How one of the biggest financial companies in Kazakhstan emerged and developed in the market
Timur Turlov is the founder, CEO, and majority shareholder of the international diversified financial services company Freedom Holding Corp. Even though he is under 40, he has already proven to be an incredibly successful entrepreneur in Kazakhstan and beyond. The market capitalization of the company currently exceeds $8 billion, and its interests include: a retail bank, several brokerage firms, insurance subsidiaries, a payment system, online services for ticket and food sales, a telecom operator, a mobile operator, a media platform and many other assets. Freedom Holding Corp. operates in 22 countries and continues to expand its presence in international markets.
First steps
According to Timur Turlov himself, he started working in the stock market while still in high school. At the age of 15, he bought his first securities. Although he lost that investment, it piqued his desire to learn more about finance. Soon, he joined World Capital Investments (WCI), a small investment company, as an intern. Two years later, he was appointed head of a department at Utrade.ru, a subsidiary of Uniastrum Bank, responsible for trading on American stock exchanges.
In 2008, the Freedom Holding Corp shut down due to the global financial crisis, however Turlov was prepared and decided to use his expertise to establish his own company. This was the moment when the idea of a brokerage business specializing in certain niches was born.
In 2009, Timur Turlov and some of his former colleagues from Uniastrum founded Freedom Finance. Turlov personally invested $50,000, with additional contributions from his partners. According to him, this money represented everything they had earned at Utrade.ru.
The newly established company focused on providing access to the largest global stock exchanges, along with brokerage and trust management of securities. At just 21 years old, Timur Turlov, as the majority stakeholder, was appointed CEO.
Of course, no one could have imagined that this startup would grow into a massive international banking and financial holding.
In 2013, the Freedom Holding launched the innovative online share shop Freedom 24. This was the first high-tech solution for trading securities designed for those with no prior knowledge of stock markets. The tool was simple and intuitive, allowing anyone interested to buy shares and bonds as easily as purchasing a product on an online marketplace.
Kazakhstan as a power hub
Freedom Finance found major success in Kazakhstan, where it has been operating since 2011.
“When we arrived, there were only 4,000 accounts in the Central Depository for a population of 20 million. In other words, brokerage penetration in Kazakhstan’s market was nearly zero,” Turlov recalled.
At the time, the country’s authorities had an ambitious goal of developing their own stock market, and the so-called People’s IPOs and the associated large-scale privatization of public assets, were key steps in this direction. Naturally, Freedom Finance played an active role in the process. For instance, the company facilitated the initial public offering of KEGOC, a major power grid company in Kazakhstan. Within a month, Freedom Finance opened more than 30,000 brokerage accounts. Since that pivotal moment, Turlov has been living in Kazakhstan, focusing his efforts on the local market.
Reaching Nasdaq
In 2015, Freedom Finance acquired a Kazakhstani bank, later renamed Bank Freedom Finance. Shortly after, the company consolidated all its assets under Freedom Holding Corp., with the goal of targeting global stock markets.
The entire process of preparing for a public offering was highly complex and took several years. However, in 2019, Freedom Holding Corp. went public on the Nasdaq Capital Market, joining leading high-tech companies already traded on the exchange. By doing so, it became the first brokerage company from the CIS region to be listed on Nasdaq. At the time, the company’s stock price was $14.62. Today, five years later, the share price has surged to around $140 — a tenfold increase. The company’s market capitalization now exceeds $8 billion.
Expansion into new markets
Since 2019, Freedom Holding Corp. has been actively implementing its expansion strategy, both in terms of industry diversification and geographical reach. After going public in the U.S., the company acquired the local brokerage firm Prime Executions. In 2022, this firm obtained licenses for investment banking and underwriting, leading to the establishment of a new subsidiary, Freedom Capital Markets.
Each year, more and more companies have joined the enterprise. By 2025, the group encompassed 30 subsidiaries within a single ecosystem. Notably, Freedom customers, in certain regions, can access almost all these services through Freedom SuperApp, a unified platform launched in May 2024. All services within the app are integrated via a single digital banking platform.
Despite its high level of diversification, Freedom Holding Corp. remains a dominant player in the financial, banking and brokerage sectors. Currently, it operates brokerage companies in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Cyprus, serving over 330,000 customers across the EU and the U.K. Additionally, the company is preparing to launch a brokerage service in Turkey after receiving approval from the local regulator. In the near future, Freedom Holding Corp. also plans to obtain a brokerage license in the UAE.
Social responsibility and future outlook
Beyond financial services, the company is deeply involved in socially beneficial activities, particularly in Kazakhstan where it not only creates jobs, but also develops educational training programs, financially supports sports events, and promotes financial literacy.
Step by step, Freedom Holding Corp. has evolved from a startup founded by former traders into one of the largest financial giants in the CIS region, serving more than 6 million customers.
