OREANDA-NEWS. August 16, 2010. RTS Stock Exchange launched trading in a totally new instrument for the Russian market – open ended mutual investment index fund "Troika Dialog – RTS Standard". The fund is managed by IC "Troika Dialog". On its first day of trading market participants executed 227 trades in these fund shares to a total value of more than USD9.9 million.

The introduction of these units to trading is the first step in forming ETF (exchange traded fund) analogues in Russia. ETFs are the most liquid and sought-after instruments for all groups of investors globally. These funds allow all types of investors, regardless of their qualification level, to invest in composite financial instruments that have a balanced structure and include the most liquid instruments from various economy sectors of a particular country.

RTS Standard sets a totally new standard for equity trading in Russia. It facilitates building up the liquidity of the Russian securities market, curbs counterparties’ risks and boosts development of the infrastructure. It aims to attract substantial international investor interest into the local equity market due to the applied global standards of trading.

RTS Standard offers CCP trading in anonymous order book without full advance depositing of assets and with settlement on T+4. The market hours are from 10.00 am to 11.50 pm MSK. The range of instruments includes top 22 liquid stocks of Russian issuers (CHMF, FEES, GAZP, GMKN, HYDR, LKOH, MAGN, MTSS, NLMK, NVTK, PLZL, PMTL, ROSN, SBERP, SBER, SNGSP, SNGS, TATN, TRNFP, URKA, URSI, VTBR).

RTS Standard also offers portfolio margining with trades made on FORTS, RTS’s derivatives section, which makes trading in all the instruments possible using a single, consolidated cash position.

Since March 2010 single stock futures are settled via the unified settlement technology implemented for FORTS and RTS Standard markets. This technology reduces expenses associated with realization of arbitrage strategies and decreases operational risks during delivery, which improves trading efficiency on both the stock and derivatives markets.

IC "Troika Dialog" is the leading independent investment company in the CIS markets. It was set up in 1991. The core lines of business include securities trading, investment banking, direct and venture investments, and personal investments and finance. In addition to its Moscow location, Troika Dialog has a presence in 20 Russian cities and 5 international offices, in New York, London, Kiev, Almaty and Nicosia. The company’s customer base includes front-rank local and global companies, financial institutions, government agencies and wealthy individuals.