Vol. 54 No. 3 (2026): Published on September 30, 2026.

DOI https://doi.org/10.18799/26584956/2026/3/2163

Institutional models of wealth management for owners of large private capital in Russia under sanctions pressure

In the face of sanctions pressure and capital repatriation, Russian large private-capital owners are being forced to shift from traditional models of direct ownership and foreign trusts to institutional instruments of national jurisdiction. Relevance. Both to external factors, primarily restrictions on the use of foreign entities, de jure blockages of access to assets held abroad and prohibition of service to citizens and residents of the Russian Fede-ration due to sanctions imposed, as well as internal reasons, among which one can highlight the relative novelty of the Russian wealth management market and the lack of systematic comprehensive data on available models for structuring large private capital. Together, external and internal incentives are creating a growing demand among the target audience to search for efficient ownership structures within Russian jurisdiction, taking into account sanctions risks, tax efficiency, and intergenerational planning challenges. but the lack of a systematic methodology for selecting optimal welfare-management structures leaves this demand to some extent unmet. The work describes the most relevant structures of tenure in terms of applicability in different life situations and compares their effectiveness by key parameters, which in turn is fully in line with the current market demand and will help, on the one hand, both consumers of this service – customers of the HNWI segment, and providers of these services – managers of companies, investment holdings, banks and financial institutions, bring common knowledge to a single denominator. The paper mainly analyzes approaches to asset structuring and institutional opportunities of closed-end investment funds, personal funds and their combinations as modern alternatives to foreign trusts. Aim. To propose a systematic comparative description of the available structures of ownership by large private capital in the Russian Federation, develop practical recommendations for their application depending on the life situations of beneficiaries, including asset profiles, planning horizon and acceptable risk level. Methods. Comparative analysis of institutional legal forms and tax regimes, financial-economic modelling of costs and returns, systematization of law enforcement practices and sectoral data. Results. Based on a comparative analysis of the ownership structures and the consequences of their application in terms of financial-economic indicators obtained by the method of financial modeling. The authors analyzed key characteristics of closed-end fund and personal funds, as well as the result of combined application of these structures. Findings. Institutional models provide a synergistic effect – significantly enhancing asset resilience, reliability and security within the applied tenure structures on the one hand, and overall financial growth on the other. Economic efficiency increases through higher total returns from large-capital management over a five-year horizon.

For citation: Bekirov R.A., Kalashnikova T.V. Institutional models of wealth management for owners of large private capital in Russia under sanctions pressure. Journal of Wellbeing Technologies, 2026, vol. 54, no. 3, pp. 133–150. https://doi.org/10.18799/26584956/2026/3/2163

Keywords:

closed-end investment funds, personal funds, holding structures, improvement of financial and economic efficiency, wealth management, HNWI, asset structuring, asset protection, sanctions risks, in tergenerational and inheritance planning

Authors:

Ruslan A. Bekirov

Tatyana V. Kalashnikova

References:

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