepreneur Timur Turlov established a financial services company in Russia.
The group entered a new phase of development in Kazakhstan in 2013, completing the acquisition of Seven Rivers Capital, a brokerage firm that had operated in the country since 2006. Following the acquisition, the company was renamed Freedom Finance JSC.
In 2018, Freedom Holding Corp. further strengthened its position by acquiring local brokerage firm Asyl-Invest.
Following the transaction, Freedom Finance became Kazakhstan's largest brokerage company. At the time, it serviced more than 50,000 client accounts and described itself as the country's leading retail broker.
The expansion coincided with Kazakhstan's early efforts to introduce more citizens to the stock market.
One of the key milestones was the People's IPO program, launched in late 2012 to broaden public participation in the ownership of major national companies.
Among the companies whose shares were offered through the program was KEGOC, Kazakhstan's state-owned electricity transmission system operator.
Applications to purchase KEGOC shares opened on November 5. Over the following month, Freedom submitted more than 18,000 applications on behalf of investors.
Through Turlov's brokerage business, investors purchased approximately 4.8 million shares worth a combined KZT 2.4 billion.
Almaty accounted for the largest share of applications submitted through Freedom's branch network, at 26.7%. Karaganda followed with 18.5%, while Shymkent represented 16.8%.
Other active cities included Pavlodar (8.6%), Astana (7.5%) and Oskemen (7.4%).
As Kazakhstan's capital markets developed, Freedom Holding continued participating in major securities offerings.
In December 2022, the group's investment business served as one of the coordinators and bookrunners for the initial public offering of KazMunayGas, Kazakhstan's national oil and gas company.
Freedom clients submitted applications totaling KZT 90 billion, of which KZT 67 billion were allocated. This represented 44% of the total allocated amount.
In December 2023, Freedom itself tapped the capital markets.
Through its subsidiary Freedom Finance SPC, the group placed $200 million in five-year US dollar-denominated bonds on AIX, offering annual yields of 11.5% to 12%.
Another important transaction followed in February 2024, when Air Astana, Kazakhstan's flagship airline, launched its IPO.
Freedom Broker acted as a lead manager for the offering, accounting for 27% of applications submitted on Kazakhstan's stock exchanges.
Financing Kazakhstan's Economy Through Corporate Bonds
Freedom Holding's activities extend beyond equity offerings. Its investment business also participates in debt capital markets, helping corporate and institutional issuers raise financing through bond placements.
The company has acted as an underwriter for a number of major issuers.
These transactions include six bond issues by KazAgroFinance totaling KZT 170 billion and five issues by the Eurasian Development Bank worth KZT 107 billion.
Freedom also underwrote 16 bond issues by Solva with a combined value of KZT 86 billion, as well as 32 issues by the Kazakhstan Sustainability Fund totaling KZT 787 billion.
Its activities have also extended to international issuers.
On AIX, the company arranged two bond issues for CITIX totaling $30 million and another two issues for AltynGold worth $20 million.
These transactions demonstrate how Kazakhstan's capital market infrastructure is being used to channel investment into corporate financing, while also providing foreign issuers with access to regional investors.
KASE and AIX: Two Gateways to Kazakhstan's Capital Markets
Kazakhstan's securities market is centered around two major exchanges: the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) and the Astana International Exchange (AIX).
Although both platforms serve investors and issuers, they operate under different legal and institutional frameworks.
KASE is Kazakhstan's established domestic exchange, where investors can access shares issued by 74 Kazakhstani companies and bonds from 171 domestic issuers.
In August 2026, the KASE Index reached a record high, having gained nearly 11% since the beginning of the year.
AIX, meanwhile, operates within the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), an international financial hub that uses a legal framework based on English common law.
The exchange supports settlements in multiple currencies and is designed to facilitate international investment activity.
In 2026, AIX listed 398 securities issued by 196 entities. During the first six months of the year alone, the exchange recorded 74 new listings.
Despite this growing infrastructure, traditional bank deposits remain the preferred savings instrument for most Kazakhstani households.
According to research by the National Bank of Kazakhstan, only 9.2% of citizens hold savings in securities, compared with 74.8% who keep their money in bank deposits.
Stock market performance, however, has attracted increasing attention.
The KASE Index gained 26.1% in 2025, while the average interest rate on non-term bank deposits stood at 15.2% over the same period.
These figures reflect the different return opportunities available to investors, although stock market investments and deposits carry substantially different levels of risk.
Freedom Investments Expands Access to Global Markets
Freedom Investments, previously widely referred to in the media as Freedom Broker, operates in Kazakhstan through two entities with complementary business models.
The first is Freedom Finance JSC, which serves clients on KASE and AIX, provides market-making services, and organizes debt and equity financing.
The second is Freedom Finance Global, established in 2020 and licensed within the Astana International Financial Centre.
Freedom Finance Global provides direct access to major international trading venues, including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Nasdaq, the London Stock Exchange, and stock exchanges in Hong Kong and Frankfurt.
Its clients can also access KASE, AIX and primary securities offerings.
The scale of the business has continued to increase.
As of January 1, 2026, Freedom Broker maintained 342,000 active client accounts in Kazakhstan. During 2025, clients executed 38.4 million transactions.
The number of accounts subsequently rose to approximately 387,000, including 40,000 at Freedom Finance JSC and another 347,000 at Freedom Finance Global PLC.
Alongside its brokerage operations, the company has expanded its market-making activities.
Freedom Broker provides market-making services for 96 securities on KASE, 28 on AIX, and approximately 2,900 on the ITS trading platform.
Through its mobile application, investors can trade more than 2,700 liquid financial instruments.
The Tradernet platform provides access to more than one million instruments, including stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), bonds, futures and options.
On ITS, clients can invest in shares of major international companies such as Tesla, NVIDIA, Apple and Amazon, as well as depositary receipts issued by European and Asian businesses.
The company also plans to expand its range of options and digital financial assets.
For Kazakhstan's investors, these services provide opportunities to diversify their portfolios beyond domestic securities and participate in international financial markets.
Freedom Holding Expands Its International Footprint
Freedom Holding Corp.'s growth is not limited to Kazakhstan.
During fiscal year 2026, the number of brokerage clients across the group increased by 26%, rising from 683,000 to 858,000.
The holding company also reported strong financial performance for the April–June 2026 quarter.
Revenue increased by 40% to $732.5 million, while total assets exceeded $14 billion.
The group's overall customer base reached 8.74 million people across 24 countries.
In the summer of 2026, Freedom Holding expanded into Türkiye, adding another market to its international operations.
For Kazakhstan, the broader trend extends beyond the growth of any single brokerage firm.
The expansion of corporate bond financing, increasing participation by retail investors and improved access to international exchanges all point to the continued development of the country's capital markets.
As businesses seek additional funding sources and individuals explore alternatives to traditional savings products, the role of financial intermediaries is becoming increasingly important.
Freedom Investments is participating in this process by supporting securities placements, facilitating corporate financing and connecting Kazakhstani investors with financial opportunities across domestic and global markets.
