SPONSORED FEATURE: Addressing unmet needs of asset owners

In January 2014, Russell Investments conducted a survey of equity investment decision makers from almost 200 asset owners across North America, Europe and the Middle East to better understand perceptions of smart beta.

In the survey we found that the greatest unmet need from asset owners was for the ability to use smart beta indices to control their exposures.

DEFINING SMART BETA
Smart beta happens to be a narrow term that is often used to define a broad range of investment strategies. At Russell, we generally break these strategies down into two types of exposures. The first type is “strategy-based” and the second is “factor-based”. Strategy-based smart beta exposures have seen a lot of popularity over the past few years and are typically non-cap weighted, with an emphasis on the strategy’s ability to outperform a traditional cap-weighted benchmark. Factor-based smart betas on the other hand are designed to provide exposure to a segment of the market that displays similar factor characteristics (i.e. value, momentum) and asset owners that are looking to manage exposures more explicitly typically look to factor-based solutions.

When comparing strategy-based and factor-based portfolios, there are similar characteristics and exposures between the two. For example, the return stream from a strategy based minimum variance portfolio is similar to the return stream from a factor based low volatility portfolio. An equal-weight index has small cap exposure, but is not specifically focused on the small cap factor. 

Likewise, Fundamental indexing has a value exposure, but is not specifically focused on capturing that factor.

Investors need to take into consideration the similarity in both exposures and returns between specific strategy-based and factor-based portfolios in their assessment of the most appropriate solution.

PROVIDING THE RELEVANT TOOLS
In response to the need to more explicitly control portfolio exposures we launched the Russell High Efficiency™ Factor Index (HEFI) series. In developing the HEFI series, our focus was on identifying equity market factors that were relevant, comprehensive, universally robust, persistent and implementable. The consistent methodology utilised across the HEFI series offers an advantage to investors who are looking to control and manage exposures and effectively combine their smart beta allocations with traditional active strategies. The factors we have focused on – value, momentum, quality and low volatility – are the four primary drivers of active equity returns. 

At Russell, we have developed six key requirements for effective exposure management that include:
• Using simple and robust factors.
• Putting factor exposure at the heart of index construction.
• Being active-risk aware.
• Keeping turnover at moderate levels without sacrificing intended exposures.
• Having a high capacity in terms of sensible turnover rules and appropriate banding rules.
• Using consistent portfolio constructs that are modular and consistent in order to complement one another.

THREE TYPES OF SMART BETA USAGE
We believe that smart beta exposures, whether they are strategy or factor-based, can serve as a strong complement to an active portfolio with the potential to enhance returns, help reduce portfolio risk and add diversification. The three key parts of our process where smart beta exposures are employed are: 

Strategic: From a strategic point of view, we utilise smart beta strategies to position our portfolios in line with our long-term investment beliefs. 

For example, Russell believes there is a value premium in the market and when we construct our portfolios we want them to be biased towards value. We also believe that medium term momentum works well and that our portfolios should also have that same exposure.

Dynamic: The next approach is considering smart beta strategies from a more tactical basis. 

Within our own portfolio construct we are increasingly more adaptive in how we position the portfolio through different market cycles. Although we have longer-term beliefs regarding the expected pay-off to different factor exposures, we recognise that over shorter-term horizons the interplay of the market cycle, valuations and sentiment can present opportunities to take advantage of market dislocations. We believe smart beta exposures that can adjust to the changing market conditions allows us to get the right exposure at the right time. 

Russell box2Risk Management: A third approach is to integrate active and passive allocations within the portfolio structure. For example, the portfolio could incorporate an exposure to smart beta strategies designed to complement the stance taken by the active managers as a whole. 

Russell research has shown that in general, active managers are overexposed to more volatile stocks, and what may appear to be a well diversified portfolio is actually overexposed to the volatility factor. Shifting a portion of the equity allocation to a defensive strategy can continue to provide active management opportunities while potentially mitigating the unwanted exposure to volatility.

The complementary nature of the Russell HEFI series and the low correlation of active returns across the factors enable investors to build robust multi-factor portfolios. The ability to effectively combine factors within a portfolio has historically been limited to quantitative-based asset management firms.  

The Russell HEFI series brings many of these quantitative techniques and insights to investors in a modular framework which is easy to implement and  manage.

For more information about Russell’s smart beta indices, visit www.smartbetaindices.com

Important Information
Russell Investments is a Washington, USA Corporation which operates through subsidiaries worldwide and is a subsidiary of The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company.
Russell Investments is the owner of the trademarks, service marks and copyrights related to its respective indices.
Indices are unmanaged and cannot be invested in directly. Index returns represent past performance, are not a guarantee of future performance and are not indicative of any specific investment. Nothing in this material is intended to constitute legal, tax, securities, or investment advice, nor an opinion regarding the appropriateness of any investment, nor a solicitation of any type.
This material is not intended for distribution to retail clients. This material does not constitute an offer or invitation to anyone in any jurisdiction to invest in any Russell product or use any Russell services where such offer or invitation is not lawful, or in which the person making such offer or invitation is not qualified to do so, nor has it been prepared in connection with any such offer or invitation This material is proprietary and may not be reproduced, transferred or distributed in any form without prior written permission from Russell Investments. It is delivered on an ‘as is’ basis without warranty.
This is not an offer, solicitation or recommendation to purchase any security or the services of any organisation.

Copyright © Russell Investments 2014. All rights reserved. First use: August 2014. CORP-9798

HAVE YOU READ?

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

The tension between urgency and inaction will continue to influence sustainability discussions in 2024, as reflected in the trends report from S&P Global.
FIND OUT MORE
This white paper outlines key challenges impeding the growth of private markets and explores how technological innovation can provide solutions to unlock access to private market funds for a growing…
DOWNLOAD NOW

CLOUD DATA PLATFORMS

Luxembourg is one of the world’s premiere centres for cross-border distribution of investment funds. Read our special regional coverage, coinciding with the annual ALFI European Asset Management Conference.
READ MORE

PRIVATE MARKETS FUND ADMIN REPORT

Private_Markets_Fund_Admin_Report

LATEST PODCAST