September, 2023
Within the Fund’s traditional fixed income portfolio, the Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund (RABF) performed in line with its benchmark; though it did record negative absolute returns for the quarter. RABF benefited from a strategic overweight to credit, however this was offset by a slightly long duration exposure; positioning which was impacted by the sharp rise in government bond yields we saw over the period. The Russell Investments International Bond Fund – $A Hedged delivered negative absolute and excess returns in the third quarter. In terms of our extended fixed income exposure, Metrics Credit outperformed traditional bonds, with Australian loans continuing to generate income-like returns. The Russell Investments Australian Floating Rate Fund also performed well as floating rate assets continued to benefit from a higher interest rate environment. We believe US, UK and German government bonds offer reasonable value. In the US, the spread between two- and 10-year government bond yields is close to an extreme. The yield curve has steepened in recent months, which we had anticipated given that this tends to happen when the Fed finishes raising interest rates and markets start looking toward rate cuts. Japanese government bonds still look expensive despite the Bank of Japan’s recent announcement regarding their yield curve control policy.
The Fund’s equity portfolio was mixed over the period. In terms of global equities, both the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund – $A Hedged delivered negative absolute and excess returns for the quarter. Both funds were impacted by poor stock selection in the US, including underweights to chipmaker NVIDIA Corp., oil major Exxon Mobil and pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly & Co. Stock selection in emerging markets also weighed on performance. Within our domestic equity portfolio, the Russell Investments Australian Opportunities Fund significantly underperformed its benchmark, driven in part by a material overweight to the poorperforming healthcare space. Stock selection within the sector also weighed on returns, including overweights to ResMed and New Zealand’s Fisher & Paykel Healthcare. In contrast, the Russell Investments High Dividend Australian Shares ETF generated mildly positive returns for the quarter, while Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long-Short Fund was flat. We maintain a diversified equity exposure across both global and Australian markets. Non-US developed equities are relatively cheaper than US equities and likely to benefit from weakness in the US dollar (USD) should the Fed become less hawkish. However, until the Fed does become less hawkish, we maintain a neutral preference for non-US developed equities. Elsewhere in the Fund, our exposures to global listed property and global listed infrastructure weighed on performance, while a weaker Australian dollar (relative to the USD) boosted the returns of the Fund’s assets denominated in foreign currency.
Markets have faced multiple concerns in the past 12 to 24 months; including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, surging inflation, central bank tightening, a slowing Chinese economy and regional banking crises in the US and Europe. Despite these events and more, the US economy has so far proven remarkably resilient, with markets continuing to price in a ‘soft landing’; though we are seeing several leading economic indicators flash warning signs. Moving forward, the main uncertainty for markets is the outlook for the US economy. Whilst economic data so far this year has proven more resilient than markets initially expected, our base case remains that a recession in the US is more likely than not. The upside risk for the US economy and markets comes from the possibility that US core inflation has peaked. This, combined with some softening in the labour market, could allow the Fed to become less hawkish later this year and into 2024.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD-9-1.pdfAugust, 2023
Global bonds fell slightly in August. Contributing to the decline was speculation that US interest rates will remain higher for longer amid still high inflation and a robust jobs market. Headline inflation in the US rose 3.2% in the 12 months to 31 July, which was up slightly on the 3.0% outcome we saw in June, while core inflation slowed only slightly from 4.8% to 4.7%. At the same time, US unemployment held near record lows and wage pressures remained elevated, which will concern the Federal Reserve (Fed) since higher labour costs mean companies are more likely to raise prices. Whilst market pricing implies the Fed will leave interest rates on hold when it next meets in September, recent Fed rhetoric suggests the Bank believes its fight against inflation is far from over, with chairman Jerome Powell saying the Bank is prepared to raise interest rates further if necessary and will keep them high until it’s convinced inflation is on a sustainable path back toward its 2.0% target. Meantime, the Bank of England lifted interest rates a further 0.25% (to 5.25%) against a backdrop of persistently high inflation. Neither the European Central Bank nor the Bank of Japan met in August. In contrast, bonds benefited from a downward revision to US growth and concerns over the deteriorating economic outlook in China. Global credit markets were weaker in August, with spreads on US and European investment-grade and high-yield debt widening over the period. Australian bonds outperformed their global peers, while domestic credit spreads narrowed.
Global share markets fell (in local currency terms) in August. Australian shares were also weaker for the month.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD-7-2.pdfJuly, 2023
The Fund’s equity portfolio was mixed over the period. In terms of domestic equities, both the Russell Investments Australian Opportunities Fund (RAOF) and the Vinva Australian Equitised Long-Short Fund delivered positive absolute and excess returns for the month. RAOF’s outperformance was driven in part by stock selection within the materials space, including an underweight to iron ore major Fortescue Metals Group, while Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long-Short strategy benefited largely from its valuation and quality signals. Within our global equities portfolio, the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund – $A Hedged recorded positive absolute returns in July but narrowly underperformed their respective benchmarks. Much of the funds’ underperformance was driven by stock selection within the emerging markets space, including an ex-benchmark holding in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and an underweight to South Korean steel maker POSCO. We maintain a diversified equity exposure across both global and Australian markets. We still prefer non-US developed equities over US equities. We believe non-US developed equities are relatively cheaper and likely to benefit from weakness in the US dollar (USD) should the Fed become less hawkish.
Within the Fund’s traditional fixed income portfolio, the Russell Investments International Bond Fund – $A Hedged and the Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund delivered positive absolute and excess returns for the month. Both funds benefited from a long-held overweight to credit. In terms of our extended fixed income exposure, Metrics Credit outperformed government bonds over the period, with Australian loans continuing to generate income-like returns. Global floating rate credit and the Russell Investments Australian Floating Rate Fund also performed well in July. We believe US, UK and German government bonds offer reasonable value. In the US, the spread between two- and 10-year government bond yields is close to an extreme. We believe it’s likely the yield curve will steepen in the coming months, which it tends to do when the Fed finishes raising interest rates and markets start looking toward rate cuts. Meanwhile, Japanese government bonds look expensive despite the Bank of Japan’s recent announcement regarding their yield curve control policy.
The Fund also benefited from its exposure to global and Australian listed property, while a weaker Australian dollar (relative to the USD) boosted the returns of the Fund’s assets denominated in foreign currency. In terms of overall positioning, we reduced the Fund’s exposure to global and Australian equities in July. We also added to the Fund’s duration exposure while reducing our holdings in high-yield and emerging markets debt.
Markets have faced multiple concerns in the past 12 to 24 months; including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, surging inflation, central bank tightening, a slowing Chinese economy and regional banking crises in the US and Europe. Moving forward, the main uncertainty for markets is the outlook for the US economy. Whilst economic data so far this year has proven more resilient than markets initially expected, our base case remains that a recession in the US is more likely than not. The upside risk for the US economy and markets comes from the possibility that US core inflation has peaked. This, combined with some softening in the labour market, could allow the Fed to become less hawkish through the second half of the year.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD-18.pdfJune, 2023
The Fund’s equity portfolio was mixed over the period. In terms of domestic equities, the Russell Investments Australian Opportunities Fund outperformed its benchmark, benefiting from stock selection within the materials space. This included underweights to iron ore major BHP Group and diversified miner South32; both of which significantly underperformed the broader market over the period. The Russell Investments High Dividend Australian Shares ETF generated positive absolute returns for the quarter. Within our global equities portfolio, both the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund – $A Hedged underperformed their respective benchmarks over the period; though they did generate strong absolute returns for the quarter. Both funds were impacted by poor stock selection in the US, including underweights to large growth names like Apple and electric car maker Tesla. We maintain a diversified equity exposure across both global and Australian markets. We still prefer non-US developed equities over US equities. We believe non-US developed equities are relatively cheaper and likely to benefit from weakness in the US dollar (USD) should the US Federal Reserve (Fed) become less hawkish.
Within the Fund’s traditional fixed income portfolio, the Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund recorded negative absolute returns for the quarter; though it did outperform its benchmark, benefiting in part from an overweight to credit. The Russell Investments International Bond Fund – $A Hedged delivered negative absolute and benchmark-relative performance over the period. In terms of our extended fixed income exposure, Metrics Credit performed well over the period, with Australian loans continuing to generate income-like returns. Our exposure to global high-yield debt also added value, while the Russell Investments Australian Floating Rate Fund outperformed its benchmark as floating rate assets continued to benefit from a higher interest rate environment. We believe US, UK and German government bonds offer reasonable value. In the US, the spread between two- and 10-year Treasury yields is close to an extreme. We believe it’s likely the yield curve will steepen in the coming months, which it tends to do when the Fed finishes raising interest rates and markets start looking toward rate cuts. Meanwhile, Japanese government bonds look expensive, with the Bank of Japan maintaining its 0.50% yield limit.
The Fund also benefited from its exposure to global and Australian listed property, while a weaker Australian dollar (relative to the USD) boosted the returns of the Fund’s assets denominated in foreign currency.
Markets have faced multiple concerns in the past 12 to 24 months; including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, surging inflation, central bank tightening, a slowing Chinese economy and regional banking crises in the US and Europe. Despite these events and more, the US economy has so far proven remarkably resilient; though we are seeing several leading economic indicators flash warning signs. Moving forward, the main uncertainty for markets is the outlook for the US economy. We believe the pace and magnitude of Fed tightening has created the risk of a recession in the next 12 to 18 months; though any potential recession is expected to be mild to moderate. The upside risk for the US economy and markets comes from the possibility that US core inflation has peaked. This, combined with some softening in the labour market, could allow the Fed to become less hawkish in the second half of the year.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD-6-1.pdfMay, 2023
The Fund’s equity portfolio was mixed over the period. In terms of global equities, the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund delivered positive absolute returns for the month but underperformed its benchmark. Much of the Fund’s underperformance was driven by stock selection in the US; notably underweights to large cap names like NVIDIA Corp., Apple and Tesla. The Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund – $A Hedged recorded both negative absolute and excess returns in May. Within our Australian equities portfolio, the Russell Investments Australian Opportunities Fund posted negative absolute returns in May, though it did outperform its benchmark; the Fund benefiting in part from stock selection within the energy sector. This included overweights to oil and gas producer Santos and energy retailer Ampol. In contrast, Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long-Short Fund recorded both negative absolute and excess returns over the period, driven largely by the strategy’s behavioural and segmentation signals. Meanwhile, the Russell Investments High Dividend Australian Shares ETF underperformed the broader equity market in May. We maintain a diversified equity exposure across both global and Australian markets. We still prefer non-US developed equities over US equities. We believe non-US developed equities are relatively cheaper and likely to benefit from weakness in the US dollar should the Fed become less hawkish.
Within the Fund’s traditional fixed income portfolio, the Russell Investments International Bond Fund – $A Hedged delivered both negative absolute and excess returns in May. The Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund also recorded negative absolute returns for the month, though it did perform in line with its benchmark; the Fund benefiting in part from an overweight to credit. In terms of our extended fixed income exposure, Metrics Credit performed well over the period, with Australian loans continuing to generate income-like returns. Global floating rate credit and the Russell Investments Australian Floating Rate Fund also outperformed in May. We believe government bond valuations have improved, with US Treasuries now offering good value. UK bonds have also moved into bands which we believe offer good value, as have German bunds. Japanese bond valuations have begun to improve with recent changes to the Bank of Japan’s yield curve control policy, though the Bank’s key short-term interest rate remains low at -0.10%. A positive for government bonds is that we believe markets have fully priced in hawkish outlooks for most central banks. In our view, this should limit the extent of any further selloff.
Meanwhile, a weaker Australian dollar boosted the returns of the Fund’s assets denominated in foreign currency.
In terms of overall positioning, we increased the Fund’s duration exposure as bonds sold off toward the end of the month. We did this by increasing our holdings in both the Russell Investments International Bond Fund – $A Hedged and the Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund.
Markets have faced multiple concerns in the past 12 months or so; including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, surging inflation, central bank tightening, the impact of COVID-19 on China’s economy and, most recently, uncertainty surrounding the global banking system. Moving forward, the main uncertainty is the outlook for the US economy, with the pace and magnitude of Fed tightening creating the risk of a recession. We feel a slowdown or mild recession are the two most likely outcomes. The upside risk for the US economy and markets comes from the possibility that US core inflation has peaked. This, combined with some softening in the labour market, could allow the Fed to become less hawkish through the second half of the year.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD-4-1.pdfApril, 2023
The Fund’s equity portfolio contributed positively to performance over the period. In terms of global equities, both the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund – $A Hedged delivered positive absolute and excess returns in April; the two funds benefiting in part from strong stock selection in the UK.
This included ex-benchmark holdings in stockbroker Numis Corp. and price comparison website Moneysupermarket.com. Within our Australian equities portfolio, the Russell Investments Australian Opportunities Fund outperformed its benchmark on the back of strong stock selection within the materials sector; notably underweights to major miners BHP Group and Fortescue Metals Group. In contrast, Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long-Short Fund underperformed its benchmark over the period; though it did record positive absolute returns for the month.
The strategy’s valuation and quality signals weighed the most on benchmark-relative returns. Meanwhile, the Russell Investments High Dividend Australian Shares ETF performed in line with the broader equity market in April. We maintain a diversified equity exposure across both global and Australian markets. We still prefer non-US developed equities over US equities. We believe non-US developed equities are relatively cheaper and likely to benefit from weakness in the US dollar should the Fed become less hawkish.
Within the Fund’s traditional fixed income portfolio, the Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund delivered positive absolute and excess returns in April, benefiting in part from its long-held overweight to credit. The Russell Investments International Bond Fund – $A Hedged was flat against its benchmark in April; though it did record positive absolute returns for the month. In terms of our extended fixed income exposure, Metrics Credit performed well over the period, with Australian loans continuing to generate income-like returns. The Russell Investments Australian Floating Rate Fund also outperformed, benefiting from a combination of running yield in excess of the benchmark and credit spread dynamics. We believe government bond valuations have improved, with US Treasuries now offering good value. UK bonds have also moved into bands which we believe offer good value, as have German bunds. Japanese bond valuations have begun to improve with recent changes to the Bank of Japan’s yield curve control policy, though the Bank’s key short-term interest rate remains low at -0.10%.
A positive for government bonds is that we believe markets have fully priced in hawkish outlooks for most central banks. In our view, this should limit the extent of any further selloff. Elsewhere in the Fund, our exposures to global listed infrastructure and global and Australian listed property added value in April, while a weaker Australian dollar boosted the returns of the Fund’s assets denominated in foreign currency.
Markets have faced multiple concerns over the past 12 months or so; including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, surging inflation, central bank tightening, the impact of COVID-19 on China’s economy and, most recently, uncertainty surrounding the global banking system following the collapse of several US banks and the forced sale of Credit Suisse. Moving forward, the main uncertainty is likely to remain the outlook for the US economy.
We believe the pace and magnitude of Fed tightening creates the risk of a recession by the second half of this year. While a deep recession could trigger a larger equity bear market, we feel a slowdown or mild recession are the two most likely outcomes. The upside risk for the US economy and markets comes from the possibility that US core inflation has peaked. This, combined with some softening in the labour market, could allow the Fed to become less hawkish in the second half of the year
File:March, 2023
Within the Fund’s traditional fixed income portfolio, the Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund delivered positive absolute and excess returns for the quarter, benefiting from its duration positioning and an overweight to credit. The Russell Investments International Bond Fund – $A Hedged recorded positive absolute returns over the period but narrowly underperformed its benchmark. This underperformance was driven largely by interest rates positioning. In terms of our extended fixed income exposure, Metrics Credit performed well over the period, with Australian loans continuing to generate income-like returns. The Russell Investments Australian Floating Rate Fund and our exposure to global high-yield debt also added value. We believe government bond valuations have improved, with US Treasuries now offering good value.
UK bonds have also moved into bands which we believe offer good value, as have German bunds. Japanese bond valuations have begun to improve with recent changes to the Bank of Japan’s yield curve control policy, though the Bank’s key shortterm interest rate remains low at -0.10%. A positive for government bonds is that we believe markets have fully priced in hawkish outlooks for most central banks. In our view, this should limit the extent of any further selloff.
The Fund’s equity portfolio was mixed over the period. In terms of domestic equities, the Russell Investments Australian Opportunities Fund significantly outperformed its benchmark, benefiting from strong stock selection within the financials space. This included underweights to National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Banking Corp. and ANZ Group; collectively known as the ‘Big Four’. In contrast, Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long-Short Fund underperformed its benchmark, driven largely by the strategy’s segmentation signals. Partly offsetting this were good gains from the strategy’s quality and tactical signals. Within our global equities portfolio, both the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund – $A Hedged underperformed their respective benchmarks over the period; though they did generate strong absolute returns for the quarter. Both funds were impacted by poor stock selection in the US, including underweights to large growth names like Apple, NVIDIA Corp. and electric car maker Tesla. We maintain a diversified equity exposure across both global and Australian markets. We still prefer non-US developed equities over US equities. We believe non-US developed equities are relatively cheaper and likely to benefit from weakness in the US dollar should the Fed become less hawkish.
The Fund also benefited from its exposure to global and Australian listed property and global listed infrastructure; all of which benefited from the sharp decline in longer-term government bond yields we saw over the period. Meanwhile, a weaker Australian dollar boosted the returns of the Fund’s assets denominated in foreign currency.
Markets have faced multiple concerns over the past 12 months or so; including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, surging inflation, central bank tightening, the impact of COVID-19 on China’s economy and, most recently, uncertainty surrounding the global banking system following the collapse of several US midsize banks and the forced sale of Credit Suisse. Moving forward, the main uncertainty is likely to remain the outlook for the US economy. We believe the pace and magnitude of Fed tightening creates the risk of a recession by the second half of this year. While a deep recession could trigger a larger equity bear market, we feel a slowdown or mild recession are the two most likely outcomes. The upside risk for the US economy and markets comes from the possibility that US core inflation has peaked. This, combined with some softening in the labour market, could allow the Fed to become less hawkish in the second half of the year.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD-3-2.pdfFebruary, 2023
The Fund’s equity portfolio was mixed over the period. In terms of global equities, both the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund – $A Hedged underperformed their respective benchmarks in February; though the former did record positive absolute returns for the month. Both funds were impacted by poor stock selection in the US; notably underweights to large growth names like Apple, NVIDIA Corp. and electric car maker Tesla. Within our Australian equities portfolio, the Russell Investments Australian Opportunities Fund (RAOF) significantly outperformed its benchmark over the period, benefiting from strong stock selection within the materials space. This included underweights to BHP Group and Pilbara Minerals; both of which declined amid general weakness across the broader commodities complex. However, RAOF did record negative absolute returns for the month. Similarly, Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long-Short Fund recorded negative absolute returns in February but outperformed its benchmark; the strategy benefiting largely from its behavioural and segmentation signals. The Russell Investments High Dividend Australian Shares ETF underperformed the broader equity market over the period. We maintain a diversified equity exposure across both global and Australian markets. We still prefer non-US developed equities over US equities. We believe non-US developed equities are relatively cheaper and likely to benefit from weakness in the US dollar (USD) should the Fed become less hawkish.
Within the Fund’s traditional fixed income portfolio, the Russell Investments International Bond Fund – $A Hedged delivered negative absolute returns in February but narrowly outperformed its benchmark. This outperformance was driven largely by active currency positioning, including a long USD position, and an overweight to credit. The Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund was flat for the month. In terms of our extended fixed income exposure, both Metrics Credit and the Russell Investments Australian Floating Rate Fund performed well over the period; the latter continuing to benefit from running yield in excess of the benchmark. In contrast, global high-yield debt underperformed in February; though the impact of this underperformance on overall returns was relatively modest given that we recently trimmed the Fund’s global high-yield debt exposure. We believe government bond valuations have improved, with US Treasuries now offering good value. UK bonds have also moved into bands which we believe offer good value, as have German bunds. Japanese bond valuations have begun to improve with recent changes to the Bank of Japan’s yield curve control policy, though the Bank’s key short-term interest rate remains low at -0.10%. A positive for government bonds is that we believe markets have fully priced in hawkish outlooks for most central banks. In our view, this should limit the extent of any further selloff.
Elsewhere in the Fund, our exposure to global and Australian listed property weighed on overall performance as government bond yields jumped on the back of US rate hike expectations. Meanwhile, a weaker Australian dollar boosted the returns of the Fund’s assets denominated in foreign currency.
Moving forward, recession fears and central bank tightening will continue to drive market volatility. Share markets had bounced considerably off their recent lows amid expectations inflation may have peaked, however February saw a reversal of this trend as economic data revealed inflation is proving to be more persistent. We acknowledge that heightened short-term market volatility is likely to remain given responses across markets to ongoing inflation prints and central bank rate hike decisions.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD-1-2.pdfJanuary, 2023
The Fund’s global equity portfolio contributed positively to performance over the period, with both the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund – $A Hedged outperforming their respective benchmarks. The two funds benefited from strong stock selection in emerging markets; notably an ex-benchmark holding in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and an overweight to China’s Alibaba Group.
In terms of domestic equities, the Russell Investments High Dividend Australian Shares ETF recorded strong absolute returns in January, while the Russell Investments Australian Opportunities Fund (RAOF) underperformed its benchmark; though it did record positive absolute performance for the month. RAOF’s underperformance was driven in part by poor stock selection within the materials space, including underweights to lithium producer Pilbara Minerals and iron ore major BHP Group. Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long-Short Fund also underperformed in January; the strategy impacted by its valuation and segmentation signals. However, like RAOF, Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long-Short Fund did record strong absolute returns for the month.
We maintain a diversified equity exposure across both global and Australian markets. We still prefer non-US developed equities over US equities. We believe non-US developed equities are relatively cheaper and likely to benefit from weakness in the US dollar should the Fed become less hawkish. Within the Fund’s traditional fixed income portfolio, the Russell Investments International Bond Fund – $A Hedged and the Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund delivered positive absolute and excess returns in January. Both funds benefited from their overweight to credit as spreads tightened over the period. In terms of our extended fixed income exposure, global high-yield debt, the Russell Investments Emerging Market Debt Local Currency Fund and the Russell Investments Australian Floating Rate Fund all delivered positive absolute returns over the period. Metrics Credit also performed well, with Australian loans continuing to generate income-like returns. We believe government bond valuations have improved, with US Treasuries now offering good value.
UK bonds have also moved into bands which we believe offer good value, as have German bunds. However, there are concerns over the current economic situation in the UK and the volatility in bond markets caused by recent fiscal policy announcements and the BoE’s response. Japanese bond valuations have begun to improve with recent changes to the Bank of Japan’s yield curve control policy, though the Bank’s key short-term interest rate remains low at -0.10%. A positive for government bonds is that we believe markets have fully priced in hawkish outlooks for most central banks. In our view, this should limit the extent of any further selloff.
The Fund also benefited from its exposures to global listed infrastructure and global and Australian listed property; all of which performed well against a backdrop of declining government bond yields.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD-17.pdfDecember, 2022
The Fund’s traditional fixed income portfolio outperformed over the period, with the Russell Investments International Bond Fund – $A Hedged and the Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund delivering positive absolute and excess returns for the quarter. Both funds benefited from their credit exposure. Within our extended fixed income portfolio, both Metrics Credit (Australian bank loans) and the Russell Investments Floating Rate Fund performed well over the period due to their lower sensitivity to interest rate movements.
High-yield debt also outperformed, while the Russell Investments Emerging Market Debt Local Currency Fund posted strong absolute and excess returns on the back of general US dollar (USD) weakness and smaller rate hikes across major developed markets. We believe government bond valuations have improved, with US Treasuries now offering good value. UK bonds have also moved into bands which we believe offer good value, as have German bunds. However, there are concerns over the current economic situation in the UK and the volatility in bond markets caused by recent fiscal policy announcements and the Bank of England’s response. We view Japanese bonds as moderately expensive.
A positive for government bonds is that we believe markets have fully priced in hawkish outlooks for most central banks. In our view, this should limit the extent of any further selloff. Within our global equity portfolio, both the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund – $A Hedged posted strong absolute and excess returns for the quarter; the two funds benefiting from very strong stock selection in the US. This included underweights to large growth names like Apple, electric car maker Tesla and e-commerce giant Amazon.com. In contrast, our domestic equity portfolio was mixed. Both the Russell Investments High Dividend Australian Shares ETF and the Russell Investments Australian Opportunities Fund (RAOF) recorded strong absolute returns over the period, however RAOF underperformed its benchmark. Contributing to RAOF’s underperformance was poor stock selection within the materials space, including underweights to iron ore majors BHP Group, Fortescue Metals Group and Rio Tinto; all of which posted double-digit gains for the quarter. Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long-Short Fund also underperformed its benchmark, albeit modestly, as weakness across the strategy’s segmentation and tactical signals overshadowed gains from its valuation and quality signals. We maintain a diversified equity exposure across both global and Australian markets. We still prefer non-US developed equities over US equities as we believe non-US developed equities are relatively cheaper and likely to benefit from weakness in the USD should the US Federal Reserve become less hawkish. More broadly, the Fund’s exposures to global and domestic listed property added value over the period, while a stronger Australian dollar weighed on the returns of the Fund’s assets denominated in foreign currency. In terms of overall positioning, we increased bond duration early in the quarter. This change is likely to reduce volatility if recession risks continue to rise. We also modestly increased our weighting to Metrics Credit. Moving forward, recession fears and central bank tightening continue to drive market volatility. Share markets have bounced considerably since their recent lows amid expectations that inflation may have peaked. This is consistent with our view that markets would stabilise and possibly even recover through the second half of 2022. However, we acknowledge that heightened short-term market volatility is likely to remain given responses across markets to ongoing inflation prints and central bank rate hike decisions.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD-16.pdfNovember, 2022
The Fund’s global equity portfolio drove performance over the period, with both the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund – $A Hedged outperforming their respective benchmarks. The two funds benefited from strong stock selection in the US, including underweights to poor-performing growth names like Apple, Tesla and Amazon.com. In terms of domestic equities, the Russell Investments High Dividend Australian Shares ETF recorded strong absolute returns in November, while the Russell Investments Australian Opportunities Fund (RAOF) underperformed its benchmark; though it did record positive absolute returns for the month. RAOF’s underperformance was driven in part by poor stock selection within the materials space, including underweights to iron ore majors BHP Group, Fortescue Metals Group and Rio Tinto. Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long-Short Fund also underperformed in November; the strategy impacted by its behavioural and segmentation signals. We maintain a diversified equity exposure across both global and Australian markets. We still prefer non-US developed equities over US equities. We believe non-US developed equities are relatively cheaper and likely to benefit from weakness in the US dollar should the Fed become less hawkish.
Within the Fund’s traditional fixed income portfolio, the Russell Investments International Bond Fund – $A Hedged and the Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund outperformed their respective benchmarks in November. In terms of our extended fixed income exposure, both global high-yield debt and the Russell Investments Australian Floating Rate Fund outperformed over the period. Metrics Credit also performed well, with Australian loans continuing to generate income-like returns. We believe government bond valuations have improved, with US Treasuries now offering good value. UK bonds have also moved into bands which we believe offer good value. However, there are concerns over the current economic situation in the UK and the volatility in bond markets caused by recent fiscal policy announcements and the Bank of England’s response. We view German and Japanese bonds as moderately expensive. A positive for government bonds is that we believe markets have fully priced in hawkish outlooks for most central banks. In our view, this should limit the extent of any further selloff.
The Fund also benefited from its exposures to global and Australian listed property, which performed well against a backdrop of lower government bond yields.
Meanwhile, a stronger Australian dollar impacted the returns of the Fund’s assets denominated in foreign currency. Moving forward, recession fears and central bank tightening will continue to drive market volatility. Share markets have bounced considerably since their recent lows amid expectations that inflation may have peaked. This is consistent with our view that markets would stabilise and possibly even recover through the remainder of 2022. However, we acknowledge that heightened short-term market volatility is likely to remain given responses across markets to ongoing inflation prints and central bank rate hike decisions.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD-15.pdfOctober, 2022
The Fund’s traditional fixed income portfolio was negatively impacted by the rise in government bond yields we saw over the period. Both the Russell Investments International Bond Fund – $A Hedged and the Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund posted negative absolute returns for the quarter; though the latter did outperform its benchmark. Within our extended fixed income portfolio, both Metrics Credit (Australian bank loans) and the Russell Investments Floating Rate Fund recorded strong absolute returns due to their lower sensitivity to interest rate movements. The Russell Investments Emerging Market Debt Local Currency Fund also recorded positive absolute returns (in Australian dollar terms), though it narrowly underperformed its benchmark. We believe government bond valuations have improved, with US Treasuries now offering good value. UK bonds have also moved into bands which we believe offer good value; though there are concerns over the current economic situation in the UK and the volatility in bond markets caused by recent fiscal policy announcements and the Bank of England’s response. We view German and Japanese bonds as moderately expensive. A positive for government bonds is that we believe markets have fully priced in hawkish outlooks for most central banks, which should limit the extent of any further selloff. Within our global equity portfolio, both the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund – $A Hedged posted negative absolute returns for the quarter; though the two funds did outperform their benchmarks. Both funds benefited from strong stock selection within emerging markets and Asia Pacific ex Japan. Our domestic equity portfolio was mixed for the quarter. Both the Russell Investments Australian Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments High Dividend Australian Shares ETF recorded negative absolute returns but outperformed their benchmarks over the period, while Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long-Short Fund underperformed due to weakness across the strategy’s valuation and technical signals. We still prefer non-US developed equities over US equities. We believe non-US developed equities are relatively cheaper and likely to benefit from weakness in the USD should the US Federal Reserve become less hawkish. More broadly, the Fund’s exposures to global and domestic listed property weighed on overall performance. Property stocks were impacted by rising interest rates, recession fears and a further spike in long-term government bond yields. Meanwhile, a weaker Australian dollar boosted the returns of the Fund’s assets denominated in foreign currency. [Note: We removed Putnam’s Fixed Income Opportunities Strategy (rates volatility strategy) toward the end of the quarter. The strategy provided strong absolute returns during 2022, as well as diversification benefits at the portfolio level. Given where markets are at now, together with the attractiveness of yields across traditional fixed income markets, we believe there are more predictable returns in these traditional asset classes.] Moving forward, recession fears and central bank tightening will continue to drive market volatility. We believe equity markets are oversold and that US core inflation has likely peaked. In our view, this should help markets stabilise and possibly recover through the second half of 2022; though we acknowledge that heightened short-term market volatility is likely to persist given responses across markets to ongoing inflation prints and central bank rate hike decisions.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD-14.pdfSeptember, 2022
The Fund’s traditional fixed income portfolio was negatively impacted by the rise in government bond yields we saw over the period. Both the Russell Investments International Bond Fund – $A Hedged and the Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund posted negative absolute returns for the quarter; though the latter did outperform its benchmark. Within our extended fixed income portfolio, both Metrics Credit (Australian bank loans) and the Russell Investments Floating Rate Fund recorded strong absolute returns due to their lower sensitivity to interest rate movements.
The Russell Investments Emerging Market Debt Local Currency Fund also recorded positive absolute returns (in Australian dollar terms), though it narrowly underperformed its benchmark. We believe government bond valuations have improved, with US Treasuries now offering good value. UK bonds have also moved into bands which we believe offer good value; though there are concerns over the current economic situation in the UK and the volatility in bond markets caused by recent fiscal policy announcements and the Bank of England’s response.
We view German and Japanese bonds as moderately expensive. A positive for government bonds is that we believe markets have fully priced in hawkish outlooks for most central banks, which should limit the extent of any further selloff. Within our global equity portfolio, both the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund – $A Hedged posted negative absolute returns for the quarter; though the two funds did outperform their benchmarks. Both funds benefited from strong stock selection within emerging markets and Asia Pacific ex Japan. Our domestic equity portfolio was mixed for the quarter. Both the Russell Investments Australian Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments High Dividend Australian Shares ETF recorded negative absolute returns but outperformed their benchmarks over the period, while Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long-Short Fund underperformed due to weakness across the strategy’s valuation and technical signals. We still prefer non-US developed equities over US equities.
We believe non-US developed equities are relatively cheaper and likely to benefit from weakness in the USD should the US Federal Reserve become less hawkish. More broadly, the Fund’s exposures to global and domestic listed property weighed on overall performance. Property stocks were impacted by rising interest rates, recession fears and a further spike in long-term government bond yields. Meanwhile, a weaker Australian dollar boosted the returns of the Fund’s assets denominated in foreign currency. [Note: We removed Putnam’s Fixed Income Opportunities Strategy (rates volatility strategy) toward the end of the quarter. The strategy provided strong absolute returns during 2022, as well as diversification benefits at the portfolio level. Given where markets are at now, together with the attractiveness of yields across traditional fixed income markets, we believe there are more predictable returns in these traditional asset classes.] Moving forward, recession fears and central bank tightening will continue to drive market volatility. We believe equity markets are oversold and that US core inflation has likely peaked. In our view, this should help markets stabilise and possibly recover through the second half of 2022; though we acknowledge that heightened short-term market volatility is likely to persist given responses across markets to ongoing inflation prints and central bank rate hike decisions.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD-13.pdfAugust, 2022
Within the Fund’s traditional fixed income portfolio, both the Russell Investments International Bond Fund – $A Hedged and the Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund delivered negative absolute returns in August; though the two funds did outperform their respective benchmarks over the period. In terms of our extended fixed income exposure, the Russell Investments Floating Rate Fund, the Russell Investments Emerging Market Debt Local Currency Fund and the Metrics Credit Diversified Australian Senior Loan Fund all performed well, while the Russell Investments Global High Yield Fund gave back the previous month’s gains. We believe government bond valuations have improved, with US bonds now offering good value. However, we still view Japanese, German and UK bonds as moderately expensive. In saying that, markets have fully priced in hawkish outlooks for most central banks, which should limit the extent of any further selloff in government bonds. The Fund’s equity portfolio was mixed in August. Within our global equity portfolio, both the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund – $A Hedged delivered negative absolute returns for the month. However, the two funds did outperform their benchmarks. This was due in part to the funds’ value bias as value names outperformed growth stocks. An overweight exposure to emerging markets, which outperformed their developed counterparts in August, also added value. In terms of Australian equities, both the Russell Investments Australian Opportunities Fund and Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long-Short Fund recorded positive absolute and excess returns in August; the latter benefiting from its behavioural, quality and segmentation signals.
The Russell Investments High Dividend Australian Shares ETF recorded more modest gains for the month. We maintain a diversified equity exposure across both global and Australian markets. We still prefer non-US developed equities over US equities as non-US developed equities are relatively cheaper and likely to benefit from weakness in the US dollar should the Fed become less hawkish. Elsewhere in the Fund, our exposure to global and Australian listed property detracted from overall returns as longer-term government bond yields climbed higher, while a weaker Australian dollar boosted the returns of the Fund’s assets denominated in foreign currency. Moving forward, recession fears and central bank tightening will continue to drive market volatility. We believe equity markets are oversold and that US core inflation has likely peaked. In our view, this should help markets stabilise and possibly recover through the second half of 2022.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD-9.pdfJuly, 2022
The Fund’s traditional fixed income portfolio contributed positively to performance over the period, with both the Russell Investments International Bond Fund – $A Hedged and the Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund recording positive absolute and excess returns in July. Within our extended fixed income portfolio, the Russell Investments Floating Rate Fund performed well as prices on loans and securitised assets rebounded in line with a pickup in credit market activity. Our global high-yield debt exposure and the Metrics Credit Diversified Australian Senior Loan Fund also added value over the period. Partly offsetting this was our exposure to the Russell Investments Emerging Market Debt Local Currency Fund, which underperformed in unhedged Australian dollar (AUD) terms. We believe government bond valuations have improved, with US bonds now offering good value. However, we still view Japanese, German and UK bonds as moderately expensive. In saying that, markets have fully priced in hawkish outlooks for most central banks, which should limit the extent of any further selloff in government bonds.
Within our global equity portfolio, both the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund – $A Hedged delivered positive absolute returns for the month. However, the two funds did underperform their benchmarks. This was due in part to the funds’ value bias as growth stocks outperformed. Poor stock selection in Japan also weighed on returns. In terms of Australian equities, both the Russell Investments High Dividend Australian Shares ETF and the Russell Investments Australian Factor Exposure Fund recorded strong absolute returns in July; though the latter narrowly underperformed its benchmark.
Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long-Short Fund also recorded negative excess returns for the month. This was driven largely by weakness across the strategy’s valuation and behavioural signals. We maintain a diversified equity exposure across both global and Australian markets. We still prefer non-US developed equities over US equities as non-US developed equities are relatively cheaper and likely to benefit from weakness in the US dollar should the Fed become less hawkish. Meanwhile, a stronger AUD impacted the returns of the Fund’s assets denominated in foreign currency. Moving forward, recession fears and central bank tightening will continue to drive market volatility. We believe equity markets are oversold and that US core inflation has likely peaked. In our view, this should help markets stabilise and possibly recover through the second half of 2022.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD-8.pdfJune, 2022
The Fund’s traditional fixed income portfolio was negatively impacted by the sharp rise in government bond yields we saw over the period. Both the Russell Investments International Bond Fund – $A Hedged and the Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund posted negative absolute and excess returns for the quarter. Within our extended fixed income portfolio, credit returns were negative as spreads continued to widen amid rising inflation, expectations of accelerated monetary policy tightening and global growth fears. Partly offsetting this were relatively good gains from the Russell Investments Emerging Market Debt Local Currency Fund, which recorded positive absolute and excess returns over the period. We believe government bond valuations have improved after the rise in yields, with US bonds now offering good value. However, we still view Japanese, German and UK bonds as moderately expensive. A positive for government bonds is that markets have fully priced in hawkish outlooks for most central banks. In our view, this should limit the extent of any further selloff.
Within our global equity portfolio, both the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund – $A Hedged posted negative absolute returns for the quarter; though the two funds significantly outperformed their benchmarks. Both funds benefited from a long-held underweight to the US and a preference for value stocks. In terms of domestic equities, the Russell Investments Australian Factor Exposure Fund underperformed over the period, due largely to its value and momentum factor exposures. Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long-Short Fund performed in line with its benchmark, while the Russell Investments High Dividend Australian Shares ETF tracked the broader equity market lower. We still prefer non-US developed equities over US equities. We believe non-US developed equities are relatively cheaper and likely to benefit from weakness in the US dollar (USD) should the US Federal Reserve become less hawkish.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD-7-1.pdfMay, 2022
The Fund’s traditional fixed income portfolio was impacted by the rise in government bond yields we saw over the period, with both the Russell Investments International Bond Fund – $A Hedged (RIBF) and the Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund posting negative absolute returns for the month. However, RIBF did outperform its benchmark in April, albeit modestly. Within our extended fixed income portfolio, credit returns were slightly negative for the month; though global floating rate credit did outperform given its low sensitivity to interest rates. Global high-yield debt saw some weakness amid lingering rate hike expectations and heightened geopolitical risks. We believe government bonds have mixed valuations after the recent selloff. Yields will continue to face upward pressure from rising inflation and central bank hawkishness. In saying that, markets have fully priced in hawkish outlooks for most central banks, which should limit the extent of any further selloff in government bonds.
Within our global equity portfolio, both the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund – $A Hedged recorded negative absolute returns for the month; though they did outperform their benchmarks. Both funds benefited from their value bias and strong stock selection in Continental Europe. In terms of Australian equities, both the Russell Investments High Dividend Australian Shares ETF and Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long-Short Fund performed in line with their benchmarks in April, while the Russell Investments Australian Factor Exposure Fund narrowly underperformed. We maintain a diversified equity exposure across both global and Australian markets. Despite the war in Ukraine, we have a small preference for non-US developed equities over US equities. Provided hostilities do subside, above-trend global growth should favour relatively cheaper non-US markets.
Elsewhere in the portfolio, our exposure to Australian listed property added value over the period; the sector outperforming the broader domestic equity market on the back of a series of better-than-expected earnings results. Meanwhile, Amundi’s Absolute Volatility World Equities Fund – $A Hedged was relatively flat for the month.
In the currency space, our overweight to the Japanese yen, which fell against the US dollar in April, detracted from returns, while a weaker Australian dollar boosted the returns of the Fund’s assets denominated in foreign currency. Moving forward, the war in Ukraine adds to near-term growth risks for the global economy and will likely keep inflation elevated for longer. Whilst uncertainty is high, we believe equity markets are oversold and should recover if tensions ease in the coming months. The more complex risks come from Russia and Ukraine’s integration into global supply chains and their importance in commodity markets. Surging motor vehicle prices, due to parts shortages, were one of the important drivers of rising inflation globally in 2021. The war in Ukraine could delay the recovery in global automobile production and prevent prices from declining. Rising food prices also pose a significant risk, with about a quarter of the world’s wheat exports coming from Russia and Ukraine. Food prices are an issue for inflation as well as a risk for political stability in many emerging economies.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD-12.pdfApril, 2022
The Fund’s traditional fixed income portfolio was impacted by the rise in government bond yields we saw over the period, with both the Russell Investments International Bond Fund – $A Hedged (RIBF) and the Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund posting negative absolute returns for the month. However, RIBF did outperform its benchmark in April, albeit modestly. Within our extended fixed income portfolio, credit returns were slightly negative for the month; though global floating rate credit did outperform given its low sensitivity to interest rates. Global high-yield debt saw some weakness amid lingering rate hike expectations and heightened geopolitical risks. We believe government bonds have mixed valuations after the recent selloff. Yields will continue to face upward pressure from rising inflation and central bank hawkishness. In saying that, markets have fully priced in hawkish outlooks for most central banks, which should limit the extent of any further selloff in government bonds.
Within our global equity portfolio, both the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund – $A Hedged recorded negative absolute returns for the month; though they did outperform their benchmarks. Both funds benefited from their value bias and strong stock selection in Continental Europe. In terms of Australian equities, both the Russell Investments High Dividend Australian Shares ETF and Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long-Short Fund performed in line with their benchmarks in April, while the Russell Investments Australian Factor Exposure Fund narrowly underperformed. We maintain a diversified equity exposure across both global and Australian markets. Despite the war in Ukraine, we have a small preference for non-US developed equities over US equities. Provided hostilities do subside, above-trend global growth should favour relatively cheaper non-US markets.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD-11.pdfMarch, 2022
The Fund’s equity portfolio was mixed over the period. Our domestic equity portfolio contributed positively to performance, with both the Russell Investments Australian Factor Exposure Fund and the Russell Investments High Dividend Australian Shares ETF recording positive absolute returns for the quarter. Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long-Short Fund also performed well over the period. Within our global equity portfolio, both the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund – $A Hedged posted negative absolute returns for the quarter; though the two funds did narrowly outperform their benchmarks. We maintain a diversified equity exposure across both global and Australian markets. Despite the war in Ukraine, we have a small preference for non-US developed equities over US equities. Provided hostilities subside, above-trend global growth should favour relatively cheaper non-US markets.
Within our fixed income portfolio, both the Russell Investments International Bond Fund – $A Hedged and the Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund delivered negative absolute and excess returns over the period. We believe government bonds have mixed valuations after the recent selloff. Yields will face upward pressure from rising inflation and central bank hawkishness, though markets have fully priced in hawkish central bank outlooks. This should limit the extent of any further selloff in government bonds.
The Fund’s credit positioning also weighed on performance, with spreads widening as investors turned more cautious amid global rate hike expectations and rising geopolitical risks. However, global floating rate credit did outperform over the period due to its low sensitivity to interest rates.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD-10.pdfFebruary, 2022
The Fund’s traditional fixed income portfolio was impacted by the rise in government bond yields we saw over the period, with both the Russell Investments International Bond Fund – $A Hedged and the Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund posting negative absolute and benchmark-relative returns for the month. Within our extended fixed income portfolio, global high-yield debt and local currency emerging markets debt underperformed amid global rate hike expectations and heightened geopolitical risks following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We continue to view government bonds, high-yield debt, and investment-grade debt as expensive. However, both high-yield debt and investment-grade debt should continue to benefit from an environment of improving corporate profits and low default rates.
Within our global equity portfolio, both the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund – $A Hedged recorded negative absolute and benchmark-relative returns for the month. Both funds were impacted by stock selection in emerging markets; notably ex-benchmark holdings in Russian names like Sberbank, Lukoil, and Rosneft. Partly offsetting this were good gains across our Australian equity portfolio, with the Russell Investments High Dividend Australian Shares ETF posting strong absolute returns for the month. Viva's Australian Equitized Long-Short Fund also delivered positive excess returns in February (the strategy benefiting from its valuation signals and strong stock-specific performance), while the Russell Investments Australian Factor Exposure Fund was flat for the month. We maintain a diversified equity exposure across both global and Australian markets. The strong business cycle gives us a preference for equities over bonds for at least the next 12 months, despite expensive valuations. We believe above-trend global growth and steeper yield curves should favor undervalued cyclical value stocks over expensive technology and growth stocks and non-US equities over US equities. Elsewhere in the portfolio, Amundi’s Absolute Volatility World Equities Fund (AUD Hedged) performed well in February as volatility climbed across major global equity markets, while our commodities exposure benefited from higher oil and industrial metal prices.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD-7.pdfJanuary, 2022
The Fund’s traditional fixed income portfolio was impacted by the rise in government bond yields we saw over the period, with both the Russell Investments International Bond Fund – $A Hedged and the Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund recording negative absolute returns for the month. Our extended fixed income portfolio was mixed, with global high-yield debt underperforming amid heightened geopolitical risks and increasingly hawkish central bank comments, while the Russell Investments Emerging Market Debt Local Currency Fund delivered positive excess returns (in unhedged Australian dollar [AUD] terms). Local currency emerging market bonds were mixed in January but emerging market currencies proved resilient against the US dollar. We continue to view government bonds, high-yield debt and investment-grade debt as expensive. However, both high-yield debt and investment-grade debt should continue to benefit from an environment of improving corporate profits and low default rates.
Within our global equity portfolio, the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund – $A Hedged recorded negative absolute returns for the month. However, both funds outperformed their benchmarks over the period. In terms of Australian equities, the Russell Investments High Dividend Australian Shares ETF and the Russell Investments Australian Factor Exposure Fund delivered negative absolute returns in January; though the latter did outperform its benchmark. Meanwhile, Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long-Short Fund recorded positive excess returns for the month; the strategy benefiting from its quality signals as well as stock-specific performance. We maintain a diversified equity exposure across both global and Australian markets. The strong business cycle gives us a preference for equities over bonds for at least the next 12 months, despite expensive valuations. We believe above-trend global growth and steeper yield curves should favour undervalued cyclical value stocks over expensive technology and growth stocks, and nonUS equities over US equities.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD-5.pdfDecember, 2021
The Fund’s domestic equity portfolio contributed positively to performance, with the Russell Investments Australian Factor Exposure Fund (RAFEF) delivering positive absolute and benchmark-relative returns for the quarter. RAFEF benefited largely from its momentum exposure. The Russell Investments High Dividend Australian Shares ETF also recorded positive absolute returns, while Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long-Short Fund performed well on the back of strong stock selection and positive contributions from each of the strategy’s signal buckets. Within our global equity portfolio, both the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund – $A Hedged delivered strong absolute returns for the quarter but underperformed their benchmarks. Both funds were impacted by an underweight to the strong-performing US market and an overweight to emerging markets, which underperformed their developed counterparts over the period. Moving forward, we maintain a diversified equity exposure across both global and Australian markets. The strong business cycle means we prefer the value equity factor over the growth factor and non-US equities over US equities. We also believe emerging market valuations are relatively more attractive.
The Fund’s credit positioning was also positive for the quarter; notably our exposures to extended fixed income assets such as Australian bank loans and global floating rate credit. We still view high-yield and investment-grade debt as expensive; though both should continue to benefit from an environment of improving corporate profits and low default rates. In contrast, our investments in Amundi’s Absolute Volatility World Equities Fund – $A Hedged (long volatility strategy) and Putnam’s Fixed Income Opportunities strategy (rates volatility strategy) detracted from overall performance. Equity and rates volatility increased in the early part of the period amid the discovery of Omicron and tighter monetary policy globally but eased toward the end of the quarter.
Within our fixed income portfolio, both the Russell Investments International Bond Fund – $A Hedged and the Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund delivered negative absolute returns over the period; though the latter did outperform its benchmark, albeit modestly. We believe government bond yields will rise as economic growth improves and central banks look to taper their asset purchases.
In the currency space, our overweight to the Japanese yen, which fell against the US dollar, weighed on overall performance in the fourth quarter. A stronger Australian dollar also impacted the returns of the Fund’s assets denominated in foreign currency.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD-3-1.pdfNovember, 2021
Within our global equity portfolio, both the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund – $A Hedged underperformed their benchmarks over the period; though the former did deliver strong absolute returns for the month. In terms of Australian equities, both the Russell Investments Australian Factor Exposure Fund and the Russell Investments High Dividend Australian Shares ETF delivered negative absolute returns in November. Partly offsetting this was Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long-Short Fund, which recorded positive benchmarkrelative returns for the month; the strategy benefiting largely from stock-specific performance. We maintain a diversified equity exposure across both global and Australian markets. The strong business cycle means we prefer the value equity factor over the growth factor and non-US equities over US equities. We also believe emerging market valuations remain relatively more attractive. The Fund’s traditional and extended fixed income portfolios were mostly positive in November. Both the Russell Investments International Bond Fund – $A Hedged and the Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund recorded positive absolute returns for the month as investors favoured the asset class’s ‘safe haven’ characteristics following the discovery of the new Omicron variant. Our exposures to the Russell Investments Emerging Market Debt Local Currency Fund, global floating rate credit and Metrics Credit also added value over the period. Partly offsetting this was our exposure to global high-yield debt, which underperformed amid heightened coronavirus fears. We continue to view government bonds, high-yield debt and investment-grade debt as expensive. However, both high-yield debt and investment-grade debt should continue to benefit from an environment of improving corporate profits and low default rates.
Elsewhere, our investment in Amundi’s Absolute Volatility World Equities Fund (AUD Hedged) added value in November as equity market volatility increased across major markets amid concerns over the pace of Fed tightening and the uncertainty surrounding the Omicron variant. The Fund also benefited from its exposure to Australian listed property, which outperformed the broader equity market following the Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision to maintain its ultra-easy monetary policy settings and a sharp decline in long-term government bond yields.
Meanwhile, a weaker Australian dollar boosted the returns from our unhedged global exposures. Moving forward, near-term risks include the Delta and Omicron (or similar) variants proving resilient to vaccines and/or an escalation in infection rates during the Northern Hemisphere winter. Other watchpoints include inflation (and central banks’ responses) and a sharper-than-expected slowdown in China; though Beijing has already signalled that more stimulus is on the way.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD-2-1.pdfOctober, 2021
The Fund’s traditional and extended fixed income exposures detracted from performance over the period. Both the Russell Investments International Bond Fund – $A Hedged and the Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund recorded negative absolute returns for the month as bond yields rose amid the prospect of central bank tapering and tighter monetary policy. Rising bond yields also weighed on the performance of the Russell Investments Emerging Market Debt Local Currency Fund and our global high-yield debt exposure. Partly offsetting this was a modest gain from Metrics Credit. The Fund’s exposure to global floating rate credit had no material impact on overall performance in October. We continue to view government bonds, high-yield debt and investment-grade debt as expensive. However, both high-yield debt and investment-grade debt should continue to benefit from an environment of improving corporate profits and low default rates. Our investment in Amundi’s Absolute Volatility World Equities Fund (AUD Hedged) also detracted from returns in October as volatility eased amid further gains in global equity markets. Performance was further impacted by a stronger Australian dollar (AUD); which weighed on the returns of the Fund’s unhedged international exposures. The AUD rose amid expectations the Reserve Bank of Australia will raise interest rates sooner than anticipated and general US dollar weakness.
Meanwhile, our global and Australian equity portfolios were mixed in October. In terms of global equities, both the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund – $A Hedged delivered positive absolute returns for the month; though they did underperform their benchmarks. Underweights to Continental Europe and Asia Pacific ex Japan contributed positively to the funds’ performance, however this was overshadowed by an overweight to Japan (which briefly fell into correction territory during the period) and poor stock selection in the US. Within our domestic equity portfolio, modest gains from the Russell Investments Australian Factor Exposure Fund were more than offset by the underperformance of the Russell Investments High Dividend Australian Shares ETF and Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long-Short Fund. We maintain a diversified equity exposure across both global and Australian markets. The strong business cycle means we prefer the value equity factor over the growth factor and non-US equities over US equities. We also believe emerging market valuations remain relatively more attractive.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD-1-1.pdfSeptember, 2021
The Fund’s domestic equity portfolio contributed positively to performance, with both the Russell Investments High Dividend Australian Shares ETF and the Russell Investments Australian Factor Exposure Fund (RAFEF) delivering positive absolute returns for the quarter. However, RAFEF did underperform its benchmark. This was due largely to its exposure to value and high-momentum stocks. Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long-Short Fund also underperformed its benchmark over the period. Within our global equity portfolio, the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund (RGOF) delivered positive absolute returns for the quarter but underperformed its benchmark.
RGOF’s underperformance was driven in part by poor stock selection in the US and an overweight to emerging markets, which significantly underperformed their developed counterparts over the period. Moving forward, we maintain a diversified equity exposure across both global and Australian markets. The strong business cycle means we prefer the value equity factor over the growth factor and non-US equities over US equities. We also believe emerging market valuations are relatively more attractive. The Fund’s credit positioning was also positive for the quarter; notably our exposures to extended fixed income such as Australian bank loans, global floating rate credit and high-yield debt. We still view high-yield and investment-grade debt as expensive; though both should continue to benefit from an environment of improving corporate profits and low default rates. Within our fixed income portfolio, the Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund recorded positive absolute and benchmarkrelative returns for the quarter, benefiting in part from the excess carry gained from its overweight to credit.
The Russell Investments International Bond Fund – $A Hedged performed in line with its benchmark over the period. We believe government bond yields will rise as economic growth improves and central banks look to taper their asset purchases. Meanwhile, the performance of the Fund’s hedges was mixed. Amundi’s Absolute Volatility World Equities Fund – $A Hedged outperformed as longer-term equity volatility picked up through September amid the uncertainty surrounding property giant, China Evergrande Group. In addition, a weaker Australian dollar boosted the returns of the Fund’s assets denominated in foreign currency, while our overweight to the Japanese yen, which fell against the US dollar, weighed on overall performance.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD-4.pdfAugust, 2021
The Russell Investments Multi-Asset Income Strategy Fund returned 0.9% on a gross of fees and tax basis in August. The Fund’s domestic and global equity portfolios drove performance. In terms of domestic equities, the Russell Investments High Dividend Australian Shares ETF recorded positive absolute returns for the month. In contrast, both the Russell Investments Australian Factor Exposure Fund and Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long-Short Fund underperformed their benchmarks; the latter strategy impacted by its valuation signals and poor stock selection.
Within our global equity portfolio, both the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund – $A Hedged delivered positive absolute returns in August; though they did underperform their benchmarks. Strong stock selection in the UK and China contributed positively to the funds’ performance, however this was over-shadowed by poor stock picking in the US and Continental Europe. Moving forward, we maintain a diversified equity exposure across both global and Australian markets. The strong business cycle means we prefer the value equity factor over the growth factor and non-US equities over US equities. We also believe emerging market valuations remain relatively more attractive.
The Fund also benefited from its exposure to extended fixed income; notably the Russell Investments Emerging Market Debt Local Currency Fund, which benefited from positive returns across emerging markets bonds. Our exposures to global highyield debt, Australian and global floating rate credit and Metrics Credit recorded more modest returns over the period. We maintain our view that high-yield and investment-grade debt are slightly expensive. However, we believe both remain attractive given the post-vaccine cycle outlook. The Fund’s exposures to global and Australian listed property added further value in August; the latter benefiting from a modest decline in longer-term government bond yields and some encouraging earnings results within the sector. Meanwhile, the Fund’s exposure to traditional fixed income had a relatively neutral impact on overall returns, with both the Russell Investments International Bond Fund – $A Hedged and the Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund performing in line with their benchmarks. However, the two funds did deliver positive absolute returns for the month. We continue to see government bonds as universally expensive.
Moreover, we expect central bank policy will limit rises in government bond yields during the recovery phase. Vaccine rollouts and US stimulus have the global economy on track for a strong rebound in the second half of this year. However, there are fears that vaccine rollouts and US stimulus could see economic growth accelerate too quickly, placing more upward pressure on interest rates. Whilst we agree that economies are poised to rebound sharply as restrictions are gradually lifted, we disagree that inflation pressures and interest rates are likely to increase significantly over the next 12 months.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD-2.pdfJuly, 2021
The Fund’s global and domestic equity portfolios drove performance. In terms of global equities, both the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund – $A Hedged delivered positive absolute returns for the month; though they did narrowly underperform their respective benchmarks. Strong stock selection in the US and the UK contributed positively to the funds’ performance, however this was more than offset by a combination of poor stock picking in Japan and an overweight to emerging markets. Within our Australian equity portfolio, both the Russell Investments High Dividend Australian Shares ETF and the Russell Investments Australian Factor Exposure Fund performed in line with their respective benchmarks, while Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long-Short Fund underperformed; driven largely by its valuation signals and poor stock selection. Moving forward, we maintain a diversified equity exposure across both global and Australian markets. The strong business cycle means we prefer the value equity factor over the growth factor and non-US equities over US equities. We also believe emerging market valuations remain relatively more attractive. The Fund also benefited from its exposures to the Russell Investments International Bond Fund – $A Hedged and the Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund; both of which recorded positive absolute returns for the month as fears over the resurgence in new coronavirus infections globally pushed bond yields lower. We continue to see government bonds as universally expensive.
Moreover, we expect central bank policy will limit rises in government bond yields during the recovery phase. The Fund’s credit exposure added further, albeit modest, value in July. In particular, the Fund benefited from its exposures to global high-yield debt, global floating rate credit and Metrics Credit. Our exposure to the Russell Investments Emerging Market Debt Local Currency Fund was also positive for the month, benefiting in part from good gains across emerging market bonds. We maintain our view that high-yield and investment-grade debt are slightly expensive. However, we believe both remain attractive given the post-vaccine cycle outlook. Meanwhile, a weaker Australian dollar boosted the returns of the Fund’s assets denominated in foreign currency.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD-6.pdfJune, 2021
The Fund’s global and domestic equity portfolios drove performance. In terms of global equities, the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund delivered very strong absolute returns for the quarter; though it narrowly underperformed its benchmark over the period. It was a similar theme within our Australian equity portfolio, with the Russell Investments Australian Factor Exposure Fund recording strong absolute returns but underperforming its benchmark. Both funds’ benchmark-relative performance was impacted by their value exposure, as investors tended to favour quality and growth names over more cyclical, cheaper value stocks. This was a partial reversal of the trend we saw through much of the previous two quarters and was driven largely by macroeconomic news flow, including uncertainty over the direction of interest rates. Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long-Short Fund also underperformed its benchmark over the period. Moving forward, we maintain a diversified equity exposure across both global and Australian markets. The strong business cycle means we prefer the value equity factor over the growth factor and non-US equities over US equities. We also believe emerging market valuations are relatively more attractive.
The Fund’s credit exposure was also positive for the quarter. Credit markets continued to perform well over the period, with spreads narrowing amid ongoing government and central bank stimulus and encouraging earnings growth. In particular, the Fund benefited from its exposures to global floating rate credit and global high-yield debt. Our exposure to the Russell Investments Emerging Market Debt Local Currency Fund also added value. We continue to view both high-yield and investment-grade debt as slightly expensive; though they are attractive given the post-vaccine cycle outlook.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Growth_Strategy_Fund_Retail-3.pdfMay, 2021
The Fund’s global and Australian equity portfolios contributed positively to performance over the period. In terms of global equities, both the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund (AUD Hedged) delivered strong absolute and benchmark-relative returns for the month. The two funds benefited from positive stock selection in the US, as well as their value and quality factor biases. Both value and quality stocks outperformed their growth counterparts in May. Within our Australian equity portfolio, the Russell Investments Australian Factor Exposure Fund and the Russell Investments High Dividend Australian Shares ETF recorded positive absolute returns for the month, while Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long/Short Fund outperformed its benchmark on the back of its behavioural and quality signals. We maintain a diversified equity exposure across both global and Australian markets. We also maintain our preference for non-US stocks over US stocks as the post-vaccine economic recovery should favour undervalued cyclical value names over expensive technology and growth stocks.
We believe value in emerging markets has become less compelling due to the higher risk-free rate, i.e. US Treasury yields. Nonetheless, we believe the equity cycle overall is supported by a stronger economy, improved earnings and monetary policy. The Fund also benefited from its credit exposure in May. In particular, the Fund benefited from its exposures to global high-yield debt and global floating rate credit; both of which outperformed on the back of improving investor sentiment. Metrics Credit also generated further, albeit modest, returns for the month. We maintain our view that high-yield and investment-grade debt are slightly expensive. However, we believe both remain attractive given the post-vaccine cycle outlook.
The Fund’s exposures to the Russell Investments International Bond Fund (AUD Hedged) and the Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund added further value in May. Both funds recorded positive absolute and benchmark-relative returns on the back of their respective credit exposures. We continue to see government bonds as universally expensive, even after the recent selloff. Moreover, we expect central bank policy will limit rises in government bond yields during the recovery phase.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD-3.pdfApril, 2021
The Fund’s global and Australian equity portfolios contributed positively to performance over the period. In terms of global equities, both the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund (AUD Hedged) delivered strong absolute returns for the month; the two funds benefiting in part from positive stock selection in China and Canada. Within our Australian equity portfolio, the Russell Investments Australian Factor Exposure Fund recorded positive absolute and benchmark-relative returns in April. However, Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long/Short Fund underperformed its benchmark due to weakness in the strategy’s valuation signals. We maintain a diversified equity exposure across both global and Australian markets. We still prefer non-US stocks over US stocks as the post-vaccine economic recovery should favour undervalued cyclical value names over expensive technology and growth stocks. We believe value in emerging markets has become less compelling due to the higher risk-free rate, i.e. US Treasury yields. Nonetheless, we believe the equity cycle overall is supported by a stronger economy, improved earnings and monetary policy. The Fund’s credit exposure also added value over the period.
In particular, the Fund benefited from its exposures to global high-yield debt and global floating rate credit; both of which outperformed amid improving investor sentiment and tighter credit spreads. Metrics Credit was also positive for the month, though it generated more modest returns. We maintain our view that high-yield and investment-grade debt are slightly expensive. However, we believe both remain attractive given the post-vaccine cycle outlook. The Fund’s exposures to the Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund and the Russell Investments International Bond Fund (AUD Hedged) added further value in April. Both funds recorded positive absolute and benchmark-relative returns on the back of their credit exposure. We continue to see government bonds as universally expensive, even after the recent selloff. Moreover, we expect central bank policy will limit rises in government bond yields during the recovery phase. In contrast, a stronger Australian dollar (AUD) impacted the returns of our unhedged international exposures in April. The AUD benefited from a series of encouraging domestic economic data and rising commodity prices.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD-1.pdfFebruary, 2021
The Fund’s global and Australian equity portfolios contributed positively to performance over the period. In terms of global equities, both the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund and the Russell Investments Global Opportunities Fund (AUD Hedged) delivered strong excess returns for the month; the two funds benefiting largely from their value bias as investors continued to rotate out of growth-oriented names in favour of more cyclical and cheaper value stocks. Within our Australian equity portfolio, the Russell Investments High Dividend Australian Shares ETF, the Russell Investments Australian Factor Exposure Fund and Vinva’s Australian Equitised Long/Short Fund all recorded positive excess returns in February; the latter’s outperformance driven in part by strength from its behavioural and segmentation signals. We maintain a diversified equity exposure across both global and Australian markets. We continue to favour non-US stocks over US stocks as the post-vaccine economic recovery should favour undervalued cyclical value names over expensive technology and growth stocks. Additionally, we believe emerging markets should benefit from China’s early exit from lockdown and further stimulus measures.
The Fund’s credit exposure also added value over the period. In particular, the Fund benefited from its exposure to global floating rate credit, which outperformed as bank loans and securitised assets were shielded from rising interest rates. Metrics Credit recorded more modest gains in February, while our global high-yield debt exposure was relatively flat for the month. We maintain our view that high-yield and investment-grade debt are slightly expensive; though they remain attractive given the post-vaccine cycle outlook. In contrast, the Fund’s exposure to the Russell Investments Australian Bond Fund and the Russell Investments International Bond Fund (AUD Hedged) detracted from overall performance.
Both funds recorded negative absolute returns in February as government bonds sold off sharply amid rising inflation expectations. We still view government bonds as universally expensive. Moreover, we expect low inflation and dovish central banks will limit rises in bond yields during the economic recovery phase. Our exposure to the Russell Investments Emerging Market Debt Local Currency Fund also weighed on returns (in unhedged Australian dollar terms) as global bond yields rose and emerging markets currencies weakened against the US dollar.
Vaccine prospects are likely to make 2021 a year of global economic recovery. While markets have priced in a fair amount of the good news, more gains seem possible as corporate profits rebound and central banks maintain accommodative monetary policies. With the world in the early post-recession recovery phase of the business cycle, our medium-term outlook for economies and corporate earnings is positive. We believe 2021 will feature an extended period of low-inflation, low-interestrate growth that favours equities over bonds.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Russell_Investments_Multi-Asset_Income_Strategy_Fund-Class_A-English-RetMA_PSHIP-AUD.pdfasset_class:
asset_category:
peer_benchmark:
broad_market_index:
manager_contact_details: Array
ticker: RIM0089AU
release_schedule: Monthly
structure: Managed Fund
commentary_block: Array
factsheet_url:
https://russellinvestments.com/au/financial-advisers/investments/by-funds/real-return-funds/MPSISF
Fund Resources -> Fund Facts
NOTE:
PDF==> Fund Performance and Outlook (Page 2)
fund_features:
Russell Investments Multi-Asset Income Strategy Fund — Class A to provide a return (after fees and costs) of 2% pa above inflation over the short to medium term with a focus on income and risk management. The Fund is diversified across a range of asset classes, including equities, fixed income and alternatives, with a dynamic approach to asset allocation. Derivatives may be used to implement investment strategies.