RVC: Retirees may invest in Yandex if pvt funds invest in ventures

MOSCOW, Oct 22 (PRIME) -- A possible law authorizing private Russian pension funds to invest in the venture market would enable the retirees to invest in Internet company Yandex, Alexei Basov, deputy general director of state fund of funds Russian Venture Company, told PRIME in an interview on Thursday.

“The core concept stipulates that the management companies certified by the central bank will be able to place a part of the money of a non-state pension fund in venture funds and funds of direct investment. Then, a part of pensions of Russians will be invested in the future Yandex or Mail.ru Group, and not in the bonds of an ore mining industry that may be not so popular in the future,” Basov said.

In April, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin ordered the Finance Ministry, the Labor Ministry, and the Economic Development Ministry to consider investing pension money of private funds in the funds of direct and venture investment.

Basov said that the average yield of the global venture industry in the U.S. dollars is at about 20% annually.

“Our pension yield in rubles amounts to 5–6% annually when we take bonds of the super-high reliability. Evidently, with the growth of the share of high-yielding tools in the non-state pension fund portfolio we’ll be somewhere in between: above what we have not, but still below the venture market’s average indicators,” he said.

At present, private pension funds cannot invest in the market of direct and venture investment, and, as a result, their yield is below inflation. The central bank is discussing with the market participants the possibilities and risks of allowing them to do it.

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