The S&P 500 is up by just over 9.0% year-to-date. The MICEX Index, the benchmark of the Russian equity market is basically flat year-to-date.
One of the indices on the Moscow Stock Exchange is the Blue Chip Index. Here is the description of the index from the exchange site:
Moscow Exchange Blue Chip Index is an indicator of the market of the most liquid stocks of Russian companies. The index is calculated on the basis of the stocks of the 15 most liquid and capitalized issues of Russian stock market. The Index is based on the prices of shares, denominated in rubles.
Currently 17 companies constitute this index. No individual stock is allowed to exceed 20% in weight of the index. As of last month the largest sector weighting in the index was the oil & gas sector accounting for 56.47% of the index. The other major sectors in the index were financials with 20.87% and consumer goods and retail with 8.30%. The dominance of the oil&gas sector in the Russian Blue Chip index is not surprising since the Russian economy is mainly a resource-based economy with oil&gas being the largest component.
The constituents of the index are listed below with the ticker on the domestic market and the weights:
| S.No. | Company | Ticker on the Moscow Exchange | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JSC "GAZPROM", Ordinary shares | GAZP | 17,41% |
| 2 | OAO "LUKOIL", Ordinary shares | LKOH | 16,29% |
| 3 | Sberbank, Ordinary shares | SBER | 14,95% |
| 4 | Sberbank, Preferred shares | SBERP | 1,17% |
| 5 | OJSC "Magnit", Ordinary shares | MGNT | 7,68% |
| 6 | "Surgutneftegas" OJSC, Ordinary shares | SNGS | 3,83% |
| 7 | "Surgutneftegas" OJSC, Preferred shares | SNGSP | 2,50% |
| 8 | "OJSC "MMC "NORILSK NICKEL", Ordinary shares | GMKN | 5,68% |
| 9 | JSC "NOVATEK", Ordinary shares | NVTK | 5,45% |
| 10 | Rosneft, Ordinary shares | ROSN | 5,17% |
| 11 | MTS OJSC, Ordinary shares | MTSS | 5,14% |
| 12 | JSC VTB Bank, Ordinary shares | VTBR | 4,35% |
| 13 | Sistema JSFC, Ordinary shares | AFKS | 2,71% |
| 14 | JSC "TATNEFT", Ordinary shares | TATN | 2,53% |
| 15 | JSC "Transneft", Preferred shares | TRNFP | 2,23% |
| 16 | OJSC Uralkali, Ordinary shares | URKA | 1,80% |
| 17 | OJSC "Rostelecom", Ordinary shares | RTKM | 1,11% |
Source: Moscow Stock Exchange
None of the blue chips listed above trade on the U.S. stock exchanges.Some of the them trade on the OTC market including Gazprom(OGZPY), Lukoil(LUKOY), Norilsk Nickel(NILSY), Surgutneftegaz(SGTZY) and Tatneft (OAOFY). The full list of Russian ADRs can be found here.
Another simple and easy way to gain exposure to large Russian companies is via the Market Vectors Russia ETF (RSX). The fund is down about 17% year-to-date.
Download: Russian Blue Chip Index Components (in Excel)
Disclosure: No Positions
