Earlier this month, MSCI announced that TCS Group, the owner of Tinkoff Bank, will be included in the MSCI Russia indices with effect from 26 February 2021.
We expect the company to have a weight of 4.5% in the MSCI Russia 10/40 index. This reduces of the underweight in the financial services sector relative to the emerging markets index.
Financial services sector weights in MSCI Russia 10/40 vs. the MSCI EM index
Tinkoff Group operates across a broad swathe of the digital financial ecosystem , including retail banking, brokerage services and non-life insurance. Tinkoff Bank has become one of the largest purely online banks in the world . Tinkoff Bank’s brokerage platform accounts for the second largest number of Russian individual investors (3.8 million people), who have started to become a material supporting force for the Russian equity market.
In recent years, the Russian market has had to overcome several challenges, including large oil price swings and the COVID-19 pandemic. S tronger companies with greater long-term potential have been replacing weaker candidates in the index.
Furthermore, the index is becoming more diverse. For example, last year, for the first time, two high-tech companies, Yandex and Mail.ru , were added to the Russian index. Whereas previously only the communications sector had exposure to high-tech companies, now there is also one in the financial services sector.
Note: Any references to specific securities should not be construed as recommendations to buy, sell or hold such securities.
Authors: Egor Kiselev, Head of International Business & Investment Marketing; Marina Tsutskiridze, Junior Investment Specialist; Aleksandra Kuznetsova, Junior Investment Specialist.