Turan Corporation
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Investment management, Sovereign debt trading |
| Founded | 1978 |
| Founder | Robert P. Smith |
| Headquarters | Boston , United States |
| Products | Sovereign debt investment |
Turan Corporation is an American investment company headquartered in Boston, founded in 1978 by Robert P. Smith. Initially named Turam Corporation, a blend of "Turkish-American," it rapidly grew into one of the foremost privately owned firms specializing in sovereign debt trading worldwide. After experiencing disagreements with his initial partners, Smith divested his stake and renamed the enterprise Turan Corporation, symbolically "removing the M."
As a pioneer, Turan became the first Western entity to allocate capital into Turkish sovereign debt, establishing an approach that was later replicated in countries like Argentina, Nigeria, and El Salvador.
History
Peter Marber, author of From Third World to World Class: The Future of Emerging Markets in the Global Economy, identifies Smith as a foundational figure in the creation of the emerging markets debt industry, alongside contemporaries such as Giacomo DeFillippis (Giadefi), J. Player Crosby (Finamex), and Martin Schubert (Eurinam).
Turan focused on acquiring high-risk debt instruments from emerging economies, including those linked to Iraq, Ecuador, and the Soviet Union-era Russia. In more recent years, the company took advantage of the Dubai World 2009 debt standstill by investing in troubled Nakheel bonds.
Importantly, Turan continues to be a significant private creditor that has declined to accept the conditions of the Argentine debt restructuring, pursuing legal action to reclaim investments from Argentina’s government.