The head of the VTB broker considers the right decision to transfer clients due to sanctions

The broker “VTB My Investments” managed to return some of the clients who left during the introduction of sanctions and attract new ones, said Andrey Yatskov, head of the brokerage services department at VTB Bank. The company plans to become the largest player in the market in the next three years. Mr. Yatskov, commenting on the dissatisfaction of some investors with forced transfers to other companies due to sanctions, called the decision correct.

“We believe that in the conditions we found ourselves in, we acted correctly. We took all measures to protect investors who trusted us. It seems to me that now investors are starting to understand the difference, what this could lead to and what it led to. But in the end everyone found themselves in the same conditions, regardless of who was where. We are trying to support clients, we explain what we are doing, what is happening, where their papers are,” Mr. Yatskov told the publication Frank Media within the framework of the VTB forum “Russia Calling!”

Top manager didn’t comment on the filing of a lawsuit by investors who were unhappy with the forced transfer of assets to other brokers.

Mr. Yatskov said that after the imposition of sanctions, the company’s number of clients decreased. But now “there are more of them than in 2022” (he did not specify whether it was before or after the introduction of sanctions). “We plan to become the largest player in the brokerage services market in the next three years,” the top manager added.

The broker currently has client assets exceeding RUB 1.1 trillion. The company serves 3 million clients, VTB Bank has 20 million. “From the point of view of retail clients, the penetration is 12-13%, and if we look at the wealthy segment, the penetration there exceeds 50%,” said Mr. Yatskov. He noted that now the VTB broker “was often perceived as a broker for wealthy clients,” but the company wants to expand the target audience. Thus, VTB sees “serious potential in developing work with retail clients with incomes from 15 to 75 thousand rubles.”

Andrey Yatskov spoke about the start of transferring Otkritie Broker clients to VTB My Investments. “Now we don’t see a wave of refusals, but so far there is no understanding of the number of transfers – the process is in the final stage,” said the head of the brokerage services department. VTB expects to complete the transfer of most of its clients early next year. “Opening Broker” will still exist for some time to “complete all procedures, including with the assets of those who chose another broker or refused, but did not do anything further.” The broker’s team has already begun to integrate with VTB.

Leonid Uvarchev