OCIO Insights
Our dedicated resource for OCIO search consultants.
Insider insights
Insights on topics that matter most to institutional investors
Webinar replay: Upmarket momentum is redefining the OCIO market - Why that's good news for every institution
The OCIO industry is rapidly maturing. As large, complex institutions demand institutional grade systems, those capabilities become standardized, codified, and ultimately available to smaller clients. Upmarket innovation raises the industry floor.
The result? Productized customization: sophisticated tools and governance frameworks that were once reserved for large plans are now accessible to organizations with a fraction of the assets.
This upmarket evolution is reshaping governance, transparency, implementation discipline, and risk oversight across the entire OCIO landscape.
Smaller plans now benefit from institutional grade SLAs, forward looking risk playbooks, private markets pacing engines, and access to specialist talent—without needing to build that infrastructure internally.
Speakers:
- Kevin Turner, CFA, Managing Director, Institutional Partnerships & OCIO Solutions
- Stacey Bro, CFA, Managing Director, Co-Head OCIO
- Rachel Carroll, CFA Managing Director, Consulting
Five Forces Reshaping Investing for the Second Half of the Decade
From policy-driven volatility and changing capital formation to advances in data and technology, the way investors source returns and manage risk is being redefined for the decade ahead.
Russell Investments’ President & Chief Investment Officer Kate El-Hillow outlines five forces that will shape how investors navigate this new landscape.
Read related article: 2026 OCIO Outlook Report
As OCIO adoption accelerates and expands among larger asset owners, customization, governance, execution, and risk oversight are no longer differentiators—they’re requirements.
In our 2026 OCIO Outlook, Stacey Bro and Kevin Turner explore five ways momentum in the very large end of the market is reshaping the OCIO landscape:
Webinar replay: Unlocking Pension Surplus Value
After years of underfunding, many corporate pension plans are suddenly in surplus. And that surplus is attracting attention from finance teams, boards, and investors. But surplus assets come with real trade-offs, governance risk, and long-term consequences.
Kodak’s recent pension strategy broke from convention and sparked an important question for sponsors everywhere: What should you actually do with excess pension assets?
Speakers:
- Justin Owens, CFA, FSA, EA Senior Director, Co-Head Total Solutions
- Brian Frick, ASA, EA, Senior Director, Investment Strategy & Solutions
- Rachel Carroll, CFA Managing Director, Consulting
Guiding the Investor Journey: Perspectives for 2026
For OCIO search consultants assessing providers in a more demanding environment, this video delivers a focused look at how Russell is positioning portfolios for 2026. It highlights our market outlook—elevated recession risk, expensive U.S. equities, tight credit spreads, and improving diversification benefits in non-U.S. markets and duration—and shows how those views drive portfolio construction, overlays, and implementation decisions. You’ll also meet the leaders across manager research, risk, and global trading—teams consultants may not typically engage, but who directly shape governance, resilience, and outcomes for institutional OCIO clients.
2026 Global Market Outlook
The Great Inflection Point
2025 tested global markets with policy upheaval and uncertainty, but resilience prevailed, with equities reaching new highs in the final months of the year. As we turn the page to 2026, investors face an inflection point—a new era likely to be defined by accelerating AI adoption, evolving growth dynamics, and shifting global capital flows.
Read the Outlook
In the news
OCIO market growing with Russell Investments listed as one of five largest global OCIO providers
Planadviser: US OCIO Market May Reach $4.3T by 2030
Expanding wealth management capabilities in Australia
Russell Investments announced an agreement to acquire Zurich Investment Management, strengthening its wealth management presence in Australia.
Business snapshot
Our latest U.S. AUM and client data as of Dec. 31, 2025.
| LONGEST CURRENT CLIENT | AVERAGE RELATIONSHIP | # OF CLIENTS* | TOTAL AUM | AVERAGE AUM | MEDIAN AUM | |
| U.S. Defined Benefit | 1981 | 15 years | 71 | $31.7 B | $446.5 M | $190.1 M |
| U.S. Defined Contribution | 1981 | 17 years | 19 | $16.1 B | $847.5 M | $223.0 M |
| U.S. Non-Profit & Healthcare | 1983 | 11 years | 44 | $30.5 B | $692.8 M | $172.2 M |
*Clients may have multiple plans.
Resources for your clients
Curated resources developed for use with your clients.
EYE ON THE MARKETS
Tariff Tracker
A webpage dedicated to market analysis stemming from recent trade policy uncertainty. Read our recent articles on the latest market news.
Outsourced CIO (OCIO)
What is OCIO, and what considerations should organizations keep in mind?
We have an array of resources and information on how OCIO outsourcing can help an organization deepen resources, respond rapidly in a crisis, and lower investment costs.
Elevating your program
How partnering with an OCIO can help
4 things to look for in an investment outsourcing provider, whether you use it holistically or selectively.
Guide
OCIO investment outsourcing guide
Tools and practical advice to help your clients determine the right investment model for their organization.
Planning
What's your organization's investment succession plan?
What would happen if your top investment brass wasn’t there tomorrow—for whatever reason? As uncomfortable as the topic can be, we believe it’s vital for all organizations to address the issue of investment succession planning as soon as possible.
Investment guides for fiduciaries
Brevity has a quality all its own. CEOs, CFOs, CIOs, Trustees, Board Members, and Investment Committee members, all got a lot on their plate. With this in mind, we have created these helpful guides for fiduciaries.
Defined benefit
A Corporate Pension Finance Handbook
The challenge of efficiently managing a pension plan continues to grow for your clients, and simple, practical guidance is more valuable than ever. Our updated fourth edition addresses significant new developments.
Frozen Pension Plan Handbook
Our frozen plan handbook, designed as a simple, illustrative guide for clients who have already frozen–or are considering freezing–their pension plans, may help their decision-making.
Defined contribution
A Defined Contribution Retirement Plan Handbook
Clients managing a DC plan are encountering increasingly complex challenges. Our third edition offers valuable insights and solutions to help them effectively navigate this ongoing evolution.
Healthcare and hospital systems
Healthcare Fiduciary's Guidebook
This guidebook helps manage the complexity surrounding a healthcare fiduciary's investment programs and ensure alignment with an organization's financial goals.
Non-profits
The Non-Profit Fiduciaries' Guide
Clients managing a DC plan are encountering increasingly complex challenges. Our third edition offers valuable insights and solutions to help them effectively navigate this ongoing evolution.
The Non-Profit Investment Outsourcing Guide
This guide offers practical advice, planning tools, and best practice information to help clients fulfill their non-profit fiduciary responsibilities.
Helpful links
Previously-featured articles
- Q4 2025 Case study: Large DC plan taps into institutional investing discipline
- Q4 2025 5 ways an OCIO can power private markets success
- Q3 2025 Implementation Matters. Is Your OCIO Built to Execute?
- Q3 2025 Don’t overlook the Human Element of OCIO
- Q1 2025 The Right OCIO Can Cure Insomnia in Restless Markets
- Q1 2025 The Intersection of Customization and Capabilities
- Q4 2024 Prudent Pension Funding Report: The perils of living on the knife's edge
- Rate cuts are coming. Does your OCIO or risk management provider have the right overlay capabilities?
- Q2 2024 "I think I know what OCIO is... but what the heck is a strategic partnership?"
- Q1 2024 What's the right size for an OCIO provider?
Market insights and more
Economic and market insights
Webinars and recordings
Solutions and capabilities
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