LGIM's Onuekwusi eyes Russian bond exposure

Legal & General Investment Management fund manager Justin Onuekwusi is considering adding Russian bond exposure to the £200m Multi-Index fund range for the first time.

Onuekwusi (pictured) stressed the region is currently too volatile for investment, but could present an opportunity in the near future. Russia has been plagued with issues over the past 12 months, beginning with its military intervention in Ukraine in March and, more recently, the fall in the oil price which has tumbled from $110 a barrel last summer to below $46 in recent weeks. These twin factors have played on the ruble, which dived in December. It traded as low as 79 rubles against the US dollar, compared to 33 rubles against the dollar a year ago, and caused the central bank to h...