it will sell all its Russian investments, including government bonds and a holding in Sberbank, the biggest bank in Russia of which 50 per cent is owned by the Kremlin, in view of the sanctions that were imposed over the past few days. “In light of the current events and international sanctions against Russian entities, we are in the process of divesting all Government Bonds and Russian shares subject to sanctions across all our investment funds, including Westpac KiwiSaver,” a spokesman for BTNZ, which manages investments for the Westpac KiwiSaver scheme, said, adding that its investments in Russian companies and government stock amounted to less than 0.1 per cent of its total investments.
Westpac is not the only KiwiSaver scheme with Russian investments, with the voluntary savings schemes of ANZ and ASB also owning small amounts of Russian Government bonds. According to a spokeswoman for ASB, Russian investments accounted for 0.25 per cent of the value of ASB’s KiwiSaver Growth fund, and the bank and its investment partner Blackrock are assessing if the fund should continue to maintain exposure to Russian listed companies.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, also has holding in Sberbank and several other Russian entities. By the end of June, it had just under $25 million invested in Russian companies, of which $9.3 million was invested in Sberbank. However, as countries like the US and UK, together with the EU, imposed sanctions on the country, the prices of shares in Russian firms have crashed. NZ Super Fund’s Russian investments are now worth just $9 million as a result.
“NZ Super Fund holds approximately $9m of shares in companies from the Russian Federation covering retailing, media, telecommunication, banking and financial services, marketing, retail, chemical and mining companies,” a spokesman for the fund said. “We are currently assessing the implications of Russia’s actions under our Responsible Investment policy regarding the Fund’s equity holdings and sovereign bonds. Any decisions will be implemented and then announced.”
