Moscow Exchange does not see foreign investors leaving market

The Moscow Exchange does not see foreign investors leaving the market, CEO Alexander Afanasyev said on Thursday.

"We do not see foreign investors leaving the market. The share of foreigners in the turnover of secondary trades in shares has risen ... since the beginning of sanctions in 2014. The share of non-residents in the auction was around 38%, now - 48%. It was somewhere around 20% for derivatives, now 47%," he said.

The US represented the only non-residents that significantly increased their share of Russian free-float, Afanasyev added. "Before the crisis, this share was around 40%, now it reaches 55%, mainly due to (reduction of the share of investors from - TASS) continental Europe," he said.

Reduction of the investment volume of major international funds by 40% was observed after the first wave of sanctions in 2014-2015, he said. "Then this share grew, it reached 90% of what was before 2014," Afanasyev added, noting that now this share has fallen by 10%, but the decline will not be as dramatic as it was in 2014.

The share of foreign investors in OFZ bonds is declining, Afanasyev said. "It was around 17% in 2012, then it grew to 24% in 2013, then fell to 22%, and a record value was reached in March 2018 - more than 34%. It is 27% now, but it is still more than in 2015," he said.