A very good question a few of our clients have been asking recently is; “Am I invested in Russia?”
You may be aware that we provide both our mainstream and ESG (you might call them ethical) portfolios. The former takes a low cost market approach and the latter has been researched to exclude arms and tobacco but also to only invest in companies that support the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Looking at our mainstream portfolios. All of the fund managers have issued statements to say that they had started to reduce the small amount of exposure they had to the rouble and Russian companies before the outbreak of war. Since the invasion they have stated that no new money will be invested in Russia and that they will sensibly reduce any exposure to support their opposition to the war but also to mitigate any potential losses for investors. To put your minds at rest we have looked at one of our Moderately Adventurous portfolios. Exposure to the rouble/Russia represented 0.43% of total holdings. For some individuals this will be too much but please be assured that each fund manager is working hard to reduce this to nil.
Looking at our ESG portfolios. One of our key fund managers has confirmed that they have no direct exposure to Russia/the rouble. They are looking closely at all of the companies that they invest in – a global firm producing recyclable cardboard for instance has 3 sites in Russia and 1 in Ukraine for instance. This a very small part of their operations though; 1% – but is being monitored. All of the other funds in the portfolio have no direct exposure to Russia.
Even if this conflict is resolved soon, and we sincerely hope it is, it’s perhaps something that will linger in investors’ minds for a long time to come.
Please feel free to talk to us for more guidance in this area.