More than half a million Russian residents invest in ETFs
On 17 September 2020, MOEX celebrates the two-year anniversary of trading in Russian-law ETFs.
Over this period, a large number of new collective investment instruments were rolled out, allowing retail and institutional clients to invest in a wide range of assets and diversify their portfolios.
In 2020, asset management companies launched ten new funds, bringing the total number of Russian-law ETFs to 29 with the total net asset value of RUB 43.8 billion (almost USD 600 million).
Russian-law ETFs are at the top of investment trends: total trading volume in these instruments has grown almost threefold year to date and exceeded RUB 60 billion. In the first eight months of 2020, net investments in Russian-law ETFs were more than RUB 22 billion, a twofold increase compared to 2019. The number of investors holding these funds in their portfolios increased fivefold year to date to 526,000 people.
Igor Marich, member of the Executive Board and Managing Director for Sales and Business Development at Moscow Exchange, said:
"ETFs are an important product, first of all for retail investors, who can quickly and easily buy a basket of assets. This is especially needed amid growing demand for investment vehicles and a record inflow of individuals to the stock market. In August, the number of retail investors already exceeded six million people. We are in close touch with market participants and expect new Russian-law ETFs to be introduced by the end of the year. We also plan to make ETFs available for after-hours trading."
Russian-law ETFs on MOEX allows retail and institutional investors to buy portfolios of leading Russian and global stocks as well as government and corporate bonds. The funds are traded in Russian rubles and foreign currencies, without full collateral required and with an option for short selling.
MOEX also offers 14 ETFs issued under foreign law which invest in portfolios of Russian and international stocks, bonds, oil and precious metals.
ETFs are one of the most popular investment instruments worldwide. The global ETF market is worth USD 6.3 trillion
The MOEX Equity Market ETF offering includes 44 funds: 29 Russian-law ETFs managed by Alfa-Capital, VTB Capital, East-West Asset Management, Gazprom Asset Management, Raiffeisen Capital, Sberbank Asset Management, Sistema Capital, Tinkoff Capital and 15 ETFs of FinEXFunds and ITI Funds. ETFs on benchmarks of eight countries (Russia, Kazakhstan, Germany, the UK, the US, China, Japan and Australia) are also available. The underlying assets are equity indices, stocks, bonds and commodities. Retail investors may purchase ETFs by using their Individual Investment Accounts; the long-term investment credit applies.