Fixed-income from Russell

Drawing on the need to serve conservative investors better, Toronto-based Russell Investments Canada Ltd. has added two fixed-income oriented products to its lineup of Russell LifePoints Portfolios – all of which invest in underlying Russell funds.

“We have seen investors put a lot of money into fixed-income products,” says Greg Nott, Russell Canada’s chief investment officer. “But we didn’t have a more conservative lineup of balanced products.”

The new Russell LifePoints Conservative Income Portfolio aims to fill that gap. According to Nott, its asset allocation of 80% fixed-income – mostly Canadian exposure – and 20% equities is a good compromise for clients who want conservative, income-generating investments rather than high-yield returns.

“We did have a product that has more of a 65/35 split,” says Nott. “But even at 35%, some people thought that was more equities than they were comfortable with.”

For even more conservative investors, Russell LifePoints Fixed Income Portfolio is 100% fixed-income. This fund also primarily invests in Canadian companies but may have up to 40% foreign exposure. This portfolio – as well as most other Russell LifePoints portfolios – has access to Russell’s Global High-Income Bond Pool, which invests in high-yield bonds and emerging-markets debt.

Clients can opt for a 5% income distribution from the corporate-class version of any LifePoint Portfolio or from the Conservative Income Portfolio itself.