Russell Investments' seasoned specialists provide you with the expertise and resources to design and implement a customized investment framework to improve the visibility and control of the underlying exposures in your portfolio.
Our comprehensive overlay program brings the resources and experience to help your organization:
Reduce the
operational burden
Improve portfolio risk/return profile
Lower
transaction costs
Our suite of overlay services
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.
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.
As funded situation improves risk tolerance often reduces. An overlay provides a cost-effective and timely implementation of the new target exposures and achieves the desired asset allocation when market opportunity arises. A common form of such a mandate is an LDI glide path which, systematically implements the asset allocation and hedge ratio changes quickly as targets are met.
Reduce the magnitude of drawdowns in portfolio value from significant market declines. Russell Investments offers 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
Flexible approach
Extended capabilities deliver total exposure management with solutions adapted as your portfolio changes and grows
Continuous coverage
24-hour multi-asset trading: Asset class specialists cover a network of developed and emerging markets
FX expertise
Protect your portfolio from currency movements using industry-leading FX platform and specialist FX traders
Customized solutions
Tailored global futures baskets and OTC expertise to better manage risk and seek improved returns
Robust risk management
Detailed compliance protocols with separated compliance review and agency-only approach
US$790 million
Average derivatives position per multi-asset Overlay client
¹ Quoted figures above are as of December 31, 2021
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:

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Customized Portfolio Solutions
Specialist expertise and strategies to help your team gain greater portfolio control, limit costs, reduce risk, and enhance returns.
Managing assets in transition to minimize unnecessary costs and mitigate unrewarded risk.
Manage foreign exchange (FX) trading costs and currency risk by drawing upon our currency investment team and FX trading specialists.
Execution solutions to achieve enhanced returns using the latest advances in technology to find liquidity, reduce transaction costs and manage risk.
Improve control of exposures and risk-adjusted returns and reduce the cost of production while keeping your investments precisely aligned to your beliefs without sacrificing the power of a multi-manager approach.
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 35 years of experience.
Russell Investments was globally ranked as one of the top 10 largest managers of factor-based strategies. This ranking is based on worldwide assets under management (AUM) from 58 firms (as of 12/31/2022) in the 2023 Pensions & Investments' "Special Report: Money Managers."
For 19 consecutive years, Russell Investments has maintained its position among the leading U.S. institutional managers of overlay assets from 27 firms (as of 12/31/2022) in the 2023 Pensions & Investments' "Special Report: Money Managers."
From August 2011 to March 2022 (37 out of 42 quarters), Russell Investments Implementation Services, LLC was ranked as a top-tier broker in Pensions & Investments' (P&I) Tradewatch report based on the quality of its trade execution. In 2023, P&I discontinued their report.5
Russell Investments was named the "Currency Manager the Year" winner at Pensions Expert's 2022 Pension and Investment Provider Awards for performance, innovation, and service standards.
Implementation Resources
RISK MANAGEMENT
Managing Exposures Knowledge Exchange
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Q3 2023 UPDATE
Quarterly Trading Report
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Q4 2023
Institutional Trading Calendar
Identify which days in the year have greater potential for elevated risk or reduced market liquidity.
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