DWS terminates Russia ETF

DWS is set to terminate its Russia ETF, following the fund's suspension after the Russian invasion of Ukraine has "rendered [it] impractical".

The Xtrackers MSCI Russia Capped Swap UCITS ETF will see a final index calculation on 16 December before a compulsory redemption on 19 December.

The ETF will then delist from the London Stock Exchange, Deutsche Boerse and Borsa Italiana on 20 December.

Additionally, the MSCI announced that the fund's benchmarked,  MSCI Russia Issuers Capped 25% index, which was suspended on 1 March after the invasion of Ukraine is going to be discontinued from 1 March 2023.

In a letter to shareholders, DWS said that the suspension was made as the valuation of assets within the ETF had been "rendered impractical".

According to its latest factsheet, the ETF's total assets under management was £82m, as of 11 March this year.

DWS warned that the valuation of the redemption process, that will then be passed back to shareholders, "will be zero or close to zero".

Once this ETF closes, there will be only three Russian ETFs remaining in Europe, with two run by Lyxor and one by HSBC.