NEW YORK (Reuters), BlackRock (NYSE) halted the purchase of Russian securities from its index and active funds Monday due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Two executives stated that this was done in the light of the invasion by Russia.

In a joint statement, Rich Kushel (head of BlackRock’s portfolio management group) and Salim Ramji (global head of iShares for BlackRock), stated that they had also proactively advocated for Russian securities being removed from broad-based indices.

They claimed that Russian securities make up less than 0.1% of the assets of their clients.

A wave of Russian investors have announced that they are cutting their stakes in Russia because of the Western sanctions placed on Moscow following its invasion Ukraine. However, Russian authorities banned the sale of securities by local brokers.

Purpose Investments, Canada’s asset manager, stated on Thursday that the company had sold all Russian direct investments since February 28, and promised not to make any new investments if Russia continues its invasion.

“We simply do not feel that it’s appropriate to have our clients’ capital supporting Russian companies or businesses that are engaged in direct business in Russia”, CEO and founder Som Seif said in a statement.

BlackRock earlier this week stated that it had begun to consult with index providers and regulators in order for its clients to be able exit from their Russian positions, where permitted.

Russell and MSCI, major index providers, announced on Wednesday that Russian equities would be removed from all of their indexes. FTSE Russell announced that the decision will take effect from March 7. MSCI stated it would be in one move across all MSCIindices, as per the closing of trading on March 9.

On Thursday, the executive said that “We will continue to actively consult with regulators, market participants, and index providers in order help our clients exit their Russian securities positions whenever and wherever regulatory, market, and market conditions allow.”