Banking
Freedom Holding Corp.: More Than Just a Broker
Published by Jessica Weisman-Pitts
Posted on February 24, 2025
5 min readLast updated: February 24, 2025
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Jessica Weisman-Pitts
Posted on February 24, 2025
5 min readLast updated: February 24, 2025
The company’s revenue has shifted across several business lines
Freedom Holding Corp. is actively diversifying its operations. In the third quarter of the 2025 fiscal year (October to December 2024), Freedom Holding reported significant changes in its revenue structure. For example, revenue from its brokerage business, which has traditionally been a key driver, is now almost equal to revenues from other segments. This shift occurred as insurance, banking and lifestyle businesses enhanced their contribution to the overall income of the organization. This trend indicates that the company’s diversification efforts have been successful, as alternative business lines now significantly contribute to its financial results.
Freedom Holding Corp. (FRHC), a banking and brokerage holding company headquartered in Kazakhstan, reported a 57% year-on-year (YoY) increase in revenue for Q3 of the 2025 fiscal year, totaling $655.2 million. The brokerage business contributed noticeably to the company’s revenue but no longer to the extent it once did. For example, two brokerage companies within the group earned $213.3 million in Q3, a 29% increase compared to the previous year. This means that brokerage revenue accounts for 32.5% of Freedom’s total revenue. In contrast, the brokerage’s share stood at 35.5% out of $418.6 million in total revenue last year.
According to Timur Turlov, the founder and majority shareholder of Freedom Holding Corp., the decrease in brokerage revenue was offset by increases in other business lines. “The company’s revenue has significantly diversified recently, driven in large part by the insurance and banking segments instead of brokerage, as it used to be,” he said. “This change makes our ecosystem more sustainable and well-balanced.”
New growth driver: Insurance companies
The insurance segment saw a 106% YoY increase, reaching $197.8 million — the highest revenue growth of any segment. This segment includes Freedom Insurance and Freedom Life, both of which have been part of the Freedom brand since 2018 when Timur Turlov acquired them. Since then, they have become fully integrated into the FRHC financial ecosystem. Freedom Insurance ranks among Kazakhstan’s top five insurance companies by assets and specializes in all types of car insurance, including compulsory insurance (through the DTP.kz service) and full insurance, and voluntary financial risk insurance for businesses. Freedom Life focuses on life insurance, offering whole life insurance policies, travel insurance and pension annuities. In Q3, the company earned $177.5 million from insurance, a 125% YoY increase, accounting for 27% of its overall revenue. Freedom Life also offers exclusive services such as the Freedom Health subscription, which covers medical treatment for serious illnesses at top international clinics for up to $1 million.
Freedom’s insurance business is well-known for its high level of digitalization, allowing Freedom Insurance and Freedom Life to quickly expand their client base. During the reported period, 972,000 customers used Freedom’s insurance products and services. In November 2024, S&P Global Ratings upgraded the credit rating of Freedom Finance Insurance to B+, with a stable outlook.
Banking core business
Banking has become increasingly vital for Freedom Holding Corp. since 2024, when the company began to develop its ecosystem more actively. Freedom Bank Kazakhstan plays a central role in this process, which is implemented at the client level through the Freedom SuperApp, a mobile app launched in May 2024. A distinctive feature of the app is a loyalty program across all services within the company in certain regions, offering cashback in the form of Freedom currency (linked to the share value of FRHC).
In 2024, Timur Turlov cited cashback as a key reason behind the Bank’s success. Thanks to this innovation, the number of Freedom Bank Kazakhstan clients increased to 1.4 million. In the reported period, the Bank reported a 47% YoY revenue increase, reaching $206.4 million or 31.4% of Freedom Holding’s total revenue for Q3 of fiscal year 2025. Freedom Bank Kazakhstan’s rating was upgraded by S&P to B+, with a stable outlook.
M&A non-stop: Lifestyle services and new business lines
Freedom Holding Corp. includes about 20 online lifestyle companies, which were acquired between 2019 and 2024. These include Freedom Pay, an e-payment service; Freedom Ticketon, Chocotravel and Aviata, online ticket services; Arbuz.kz, an online grocery marketplace; and Freedom Media, a media platform. From October to December 2024, this segment reported a 120% increase in revenue, reaching $37.7 million.
As part of its overall strategy, Freedom Holding Corp. plans to continue expanding through mergers and acquisitions to increase its client base and, as a result, its revenue.
Another part of the organization — telecommunications — has not yet become a revenue-generating business line, as it has only just begun to expand. In 2024, Freedom Telecom acquired EliteCom for $3 million to leverage its assets and licenses for further development of its own business. Telecom is considered one of the most promising sectors for the company and Turlov has stated that it plans to invest $650 million in the sector by 2028.
Once a broker, always a broker
Freedom Holding Corp. began as a brokerage company, and trading on the stock market remains one of the most important parts of its operations. Freedom Holding has been expanding rapidly into new international markets.
From October to December 2024, the client base of Freedom’s two brokerage companies in Kazakhstan reached 618,000 customers. Beyond Kazakhstan, the company’s brokers also operate in Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. In January 2025, Freedom announced its expansion into the Turkish market, with a new entity, Freedom Yatırım Menkul Değerler AŞ, obtaining a license from Turkish regulators. The company also plans to enter the UAE market soon. Overall, Freedom Holding Corp. has operations in 22 countries.
In the reported period, S&P raised the ratings of the brokerage companies Freedom Finance JSC, Freedom Finance Global and Freedom Finance Europe to B+, with a stable outlook.
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