Investors cut Russia exposure

Major investors, including hedge fund Man Group and British asset manager abrdn, said on Tuesday they were cutting their positions in Russia in the wake of the country's invasion of Ukraine.

Their pronouncements came as ripple effects of sanctions on Russia were making themselves felt, with Visa Inc and Mastercard Inc blocking multiple Russian financial institutions from their networks.

Elsewhere, Germany's market regulator BaFin said that it was closely monitoring the European arm of Russia's VTB Bank, which was no longer accepting new clients.

Meanwhile, shares in some European banks remained under pressure after heavy declines on Monday because of lenders' exposure to Russia. The sector remained volatile as Moscow started day six of its invasion.

Asset manager abrdn has around two billion pounds of client money invested in Russia and Belarus and has been cutting its positions, Chief Executive Stephen Bird said.

"We will not invest in Russia and Belarus for the foreseeable future," Bird said.

Man Group cut its investments in Russia in recent weeks and now has 'negligible' exposure to Russia and Ukraine across its portfolio, its Chief Financial Officer Antoine Forterre told Reuters on Tuesday.