Charlie Robertson, a leading emerging markets specialist, is Renaissance Capital’s Global Chief Economist and Head of the Firm’s Macro-strategy Unit. Charlie covers the global economic themes having the greatest impact on emerging markets, including democratisation, demographics, education, electricity, ESG, fertility, pension funds, savings, terrorism, as well as key ways to examine exchange rates in emerging and frontier markets.
Charlie is the lead author of The Fastest Billion: The Story Behind Africa’s Economic Revolution (www.fastestbillion.com), published in October 2012, and is often found on twitter @RenCapMan.
Charlie was voted the #1 Frontier analyst in the Extel surveys from 2016-2020, #1 Frontier analyst in Institutional Investor in 2019, and Renaissance Capital was the #1 rated Frontier firm in both 2016 and 2017. He was previously ranked the #1 economics and macro analyst for emerging Europe, the Middle East and Africa in the Extel survey in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. In addition, the team he led was ranked the best macro team in Extel’s 2010 survey of equity investors. Another of Charlie’s teams took first place for SSA coverage in the institutional investor survey for 2012.
In 2021, Charlie was the first non-African to receive the African Icon award from African Banker as his work has helped change perceptions about Africa and position the continent as a serious investment destination.
Charlie graduated from the London School of Economics in 1993 and worked at a UK parliamentary defence think-tank and a research boutique until joining the financial services industry in 1998.