Multi-asset: outcome oriented solutions

Our approach to multi-asset investing

We believe robust multi-asset portfolios should invest across many dimensions, including return source, risk exposure, investment style and investment horizon. We also believe these investments should be dynamic and flexible, responding to the ever-changing market conditions, but also responding to your evolving needs.

Balancing risks and returns

We focus on the total portfolio, working to ensure that it represents the best available risk and return trade-offs. Assessing and managing total portfolio exposures involves a combination of principles, evolving market insights and portfolio views. This assessment and management combines long-term views on return sources and current market dynamics.

The benefits of multi-asset investing

The benefits of multi-asset investing are particularly relevant in volatile markets. Beating a benchmark is of little consolation to a client whose portfolio is in serious trouble. Investors expect fund managers to take decisive action to protect assets, and be responsible for delivering a positive real outcome, whatever the prevailing investment climate. Our multi-asset strategies do just that. The characteristics vary from conservative to aggressive, but all our strategies have a common aim: to generate a real target return.

For illustrative purposes only

Our approach offers clients many benefits: 

• Independence

We believe that no single firm has a monopoly on investment skill. As a result, we seek out leading investment approaches: the most powerful strategies, the best investors, and the most efficient types of implementation, wherever they exist. If a great external investment strategy already exists, we will use it. If it doesn’t, or if we think we can improve on what does exist, then we will build it. 

• Dynamic active management

By managing active strategies in a total portfolio context, Russell Investments' portfolio managers can exploit market inefficiencies and style cycles by allocating across strategies. In making strategy selection and timing decisions, undertaking risk and return budgeting, and employing tactical and strategic positioning, Russell Investments is able to increase the probability of achieving clients’ investment goals. 

• Rigorous review and control

reed investment strategies where best practice dictates managing risk at the single strategy and total portfolio levels. 

• Meticulous implementation

In an ever-changing investment landscape, multi-asset portfolios must be flexible and adapt to the evolving economic environment. Because we have an in-house transition management and implementation team, we have the power to make efficient and timely changes to portfolios.

Benefits of the multi-manager approach

It’s hard to predict which managers will do well in any given market cycle. And it’s hard to know which parts of the market will perform the best. So it’s vital to diversify across as many good managers as you can subject to cost effectiveness, to:

• Generate more consistent returns: Combining managers who search for returns in different parts of the market for more diversified and reliable sources of long-term returns
• Reduce investment risk: Diversifying manager risk helps you pursue more aggressive managers with a higher expected return for a given level of risk
• Increase sources of return: We incorporate market valuation views into our portfolio construction decisions, so you can benefit from short-term market opportunities as an additional potential source of return
• Respond to market opportunities: We adapt our portfolios based on our capital markets research and portfolio outlook, placing our bets where we think they will pay off
• Invest efficiently: When we change managers, we implement this carefully using our in-house transition management service

Any opinion expressed is that of Russell Investments, is not a statement of fact, is subject to change and does not constitute investment advice.

The value of investments and the income from them can fall as well as rise and is not guaranteed. You may not get back the amount originally invested.