Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, institutional investors have been called to re-evaluate their exposure to Russian assets. Some of the largest U.S. pension funds have pulled the plug on their Russian holdings, but the act of making these liquidations poses challenges.
The $72.5 billion Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS), which had $270 million to $300 million directly invested in Russian and Belarus investments as of March 1, held an emergency meeting that resulted in the decision to take all necessary actions to divest from these countries as expeditiously as possible, and further monitor the situation closely.
In a statement, Chris Santa Maria, board chairman of PSERS, said: “Last week, I asked our investment staff to research the direct investment we have with firms doing business in Russia and Belarus. They estimate that our exposure in those two countries is between $270 million to $300 million, or less than one-half of 1
