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Goldman Sachs’ GQG international equity fund has slashed Russian exposure to approximately $222m from more than $1.7bn six months ago, according to a Reuters report.
The fund, which has holdings in Russia’s Lukoil, Rosneft, and Gazprom is said to be the only Goldman Sachs fund with exposure to Russia.
According to a statement by the US investment giant, the fund’s Russian exposure was 0.99% as of the end of February 2022.
Goldman said: “Coming into 2022 we saw attractive growth opportunities and valuations in many Russian companies. Accordingly, as of the end of the year, our fund was overweight in Russian exposure relative to the MSCI ACWI EX-US Index.
“However, the actions by the Russian government this year began to outweigh the positive fundamentals we were seeing in many companies. We have been reducing our exposure to Russian holdings since early January, and they are now concentrated in the energy sector.”
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By GlobalDataGoldman Sachs GQG fund invests majorly in equity investments in non-US issuers.
A spokesperson for Goldman Sachs told the news agency that the fund had $22.45bn in assets at end of February, with Russian exposure equivalent to $222.3m.
Following stringent sanctions on Russia, asset and fund managers have been cutting their positions in the country.
Goldman said it reduced the value of its Russian assets after the Russian central bank closed the local market to all foreign investors in a bid to stop them from exiting the country.
Asset managers, including Pictet, Amundi, and BNP Paribas, have frozen Russia-linked equity funds with more than $3bn in assets amid subsequent market turmoil.
Recently, Russia has suspended coupon payments to foreign holders of rouble-denominated bonds in an effort to shore up the falling market in the country.
