Investors of friendly abroad – Newspaper Kommersant No. 40 (7485) dated 03/10/2023
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A Kommersant poll showed that Russian brokerage companies that have not fallen under sanctions are expanding their base by attracting investors from friendly countries. We are talking about hundreds of customers per month. They are attracted to the Russian market primarily by debt securities, including those pegged to the dollar or euro. At the same time, the inflow rate may decrease due to tighter regulation in the Russian Federation.
Interviewed by Kommersant, brokerage companies that did not fall under the sanctions of Western countries noted a steady influx of investors from friendly countries to the Russian market in early 2023.
So, in “Finam” the number of such clients is several hundred people per month, while a year ago it was about several dozen opened accounts per month. The BCS noted that there is an influx of friendly non-resident customers and the number of open accounts “may be in the hundreds.”
Iva Partners saw an influx of clients after the introduction of EU sanctions against NSD and the blocking of assets in Euroclear and Clearstream. Despite the fact that their number amounted to several dozen people over the past year, they were mainly large investors, including professional participants, banks and financial companies. In “Ivolga Capital” we are talking about “single participants, as a rule, professional.” There are no such clients in Ingosstrakh Investments yet, however, the broker notes the interest of clients from Belarus.
According to the Bank of Russia, as of September 30, 2022, the number of non-residents with brokerage accounts in investment companies exceeded 7.6 thousand people, in banks – 12.8 thousand people. At the same time, most of them had citizenship of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The number of active clients did not exceed 1 thousand people. The total amount of assets in their accounts was 26.9 billion rubles.
The surveyed brokerage companies also note the activity of investors from these countries. Finam and BCS indicate interest from Armenia and Azerbaijan. Investors from the EAEU countries open accounts in Iva Partners, “because it became possible to buy securities on the external circuit at low prices and receive income from them in the Russian infrastructure.”
At the same time, the investment preferences of such clients generally coincide with the behavior of Russian investors. According to Dmitry Lesnov, head of the client service development department of FG Finam, a significant part of them invests in defensive assets (corporate bonds, OFZ, etc.).
Anastasia Goroshko, Director of the Trading Operations Department at Iva Partners, said that this category of clients is mainly interested in short and medium-term Eurobonds, as well as bonds that are subject to replacement on the Russian market.
At the same time, in early March, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev called the limit on cross-border transfers of $1 million per month a key barrier to the inflow of investments from abroad. However, professional participants interviewed by Kommersant do not share this point of view. Dmitry Lesnov noted that “we will not be able to reach the restrictive levels so soon.” Igor Pimonov, the head of the department of the Internet broker BCS World of Investments, also believes that “the withdrawal limit is not a deterrent.”
Entering the Russian market is hampered by the lack of the possibility of opening an account remotely, brokers say. Now this service is offered only in Finam. “This is a fairly strong growth driver for opening accounts for clients from friendly countries,” Dmitry Lesnov believes. In addition, the managing director of Ivolga Capital, Dmitry Alexandrov, highlights two more restrictions on investments – a 30% income tax for non-residents and infrastructure risks.
In addition, the growth rate of customers may slow down due to the presidential decree of March 3, 2023. They established a requirement to obtain permission from the Central Bank or the government commission for transactions with Russian securities purchased from non-residents from unfriendly countries after March 1, 2022.
According to market participants, transactions for the redemption of depositary receipts or Eurobonds of Russian companies were carried out through non-residents from friendly jurisdictions. “We are looking forward to clarification from the regulator in the near future,” said Ms. Goroshko.
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