Haghani says Russia exposures were small; main LTCM losses came from global ‘risk-off’

What was said

"We didn't have very large positions in Russia. We didn't lose a lot of money on Russia. Um but the Russian default was the was the spark that set off this huge riskoff move around all around the financial system."

Discussing the 1998 Russian default, Haghani says LTCM’s direct positions in Russia were limited and were not the main source of losses. He describes Russia as the trigger for a system-wide pullback in balance sheet and risk appetite that widened spreads across the trades LTCM held elsewhere.