OREANDA-NEWS. National Rating Agency has placed its reliability rating on Russian Standard AM LLC on its Watchlist with indefinite implications. The company was assigned NRA's first-time reliability rating of 'A' on Oct. 15, 2012. The rating was upgraded to 'AA+' on Jan. 23, 2014.

The indefinite outlook reflects the ongoing integration of the asset manager's business following its take-over by the BCS Group. NRA will monitor the situation and take appropriate rating action depending on how things go. The company's current reliability rating is valid till its withdrawal or revision. NRA believes that the company's management is currently capable of making managerial decisions and controlling risks and thereby enabling the company to maintain high operating standards and honour its commitments in full and in a timely manner.

The company has a strong position in the mutual fund asset management market. It is a market leader by the volume of assets under management. NRA notes its strong earnings generation capacity, healthy liquidity position, as well as the low level of risk in its assets under management. Russian Standard AM demonstrates efficiency in managing clients' portfolios. The company employs a high-quality risk management system, and NRA views positively the qualifications and experience of its management team. The take-over by the BCS Group is expected to help expand the company's pool of investment products through the use of supplementary products, services and technologies developed by BCS under the strategic partnership with the company. NRA also notes that Russian Standard AM has made cooperation arrangements with BCS on comfortable terms.

NRA’s analytical products, including ratings and the contents of this press release, are statements of NRA’s independent opinion as of the date they are expressed and not statements of fact or recommendations to make any investment decisions or conduct any stock market transactions. NRA is not responsible for any results obtained from the use of opinions and/or information contained in this press release.

While NRA has obtained information from sources it believes to be reliable, NRA does not guarantee that this information is perfectly correct, complete and accurate, as it does not perform an audit or undertake any duty of due diligence or independent verification of any information it receives.