Large institutional investors across the globe are potentially sitting on billions of dollars in stock losses as sanctions hobble Russian banks and share prices collapse, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.
Sanctions rain down
The rapid progression of wide-ranging sanctions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine has sent the country's banks reeling, with the U.S. recently announcing sanctions against many of Russia's largest financial institutions.
Between Feb. 22 and Feb. 24, the U.S. issued sanctions against Sberbank of Russia and VTB Bank PJSC, Russia's largest and second-largest banks by assets, as well as PJSC Bank Otkritie Financial Corp., PJSC Sovcombank, JSCB NOVIKOMBANK, VEB.RF and Promsvyazbank PJSC.
In addition, Sberbank, JSC Alfa-Bank, Credit Bank of Moscow PJSC, Gazprombank JSC and JSC Russian Agricultural Bank have all been barred from raising new equity as well as new debt with a maturity beyond 14 days in U.S. markets.
Shares of Sberbank and VTB have lost more than 50% of their value year-to-date.
Top investors in Sberbank
Multiple large U.S. and European institutional investors have exposure to Sberbank, which is majority-owned by the Russian government. California-based Capital Research & Management Co., asset manager and purveyor of the popular American Funds suite of mutual funds, owns 2.81% of Sberbank's shares spread across 25 mutual funds, according to Market Intelligence's analysis of the most recent data available.
As of March 7, Capital Research & Management's Sberbank stake was worth an estimated $537.1 million, down from $1.21 billion at 2021-end.
Meanwhile, Vanguard Group Inc. and BlackRock Inc., both U.S.-based fund managers with large passively managed funds, were the second- and third-largest holders of Sberbank stock outside of Russia, accounting for 1.83% and 1.58% of the bank's outstanding common shares, respectively.
Top investors in VTB Bank
VTB Bank is also majority state-controlled. Vanguard owns 1.50% of VTB's common shares, making it the fifth-largest investor overall in the bank.
Franklin Resources Inc., another top 20 investor in Sberbank, also said it would not make new investments in Russian securities.
Tough sell
Even if large institutional investors want to sell, their ability to sell or find a willing buyer may be limited. The Moscow Stock Exchange has been closed for most trading since Feb. 28, and the London Stock Exchange, Nasdaq and NYSE have since suspended trading in most Russian companies.
Further limiting Russia's investability, index compilers S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, which, like Market Intelligence, is a unit of S&P Global Inc., as well as MSCI Inc. and FTSE Russell have removed Russian companies from indexes and stripped the country of its emerging market status, making it a stand-alone market.
The Russian government has also temporarily barred non-Russian entities from selling assets in the country, creating another roadblock for investors seeking an exit.