U.S. politicians from New York to California are calling for public pensions to shed hundreds of millions of dollars in investments tied to Russia. So far, the retirement funds aren’t moving quickly to divest. In many cases, they can’t.
The funds have relatively small exposure, but unwinding such assets is complex and could mean losses as they are trading at deep discounts and liquidity is scarce. Many of the largest retirement systems, which invest billions for teachers and other public servants, are adopting a patient approach.
“Considering that Russia amounts to about 2% of the global economy, whether a pension fund or other institutional investor would want to get out of an entire index fund in order to divest Russia holdings would be a questionable approach,” said Keith Brainard, research director of the National Association of State Retirement Administrators.
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the largest U.S. public pension, “supports the people of Ukraine who are suffering,” Chief Executive Officer Marcie Frost said in an statement.
But less than 1% of its $473.6 billion portfolio is in Russian-linked assets. It includes mostly stocks or index funds, as well as real-estate investments and private equity, worth in total about $900 million to $1.1 billion. The system isn’t taking precipitous action. Instead, it’s merely “monitoring current events and will take action as appropriate to protect the interests of our members,” Frost said.
The California State Teachers’ Retirement System, the second-biggest U.S. public pension, said it too is closely following developments and will abide by relevant sanctions. Calstrs, as the plan is known, said less than $500 million of its $319.8 billion portfolio is invested in Russia.
Even if pensions did quickly dump Russia-linked investments, sanctions and illiquid markets have made selling a fraught exercise. Finding buyers or even a venue in which to trade has become difficult. And securities that do change hands do so at steep discounts. A $1.5 billion bond issued by Russian oil producer Lukoil PJSC—held by many of the biggest U.S. and European investment houses—plunged Monday to 39 cents on the dollar from more than 90 cents less than two weeks ago.
Still, Russia-linked assets aren’t a major part of most U.S. pension portfolios, according to Orray Taft, a managing principal at Meketa Investment Group, which advises them on investments. Funds are unlikely to take immediate action, he said: “The sanctions right now are going to be what’s driving actions.”
Despite stirring statements from officials, only a few pensions have exited Russian-linked holdings. The $61 billion Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association divested $7.2 million investment in Sberbank, according to Governor Jared Polis. That’s 0.01% of the fund.
“We cannot continue to provide financial support to a regime that so brazenly disregarded international law and launched such an indefensible attack,” Polis said in a statement Friday.
Georgia officials identified holdings in iShares MSCI Russia, an exchange-traded fund that invests in a range of companies. The state plans to be fully out by midweek, said spokesperson Katie Byrd, who didn’t have details on the size of that investment.
“Most holdings of Russian assets by public pension funds are likely to be in index funds or other funds. rather than as individual direct investments, which makes it a lot more difficult to unwind,” said Brainard.
But some states are running for the exits nonetheless. Last week, the Pennsylvania Treasury Department, which directly manages nearly $40 billion, began selling off $2.9 million invested in Russian companies. They included mostly energy firms, with a few telecoms and banks, according to spokesperson Samantha Heckel. The state has completely divested from 28 of the 31.
Pennsylvania’s Public School Employees’ Retirement System said it too is reviewing its portfolio, adding that Russia- and Belarus-linked investments add up to $300 million, or one-half of 1% of its $72 billion portfolio.