Real assets investing

Real estate, infrastructure, commodities, and inflation-linked bonds can provide income, diversification and inflation protection in an investment portfolio.

What are real assets? Real assets & the economy Investing advantages Power of real assets Why Russell Investments? Solutions Related materials

What are real assets?

A real asset is a tangible asset you can touch—like a bridge, or a building, or gold. These assets have intrinsic value that can be exchanged for other goods and services and in that sense are more “real” than traditional financial investments like equities or bonds.

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Please read the prospectus of the funds for a detailed description of the risks involved in this investment.
1All data as of December 31, 2022 (unless otherwise noted).
2As of March 31, 2023.

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Three key advantages to investing in real assets

There are several advantages to consider when including real assets in your investment portfolio:

Advantage 1

Historically low correlation to other assets:

Real assets have historically had a low correlation to the other assets you are most likely to already hold—stocks and traditional bonds.

Advantage 2

Diversify your equity exposure:

Adding real assets to a portfolio is a way to diversify your equity exposure and also obtain access to an often under-represented asset category.

Advantage 3

The potential to improve investment outcomes:

Through low historical correlations and improved diversification, strategic exposure to real assets may improve risk-adjusted returns.

How different examples of real assets perform

The power of combining different Real Assets sectors into one solution

A Real Assets portfolio that combines the below sectors, results in the potential for higher inflation sensitivity and returns, as well as improved diversification.

Source: Russell Investments Capital Markets Assumptions. This graphic reflects the behaviour of each sector relative to other real assets sectors.

Why Russell Investments for real assets investing?

Benefit from our expertise in real assets1

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$27.5 billion in real assets managed globally2

Trio of people
Our portfolio management team has more than 25 years experience investing in liquid real assets.

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We research a universe of more than 388 real assets products.

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Manager research and selection

  • Rigorous investment manager selection
  • Reduce “single-manager risk”
  • Focus on active management with “best in class” managers

Real asset investment solutions

Russell Investments offers several options to access real assets, allowing you to build a customized portfolio that meets your specific needs. For a diversified portfolio, the Real Assets fund is a simple way to gain access to this unique asset class. Alternatively, you can invest separately in the Global Real Estate Pool or the Global Infrastructure Pool.

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Our Global Infrastructure Pool and ETF utilize a “Pure-Play” investment philosophy and owns infrastructure assets that provide essential services and operate in monopoly-like competitive positions in stable and regulated industries.

Global Infrastructure Pool

Our Global Real Estate Pool focuses on high quality real estate assets with dominant strategic positions and experienced management teams.

Global Real Estate Pool

Our Real Assets fund and ETF blends multiple strategies in a single multi-asset solution.

Real Assets

All fund names are preceded with "Russell Investments".

Related and regulatory materials

Real assets brochure

Investing in Real Assets brochure

Download brochure (PDF)

Our Real Assets Solutions one-pager

Our Real Assets Solutions one-pager

Download one-pager (PDF)

Regulatory materials

Legal documentation

RUSSELL RESEARCH

Insights and research from our key thought leaders

FAQs

What are real assets?
Real assets are tangible assets you can touch (like a bridge, or a building, or gold). These assets have intrinsic value, which can be exchanged for other goods and services. This makes real assets more “real” than traditional investments like stocks or bonds.

How to invest in real assets?
Real assets can be accessed through a mutual fund whose investment objective is to invest in real assets such as infrastructure, real estate, commodities and natural resources. Through investing in a real assets mutual fund, investors can gain access to global and Canadian companies through a single solution, that may otherwise be challenging to invest in directly.

Why invest in real assets?
Investors generally see three advantages when they invest in real assets: Historically low correlation to other assets, equity exposure diversification, and the potential to improve investment outcomes.

Are stocks real assets?
Yes, there are stocks that are considered real assets. A real assets mutual fund may invest in stocks of companies that produce or manage various types of real assets. For example, a real assets mutual fund may invest in companies focused on telecommunication towers, energy, airports, toll-roads and real estate.

What is an example of a real asset?
A real asset is a tangible asset you can touch—like a bridge, or a building, or gold.