CBR says National Wealth Fund investment should not be seriously changed
ST. PETERSBURG. June 21 (Interfax) - The mechanism for investment of the National Wealth Fund should not be seriously changed, Central Bank of Russia First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukaev said on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum.
"In my view the investment mechanism should not be seriously changed. This requires other skills," he said.
The Central Bank understands the technology of investing the Reserve Fund, he said. "It is unlikely that someone else can do this better," he said. As to investing the National Wealth Fund "if we are talking about investing in higher yield assets - stock market instruments, shares - then it is not up to the Central Bank, there should be another investor."
National Wealth Fund investment can be placed in a separate portfolio, Ulyukaev reckons. "We need to increase yield a little and change the benchmark, but this does not mean transferring to a different type of asset. This type of assets needs to be managed by professionals." The Central Bank works with debt and bond market instruments, which they understand, while the stock market is "much less clear."
Later Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said the Finance Ministry wants to spend 40% to 50% of the National Wealth Fund on investment projects and place the rest in "higher yield assets and there is nothing wrong with that." The Reserve Fund and the National Wealth Fund are managed in the same way, but their investment declaration needs to be changed and focused more towards getting returns. "We will discuss this with the bank," he said.