Saying ‘Da’ to Business

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Ilya Kuntsevich studied economics as a college student in Russia, but his training wasn’t exactly the industry standard for employees of big international companies.

“I was getting my undergrad degree in economics and we were reading Karl Marx’s ‘Das Kapital’ as the foundation of capitalism,” Kuntsevich said.

Today, the 37-year-old is a managing partner at Beverly Investment Group in Beverly Hills and sits on the board of West L.A. medical device manufacturer Neural Analytics. He immigrated to the United States in 2001 and much prefers the way business works here, but he said the experience of growing up in mid-1990s Russia gave him valuable insights into how markets work – and don’t.

“I could see how the old system died but the new system didn’t yet fully emerge,” he said.

After the 2008 economic crisis, Kuntsevich devised a new economic model based on what he observed working in Russia and the United States and has since expanded it into a full-length book called “Economical Equilibrium.”

Kuntsevich manages Beverly Investment’s money according to a mathematical approach that uses geometric modeling. Although he said there was a learning curve in getting the firm’s investors on board, they’ve been happy with the returns. While Russia in the 1990s was a volatile and often dangerous place, Kuntsevich said the lessons he learned there helped make him a better investor.

“It was a great experience,” he said.

Bite Out of Soccer

Like many soccer fanatics, Dr. David Keen has been juggling a busy work schedule with extracurricular World Cup viewings.

But it hasn’t been entirely unproductive. After one match, Keen saw a way to expand his practice.

When the 40-year-old Beverly Hills dentist watched Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez bite an opponent in a game last month, Keen thought he should offer the player a custom mouth guard to prevent future biting incidents. Keen often makes similar athletic mouth guards for his patients.

It was just a joke until Keen was visited by a patient shortly after, Uruguay native Norman Aladjem, president of L.A. comedy production and management firm Levity Entertainment Group. Aladjem was dismayed that Suarez had been suspended from the tournament, and with his encouragement, Keen put out a public statement a couple weeks ago offering his services to Suarez.

“That’s when this had to become an offer with good intention – and it still stands,” Keen said.

He has yet to hear from the player.

Staff reporters Matt Pressberg and Jonathan Polakoff contributed to this column. Page 3 is compiled by editor Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at [email protected].

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