Traders Are ‘Playing With Fire’ Using Fund to Bet on Russian Stocks
- Volumes on $51 million DWS closed-end fund have spiked
- Fund now trading at record premium to underlying assets
Pedestrians walk by Saint Basil's Cathedral on Red Square in Moscow, Russia.
Source: Bloomberg
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With few options left on U.S. exchanges to bet on Russian assets, investors have rushed into a tiny closed-end fund tracking eastern European stocks.
Trading volume on the $51 million Central and Eastern Europe Fund (ticker CEE) managed by DWS Group spiked in recent weeks after major Russia-focused exchange-traded funds were halted. Nearly 1.4 million shares were exchanged during the week ending March 18 amid news of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, the highest weekly trading volume since 2006, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.