Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, BlackRock Inc, the world's largest asset manager, said it had banned the purchase of all Russian securities in its active and index funds as of Monday.
According to a joint statement made Thursday by Rich Kushel, president of the portfolio management division, and Salim Ramji, global head of iShares and index investments, it has "proactively pushed" with "index providers to remove Russian assets from broad-based indexes."
According to them, Russian securities account for less than 0.01% of their clients' holdings.
Following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia last week, Western sanctions have spurred a massive wave of investors to announce job cuts and other measures in Russia.
Purpose Investments, a Canadian asset management, announced on Thursday that it had divested its direct assets in Russian companies as of Feb. 28 and stated that further investments would be halted as long as Russia's incursion continued.
Investors' attempts to reduce their investments have been hampered by a Russian ban on local brokers selling stocks held by foreigners.
BlackRock said earlier this week that it was talking with authorities, index providers, and other market participants to ensure that its customers may liquidate their Russian securities investments when permitted.
On Wednesday, major index providers FTSE Russell and MSCI announced that Russian stocks would be removed from all of their indexes.
The decision will take effect on March 7, according to FTSE Russell, while MSCI stated it will be implemented in one step across all MSCI indices as of March 9 at the close of trading.
"We will continue to engage with authorities, data providers, and other market participants to ensure that customers can liquidate their Russian stock holdings whenever and wherever regulatory and market conditions permit," the business said in a statement on Thursday.
While BlackRock does not have offices or operations in Ukraine or Russia, CEO Larry Fink wrote on LinkedIn that the business is doing everything it can to help workers and their families who have been adversely harmed.
"On the ground, BlackRock and its people have also banded together to support Ukrainian migrants financially," Fink wrote. At the end of the year, BlackRock, led by Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink, was in charge of more than $10 trillion in assets.
BlackRock traded 12 million pounds ($16 million) in shares of precious-metals miner Polymetal International Plc, based in St. Petersburg, Russia, last week, before the policy took effect.
