Russell Investments is the only product provider to be awarded a highly recommended rating in research house Zenith’s multi-manager sector review.
The firm achieved the rating for all of its multi-manager offerings, made up of its Conservative Fund, Diversified 50 Fund, Balanced Fund, Growth Fund and High Growth Fund.
The highly recommended ratings were awarded despite the manager’s imminent organisational restructure and growing competitive pressure experienced by the sector.
“Zenith continues to view Russell as the strongest manager within the multi-manager category, with our elevated levels of conviction remaining testament to our collective assessment of Russell’s strong local leadership, its globally resourced team and scalable process,” Zenith senior investment analyst Andrew Yap said.
“With further progress made with regard to implementation processes and risk management capabilities, we believe Russell remains well positioned to deliver to investors outcomes consistent with targeted objectives.”
A total of 20 funds received a rating in the research house’s review of the sector, with managers MLC, Colonial First State, and Advance all achieving recommended status across the board for all of their multi-manager offerings.
“Investment strategies offered by rated peers have also continued to show signs of evolution,” Yap said.
“This has been particularly evident in the areas of portfolio oversight and the addition of dedicated implementation teams and derivative specialists, making this category amongst the most competitive across Zenith’s multi-asset sector.”
