Is the Russian Collapse Wrecking Your 401(k)?

Back in August, contrarian investor Dave Iben called his big move into Russian stocks perhaps his most extreme ever in 33 years of value investing. He had no idea. At 17.8 percent of his one-year-old Kopernik Global All-Cap Mutual Fund (KGGAX ), the $835 million fund has the fourth-largest Russia weighting of all equity funds with exposure to Russia, according to Morningstar, and is down 22 percent.

Anyone in Iben’s fund had to know they were making a big bet on Russian stocks. But some 401(k) investors may be surprised by how much their international or emerging markets stock fund has in a country whose currency is in freefall, whose stock market has fallen 35 percent since Dec. 1 and whose oil-fueled economy is on the verge of recession.