War in Ukraine: BlackRock records 17 billion losses in Russia
The headquarters of global asset management giant BlackRock in New York.
Getty Images via AFP - SPENCER PLATT
Text by: RFI Follow
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Since the invasion of Ukraine, clients of the global asset management giant have seen their Russian investments melt away.
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Western sanctions imposed on Russia and the closure of the Moscow Stock Exchange have plunged Russian securities managed by BlackRock, which specifies that these losses are those of its customers, and not of the company itself.
BlackRock, the world's leading player in this field with more than 10 billion dollars entrusted by investors and savers, saw the proportion of Russian assets in its portfolio drop from 0.18% to 0.01% under the effect of a loss of value.
These assets, mainly invested via indexed funds, follow the performance of an index, and not of an individual value, which makes it possible to limit the risks.
Unsaleable assets
According to the British daily
Financial Times
, the valuation of Russian securities managed by the global asset management giant fell from 18.2 billion at the end of January to 1 billion on February 28.
As early as last week, after Russia invaded Ukraine, the fund announced that it was suspending all purchases of Russian assets.
Having become unsaleable, BlackRock was therefore obliged to depreciate them.
Even if these losses are significant, they remain, however, insignificant, compared to the ten trillion dollars of assets under management at BlackRock.
The global giant is not the only investment fund victim of the conflict in Ukraine: other asset management companies are in the process of reducing their investment portfolio in Russia, while the Moscow Stock Exchange has remained closed since February 25, the day after the invasion of Ukraine.
“
Why is the Moscow Stock Exchange closed?
“, Launched US President Joe Biden on Friday to elected Democrats in Philadelphia.
“
Because the moment it reopens, it will be dissolved.
It will implode.
»
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BlackRock will continue to consult with regulators, index managers and other operators to allow our clients to exit their positions in Russian securities when market conditions allow
," said the spokeswoman for the company. American asset manager.
The listing of Russian companies registered on Wall Street also remains suspended, which could lead to several of them defaulting on their debt.
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