'I'd rather own Russia than Apple': Pro - CNBC

Andrey Rudakov | Bloomberg | Getty Images

A stock price index graph shows plunging stock prices on an electronic information screen at the headquarters of the Micex-RTS Moscow Exchange, Russia's benchmark stock index, in Moscow, Russia, on Monday, March 3, 2014.

The market capitalization of the MICEX currently stands at 20.40 trillion rubles or $350.14 billion, which compares to Apple's figure of $655.57 billion. The Cupertino, California-based company has rallied 40 percent this year with the release of several new models and its long-awaited Apple iWatch.

The price-to-earnings ratio - an important metric used to gauge stock valuations by some analysts - is 17.38 for Apple, according to data from Reuters, and an average of 5.97 for the MICEX. A lower number is seen as a better investment by many equity analysts.

Brian Coulton, the global emerging market strategist at Legal & General Investment Management, predicted some more near-term pain for Russia but said that the outlook might brighten next year. Western sanctions placed on the country will expire next year, he explained, adding that these wouldn't necessarily be extended.

"If there's some progress geopolitically next year...that would ease some pressure on the capital account," he said. "This is not last chance saloon."

Manik Narain, the head of emerging- market currency strategy at UBS, said the current capital outflows from Russia and expectations of a recession for the country next year meant he was not comfortable with growth-assets like equities.

"It's a very, very uncertain picture for them...(there's) no strong backstop," he told CNBC Monday, adding that the asset class that made the "most sense" was Russian sovereign credit default swaps (CDS) - a derivative that tracks the health of a country and the probability of it facing a debt default.

Disclosure: MBMG Group has recently invested in an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks Russian stocks and has clients that have also invested. Paul Gambles does not have any personal holdings in this ETF and has no position currently on Apple's shares.

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