Headquarters of the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) and the country’s first stock exchange, the city of Rio de Janeiro has a calling for the capital market. This is the opinion of the Grupo Financeiro Carioca (GFC), a union between the public and private sectors to attract international asset managers to Rio’s development. The group, organized by the Municipal Treasury Department (”SMF”) is comprised of investment fund managers, investor relations (IR) professionals, representatives of major companies headquartered in Rio and members of entities such as the Brazilian Association of Financial and Capital Markets Entities (“Anbima”) and the Association of Analysts and Professionals of Capital Market Investment (”Apimec Rio”).

To draw investors’ attention, the city government and Apimec Rio plan to hold in mid-2011 the "Rio Investors Day." The plan is to show the city’s improvements and development as a financial hub, explains Alessandra Souza, chief of cabinet of the Municipal Treasury Department of Rio de Janeiro. There will be round tables and sector panels , mediated by market analysts. In addition, individual investor meetings will be held with CEOs and CFOs, similar to investment bank events. The goal is to present 50 to 60 companies with operations in the city of Rio: "We hope the event becomes part of the global financial schedule", says Souza.

Souza emphasizes that the goal is not to compete with São Paulo, but to restore the luster that Rio can have on the market. To do so, she mentions the city government’s efforts to reduce the bureaucracy facing business and she highlights the Rio de Janeiro universities that generate software professionals.