OREANDA-NEWS. September 22, 2011. Renaissance Capital, the leading emerging markets investment bank, has further strengthened its research team for Turkey, CE3 and Egypt with the appointment of Mert Yildiz as Turkey & Emerging Europe Economist.

Mr. Yildiz will be responsible for macroeconomic research coverage of Turkey, CE3 and Egypt – complementing Renaissance’s regional research franchise, headed by Yavuz Uzay – in addition to focusing on US/EU/China issues. He joins Renaissance from Kuwait China Investment Company, where he served as an economist in the research department covering G3, GCC and Asia (ex. Japan) economies and commodities. Prior to that, Mr. Yildiz was an economist at the treasury department of ING Bank in Istanbul, with responsibility for coverage of the Turkish economy, and has also served as an economist at the Economic Policy Research Institute, in Ankara. A Turkish national, Mr. Yildiz has a Masters degree in Applied Mathematics from the London School of Economics, an MA in Statistics from Columbia University NY and a BSc in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.

David Nangle, Head of Equity Research at Renaissance Capital, says, “Mert’s addition is another carefully planned expansion of our team. His track record and knowledge of Turkey and CE3 markets will further strengthen the Firm’s research franchise in the new markets we have opened up in the past 12 months. Mert will be an invaluable member of the Turkish research team.”

Mr. Yildiz is based in London and reports to Charles Robertson, Renaissance Capital Global Chief Economist.