Russian sanctions, index changes, and Vanguard funds

As governments around the world impose sanctions on Russian financial institutions, companies, and individuals in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine, our clients naturally have questions about the Russian exposure of Vanguard funds.

First and foremost, Vanguard has suspended purchases of Russian securities across our actively managed funds and is working to further reduce our exposure to Russia and exit the positions across our index funds. And, of course, Vanguard funds will continue to adhere to sanctions.

Overall, the exposure of Vanguard funds to Russian assets is extremely limited, with Russian securities accounting for less than 0.01% of client assets.¹

Russia’s removal from market indexes

At least five major sponsors of market indexes have announced in recent days that they will drop Russia from various equity and fixed income indexes in a matter of days or weeks. Other index sponsors may follow. Although some index sponsors may continue to track the performance of Russian securities in standalone-country indexes, Vanguard index funds track more broadly diversified indexes and, as a result, will no longer provide exposure to Russian securities.

How Vanguard prices securities that are not trading actively

Because market quotes for Russian securities may not be readily available, Vanguard’s internal pricing review committee will use a variety of observable market indicators to adjust these securities’ value appropriately. The net asset value, or share price, of our mutual funds and ETFs will reflect these fair-value pricing adjustments. When fair-value pricing is employed, the prices of securities used by a fund to calculate its net asset value may differ from quoted or published prices for the same securities.