JPMorgan Russian loses another director – Ashley Dunster is standing down as a director of JPMorgan Russian with immediate effect. This follows close on from Tamara Sakovska’s decision to resign from the board on 24 February 2022.
Ashley had been a director of the trust since November 2019. He was CIO of Capital Group’s private equity business until the end of 2018 when he retired after 21 years service. Mr Dunster is currently a member of an investment committee of a Baring Vostock investment vehicle and a director of TCS Group Holding Plc – a Russian online retail financial services company.
Tamara was appointed as a director in 2016. She is an investment professional with 19 years of finance experience gained at Goldman Sachs, Permira, Eton Park, GFP and Lavra Capital. She has a special interest in corporate governance and is a Chartered Director, a Fellow of the Institute of Directors an independent director and chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee of North Atlantic Acquisition Corporation (a NASDAQ-listed cash shell – SPAC – with plans to takeover TeleSign, which provides digital identity services).
The board has issued the following update:
Portfolio
As at 28th February 2022, the portfolio comprised holdings in locally listed stocks of 49.4%, which the company is currently unable to trade due to recent restrictions. 40.1% of the company’s holdings are in ADR/GDRs, where trading is disrupted. 10.5% of the assets are held in mostly US Dollar cash and cash equivalents.
The company currently holds VTB Bank stocks which represented approximately 1.9% of the company’s portfolio as at 25th February 2022. The manager continues to monitor the impact of the developing sanctions regimes on these stocks.
Management fees
The manager will waive its management fee from 28 February 2022 until further notice.
NAV
The company will continue to calculate and announce its unaudited NAV on a daily basis. Details of the methodology applied to the calculation of the unaudited NAV will be included in these announcements.
Dividends
As previously announced, the company will pay its final and first interim dividends to shareholders on 11th March 2022, as declared on 27th January 2022. However, the current sanctions and restrictions in Russia are expected to restrict the ability to pay any further dividends until further notice. It remains the intention to resume quarterly dividend payments once circumstances permit.
Share buyback
The company will not be buying back shares whilst current market conditions prevail.
AGM
The board continues to recommend that shareholders vote in favour of the resolution for the continuation of the company at the Annual General Meeting on 4th March 2022. The Board will monitor developments closely thereafter. [We say vote against – it is no longer appropriate to have a trust dedicated to investing in Russia.]
Baring Emerging EMEA Opportunities
Baring Emerging EMEA Opportunities has also issued a statement. It says that:
“The NAV as at 28 February 2022 has been adjusted to reflect the board’s assessment of fair value. Following the restrictions of sales from the Russian exchange, the company has seen limitations in the ability to sell Russian securities and the investments held. Those investments which are listed on the Moscow Exchange have been valued at zero, until such as time as the market begins to function in a way deemed appropriate. The remainder of the portfolio invested in Russia is held in depository receipts, or listed on other exchanges, which as of today remain tradable and therefore continue to be marked to market. Any remaining withholding tax relating to Russian stocks has been valued at zero.
Following the change of investment mandate, previously approved by shareholders, the weighting of stocks attributable to Russia remaining within the portfolio has fallen below historic levels. Combined with the sale of holdings initiated by the manager in the past few days and the reassessment of fair values, as described above, Russian securities represent 6.29% of NAV (or £5,366,564) as at 28 February 2022. The company continues to operate within its stated objective and investment policies.
The board and manager will continue to monitor the situation and make further adjustments as and when considered necessary to better reflect the fair value of the company’s investments in Russia.”
JRS / BEMO : JPMorgan Russian loses another director as trusts discuss sanctions impact