25 August 2026
In the second quarter, Russians deposited 1.1 trillion rubles into brokerage accounts—a record since records began at the end of 2021, the Central Bank reported . Individual deposits were almost double last year’s (0.6 trillion). It wasn’t the best time for investing: most instruments suffered losses. The government bond index fell 2% over the quarter, while the corporate bond index rose 3%, the total stock return index ( including dividends ) fell 14%, and the dollar exchange rate fell 4%, according to the Central Bank. The Moscow Exchange Index lost 15.4%.
As a result, the value of private investor portfolios declined over three months, the regulator stated, without specifying the size of the losses. Due to the record influx of new funds, the value of Russians’ funds in brokerage services increased by 2% to 13.6 trillion rubles. Based on this, the decline in asset value can be estimated at 0.8 trillion rubles.
People scrambled to buy up depreciated shares: over three months, they purchased 101 billion rubles worth of them on the stock exchange. This proved insufficient to offset the impact of negative revaluation, according to the Central Bank. As a result, the share of Russian stocks in individual portfolios fell to a historical low of 20% (from 24% in the first quarter). Due to the enormous risks and the lack of foreign investors, Russian stocks don’t look cheap, said Sergei Shvetsov, head of the Moscow Exchange Supervisory Board, in June: “Today, they’re worth what they should be.”
Russians invested significantly more in bonds – 358 billion rubles: 185 billion in corporate bonds, 173 billion in government and municipal bonds. OFZs fared poorly: the main demand was for long-term bonds, which fell in price. Investors purchased them expecting lower yields and higher prices due to the expected key rate cut, according to the Central Bank. However, “the rise in budget risks led to a significant increase in long-term yields and a negative revaluation of long-term OFZs” in portfolios.
A series of high-yield bond defaults has made Russians more cautious, reducing their purchases. Nevertheless, technical defaults were recorded on bonds issued by 29 companies over the past three months, representing 21 billion rubles of individual investments. Seeking higher yields, investors purchased bonds that packaged consumer loans, even though the Central Bank classifies 13% of such loans as problematic. And in anticipation of devaluation, interest in quasi-currency bonds has grown. According to the Central Bank, individuals also purchased more than a quarter of the 10-year OFZ issue in June: 28 billion rubles out of 107 billion rubles (10 billion yuan).
This year, Russians are pouring more money into the stock market than into banks, according to Central Bank data . The influx of new deposits into bank accounts and savings accounts in both the first and second quarters was lower than into stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. The slowdown in the growth of Russians’ savings in banks is partly due to an outflow into cash, but the Central Bank also notes that lower deposit rates have contributed to an influx of funds into brokerage accounts. This is changing the structure of savings, the Central Bank noted : deposits are growing slowly, while the share of investments in real estate and financial market instruments is growing, as is the demand for cash.
It’s better to toss your money into the stove than investing it in mafia land. At least you can stay warm or cook something while in burns.
Everything is going to the plan.