Russell Investments' seasoned specialists provide you with the expertise and resources to design and implement a customised investment framework to improve the visibility and control of the underlying exposures in your portfolio.
Our comprehensive overlay programme brings the resources and experience to help your organisation:
Reduce operational burden
Improve portfolio risk/return profile
Lower transaction costs
Our suite of overlay services
Cash Equitisation
Maintain your liquidity and desired market exposure by using derivative overlay strategies to access equity and/or bond exposures. When cash levels change our turnkey management service adjusts those exposures and handles all downstream aspects of managing those positions.
Policy Implementation
A disciplined rebalancing plan helps to manage the drift in exposures from your Strategic Asset Allocation (SAA) over time. With daily oversight of portfolio positioning, our team manages exposures to asset classes via overlay transactions effectively solving cash drag and rebalancing policy issues simultaneously.
Downside Risk Management
We can reduce the magnitude of drawdowns in portfolio value from significant market declines. We offer risk management tools to support institutional investors in managing and maintaining their exposure to risk over the long term without bearing the full downside risk of major market corrections.
Why choose Russell Investments as your overlay portfolio management partner?
Six important factors
Dedicated Specialist Team
A dedicated portfolio manager with low client-to-portfolio-manager ratio and access to asset class specialist traders.
Continuous Coverage
24-hour multi-asset trading: Asset class specialists cover a network of developed and emerging markets.
Customised Solutions
Tailored global futures baskets and OTC expertise to better manage risk and seek improved returns.
Flexible Approach
Extended capabilities deliver total exposure management with solutions adapted as your portfolio changes and grows.
FX Expertise
Protect your portfolio from currency movements using our industry-leading FX platform and specialist FX traders.
Robust Risk Management
Detailed compliance protocols with a separated compliance review and agenda-only approach.
Implementation numbers
£54.6 B
Managed in overlay services globally
140
Number of overlay clients in 2024
40+ years
Experience in overlay management
22
Dedicated team members
15
Average years of PM industry experience
Source: Russell Investments. Data as of December 31, 2024 unless otherwise noted.
Tech-enabled client solutions
Our global team of overlay specialists is experienced at tackling the more complex and challenging investment problems facing institutional investors using our proprietary technology and systems.
Proprietary system for aggregating account-level data to enable overlay management
24-hour agency-only global trading desk with specialisation by market segment
Proprietary quantitative systems for managing futures tracking error to customisable benchmarks
Seamless integration of physical overlay trading via trade order management system for more complex solutions
Our experts work hard to solve the complex issues our clients encounter.
Our collection of research shows our dedication to solving complex investment problems.
How can UK wealth make the most of consolidation?
Consolidation is creating larger wealth firms, but also more complex investment organisations. Long-term success will depend on recognising where firms can create genuine investment value internally and where strategic partnerships can enhance scale and implementation.
Russell Investments has been globally recognized for excellence in the investment industry
We have a proven track record in investment implementation with scale, client satisfaction, innovative solutions, and more than 40 years of experience.
A leading overlay solutions manager1
Transition management firm of the year2
Factor investing offering of the year3
Factor investing offering of the year4
Perfect scores: outperformer in multiple categories5
1A Leading Overlay Solutions Manager: For 22 consecutive years (2005-2026), Russell Investments was ranked among the leading U.S. institutional managers of overlay assets in Pensions & Investments’ (P&I) annual money manager survey.
Source: Pensions & Investments. Published: 2005-2026. Based on total U.S. institutional, tax-exempt overlay strategy assets, using quantitative data reported as of December 31 of the prior calendar year for the respective periods. The number of firms included in the survey varied by year: 2026 (15 firms), 2025 (21), 2024 (24), 2023 (27), 2022 (27), 2021 (29), 2020 (30), 2019 (36), 2018 (39), 2017 (41), 2016 (36), 2015 (43), 2014 (40), 2013 (39), 2012 (39), 2011 (46), 2010 (47), 2009 (53), 2008 (53), 2007 (48), 2006 (43), and 2005 (43). Russell Investments paid a fee for licensing and usage rights to the award logo/badge.
2Transition Management Firm of the Year: Russell Investments was named the "Transition Management Firm of the Year" winner at the 2026 European Pensions Awards. The award recognized Russell Investments’ bespoke, outcome-focused transition management solutions across a wide range of transition types.
Source: European Pensions. Awarded: July 2026. Based on business activities through December 31, 2025. Winners were selected by an independent panel based on qualitative criteria. This recognition is not a testimonial or endorsement and does not guarantee future performance or success. After being short-listed, Russell Investments purchased an event table and received award logo/badge usage rights.
3Factor Investing Offering of the Year: Russell Investments was named the “Factor Investing Offering of the Year” winner at the UK's 2024 Pensions Age Awards. The award recognized Russell Investments’ factor investing capabilities and client-focused approach in the pension sector.
Source: Pensions Age. Awarded: February 2024. Based on business activities through January 19, 2024. Winners were selected by an independent panel based on qualitative criteria. This recognition is not a testimonial or endorsement and does not guarantee future performance or success. After being short-listed, Russell Investments purchased an event table and received award logo/badge usage rights.
4Factor Investing Offering of the Year: Russell Investments was named the "Factor Investing Offering of the Year" winner at the 2024 European Pensions Awards. The award recognized Russell Investments’ expertise, innovation, and performance in factor investing.
Source: European Pensions. Awarded: July 2024. Based on business activities through December 31, 2023. Winners were selected by an independent panel based on qualitative criteria. This recognition is not a testimonial or endorsement and does not guarantee future performance or success. After being short-listed, Russell Investments purchased an event table and received award logo/badge usage rights.
5Perfect scores: high performer in multiple categories: Russell Investments received four perfect scores and achieved an overall score of 9.60 in The TRADE’s 2023 Outsourced Trading Survey, including perfect scores in Client Service and Relationship Management, Onboarding, Business Model and Other Factors, and Cost Versus Value for Money.
Source: The TRADE, in partnership with Global Custodian and Ergo Consultancy. Published: November 2023. Based on client perceptions of outsourced trading providers as of 2023, using a 1–10 rating scale, among 14 providers included in the 2023 survey. Results reflect subjective feedback and do not constitute a ranking or evaluation of provider performance or investment outcomes. Clients were not compensated for participating in the survey. Russell Investments paid a fee for licensing and usage rights to the award logo/badge.
Customised Portfolio Solutions
Specialist expertise and strategies to help your team gain greater portfolio control, limit costs, reduce risk, and enhance returns.
