It’s bursting with plant and animal life.
A robust multi-asset strategy depends on three factors: built-in responsible investment, strong portfolio construction and dynamic management. But what does this look like in practice?
Except where stated as otherwise, the source of all information is Aviva Investors Global Services Limited ("Aviva Investors"). Unless stated otherwise any opinions expressed are those of Aviva Investors. They should not be viewed as indicating any guarantee of return from an investment managed by Aviva Investors nor as advice of any nature. The Funds are sub-funds of the Aviva Investors Portfolio Funds ICVC. For further information please read the latest Key Investor Information Document and Supplementary Information Document. The Prospectus and the annual and interim reports are also available on request. Copies in English can be obtained free of charge from Aviva Investors UK Fund Services Limited, St Helen’s, 1 Undershaft, London EC3P 3DQ. You can also download copies from our website. Issued by Aviva Investors UK Fund Services Limited. Registered in England No 1973412. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Firm Reference No. 119310. Registered address: St.Helen's, 1 Undershaft, London, EC3P 3DQ. An Aviva company. 157852 - 16/06/2021
Go forth and diversify: Building resilience in multi-asset funds
The need for financial protection against the risk of exhausting savings during a long retirement has become a core concern for many advisers. Aviva Investors look at potential solutions to this challenge
Solutions to the longevity puzzle
Introducing the Aviva Investors’ Multi-Asset Core & Plus fund range – strategy and investment process
Simple, transparent, low-cost and sustainable
The value of an investment and any income from it can go down as well as up and can fluctuate in response to changes in currency and exchange rates. Investors may not get back the original amount invested. Investments can be made in emerging markets. These markets may be volatile and carry higher risk than developed markets. Investments can be made in derivatives, which can be complex and highly volatile. Derivatives may not perform as expected, meaning significant losses may be incurred.
Key Risks
Important Information
FUND PROFILE
Investment strategy
Retirement planning
CONTENTS
For professional investor audience only, not to be distributed or relied upon by retail investors.
New EU regulation promoting responsible investment is coming to our shores and not before time
Responsible investing
ESG: Time for a regulatory revolution
Picture a forest.
There are towering tree-trunks overhead and tangled roots underfoot.
But the result was a disaster. The trees rapidly died, and the project had to be started again at enormous cost.*
This story could be a parable for modern fund management. All else being equal, a globally diversified portfolio that encompasses a range of uncorrelated assets and strategies should prove more robust than a less-diversified alternative, especially during economic crises such as the fallout from Covid-19.
So what went wrong? The scientists had overlooked what makes a forest resilient: its diversity. Thanks to its varied ecosystem, a wild forest contains in-built protections against disease. Lacking these natural defences, the artificial forests fell victim to parasites.
But a successful multi-asset fund is not just a random collection of different securities; it encapsulates a set of convictions and ideas about corporate and economic trends. The art of portfolio construction is to ensure these positions cohere in such a way that minimises risk and maximises opportunities.
As multi-asset investing comes of age, the need for transparency and value for money has become more important, and fund strategies are rightly under the spotlight.
Moreover, no longer do investors have to choose between sustainable investing and value for money, with the group offering fixed charges across its range. Read more about Aviva Investors’ Multi-Asset Core & Plus ranges, investment processes and how it can help clients achieve their retirement goals in this exclusive guide.
MAF Core & Plus: Competitive on fees with ESG built in
Aviva Investors Multi-Asset Fund (MAF) Core and Plus range combines these needs into one solution through a highly competitive fixed OCF and ESG integration. The fund range also has a performance benchmark and performance expectation for all its multi-asset funds to make it easier to access value or money for clients.
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Footnote * J.C. Scott, 'Seeing like a state: How certain schemes to improve the human condition have failed', New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998
In the 18th century, European scientists tried to tame this natural abundance. They started clearing land to create artificial forests that could be cultivated cheaply and efficiently. They chose a single species of tree and planted the seeds in orderly rows.
Not all multi-asset strategies are created equal however.
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Aviva Investors’ Multi-Asset funds aim to provide this transparency, alongside dynamic portfolio management that can be held to account through performance targets and benchmarks.
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Aviva Investors aims to provide this transparency, alongside dynamic portfolio management in its Multi-asset Fund (MAF) Core & Plus ranges. The Multi-asset fund Core range launched last month, and sits alongside Aviva Investors’ existing MAF range which has also been enhanced. This range is now referred to as MAF Plus, to help distinguish it from the Core range.
Both ranges have different performance benchmarks and targets, with ESG metrics built into the investment strategy. In order to provide fund manager ‘value for money’ the range also has fixed charges.
Read more about the new MAF Core and Plus range, and how it can help clients achieve their retirement goals.
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ESG factors are integrated into the investment process for these funds but the Investment Manager retains discretion over asset or stock selection in accordance with the Aviva Investors Baseline Exclusions Policy and objectives of the fund or strategy.
Two different solutions, one simple way for investors to grow their savings: the Aviva Investors Multi-asset Core and Multi-asset Plus ranges are a way to access a variety of different investments all in one place, and with a sustainable edge.
Every Aviva Investors fund manager is responsible for taking ESG factors into account when making investment decisions. They are supported by more than 20 dedicated ESG professionals, who specialise in issues such climate change, biodiversity, modern slavery and corporate governance.
We believe focusing on a company’s short-term performance while disregarding factors such as its quality of governance, treatment of staff and record on climate change is misguided. And we don’t just simply screen out the worst offenders or run fenced-off ethical portfolios; we embed responsible investment considerations into every aspect of our multi-asset approach.
Whilst different in their risk profiles and active management focus, both of Aviva Investors’ Multi-asset Funds are driven by three key principles: in-built responsible investment, in-house portfolio construction and dynamic portfolio management.
Start with responsible investment. Once seen as a “nice to have”, investing on the basis of environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations has risen in prominence over recent years – and with good reason.
A growing body of evidence shows incorporating ESG into investment decision-making not only makes the world a better place, it also enables fund managers to more effectively mitigate risk and identify new opportunities.*
So, what makes our approach different? Traditional asset allocation models tend to split capital between equity and fixed income: simply put, to increase risk they allocate more to equity, and to reduce risk they allocate more to fixed income. But a strategy that treats all fixed income as low risk and all equities as high risk is outdated – after all, global high-yield or emerging market debt can often behave more like equities than investment-grade bonds.
To create effective diversification and enhance risk-adjusted returns, we divide assets among three categories: Growth, Defensive and Uncorrelated.
The second principle guiding our multi-asset approach is robust portfolio construction. We all know the old adage of having eggs in different baskets. Yet, we rarely recognise the possibility that eggs in separate baskets can still break all at once. To mitigate this risk, we don’t follow the crowd by outsourcing our asset-allocation framework to a peer-group benchmark or third-party provider, instead we design it in-house. This frees us up to create an asset-allocation framework built on a more comprehensive set of methodologies than the average multi-asset solution.
Our asset allocation model is global in reach. This is the only way to create a truly diversified portfolio that is free from a potentially unwarranted and unhealthy home bias. A global approach should achieve a better risk-adjusted return over the longer term than a portfolio that is too concentrated in any one region.
Many traditional asset allocation models rely heavily on historical data – but history doesn’t always repeat itself. This is why we use forward-looking metrics, combining historical data with proprietary expected-return projections to guide our decisions. This approach means we can incorporate recent market trends and forecasts and develop a framework relevant to current market conditions, as opposed to long-term historical averages.
Similarly, where many other funds use volatility as the primary measure of risk, we seek a more holistic view. While volatility can be a useful metric, it has significant limitations as a risk indicator. Volatility measures show variations around the mean; in other words, a high level of volatility will show large movements in the value of the asset from one day to the next, while low volatility will show smaller movements.
Implementing ideas in a cost-effective manner is key to any successful multi-asset strategy. One crucial decision is the choice between active and passive strategies. This debate is usually couched as binary; however, a blend of both strategies can work well.
For example, we prefer to take a passive approach when allocating to large-cap US and Japanese equities. These markets are informationally efficient and liquid, making it difficult for an active fund manager to outperform. But in other, less-crowded markets, skilled fund managers can materially improve outcomes for their clients. Moreover, asset classes such as emerging market small-cap equities offer attractive expected returns but at additional risk to larger developed equity markets, so it makes sense to be more discerning when selecting companies for investment.
The third principle of our multi-asset approach is dynamic management. The thinking here is summed up in a maxim by the writer William Arthur Ward:
While our approach to portfolio construction is robust and sustainable, that doesn’t mean we never need to tweak the composition of the MAF range. Research shows that having the wrong asset allocation poses a threat to long-term investment performance.
In a trending market, like the equity rally in the first half of 2019, momentum tends to drive asset prices higher or lower for an extended period. In this environment, fixed rebalancing of a multi-asset portfolio without any discretion would see the portfolio sell the best-performing assets and buy into the weakest – effectively cutting winners and adding losers. This would result in a lower return than if these positions had been left alone.
Equally, when the tide starts to turn on an equity rally, having a process – and remit – to identify and sell over-valued assets and buy under-valued assets is clearly advantageous. In this way, proactive management of the allocation enables a manager to potentially enhance returns through market ups and downs.
Our Asset Allocation Committee provides the hub for our tactical views. This forum brings together MAF portfolio managers, key representatives of the investment strategy team and fund managers from across the wider Aviva Investors investment teams. The Committee puts together a positioning table that is reviewed on a weekly basis by the multi-asset team to ensure it remains relevant to current market conditions, before being applied to the MAF range. These tactical views are further refined and informed through frequent meetings among the fund managers and day-to-day portfolio monitoring.
Research and analysis
Growth, defensive, uncorrelated
Truly diversified portfolios
A blend of active and passive
Number of securities Aviva Investors have applied their proprietary ESG score to
30,000
We believe the basis of any ESG-focused approach is in-depth quantitative and qualitative research. We use this research to generate a proprietary ESG score that is applied to over 30,000 securities, providing a clear reference point for our investment teams. The ESG team also provides sector and industry analysis and top-down thematic research, linked to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
Working with the Multi-asset and Macro team, the ESG analysts contribute to our quarterly House View, which sets out our collective judgement on the current economic and market environment and developing trends. This forms the basis for investment idea generation and tactical asset allocation decisions.
ESG is embedded into all the actively managed Aviva Investors funds into which the MAF range invests, with ESG factors considered alongside a range of financial metrics. Where the MAF range is invested through active funds managed externally, the provider’s ESG policies and procedures are rigorously assessed as part of the fund-selection process.
The process doesn’t end after we make an investment. We hold the companies we own to account. At the heart of this approach is our conviction that impactful engagement with companies is a more powerful tool than excluding them altogether – although we may decide to exit the investment if a firm refuses to improve.
Active ownership
Despite these steps forward, there are still deep-rooted problems investors can’t tackle in isolation. That’s why, in addition to investment integration and active ownership, we seek to influence policymakers and regulators to create more sustainable financial markets. Aviva Investors was among the founding signatories of the UN’s Principles for Responsible Investment in 2006. We also helped to design the Sustainable Development Goals and contributed to the drafting of MiFID, European regulation to improve market transparency.
As you move from MAF I (the lowest-risk fund in our offering) to MAF V (the highest-risk fund), the allocation to growth assets goes up and the allocation to defensive and uncorrelated assets goes down.
Dynamic management
Long-term asset allocations should be set to suit an investor’s goals and risk profile. In theory, maintaining these should be a simple matter of rebalancing the portfolio weights automatically on a quarterly or annual basis. However, this kind of passive, mechanical approach can be shown up by unexpected market changes. By contrast, a more dynamic approach can enable a portfolio manager to favour assets benefiting from tailwinds and withdraw from those facing headwinds.
Responding when the wind changes
In essence, we understand market conditions continually evolve, and rebalancing in a considered and adaptable way is sensible, particularly when compared to arbitrary monthly or quarterly schedules. This is especially pertinent when volatility is heightened, given the fertile environment this creates for active asset allocators.
Proactive rebalancing
With our in-built ESG focus, in-house asset allocation model and dynamic fund management, we believe we approach multi-asset investing differently from our peers. By challenging the status quo, we can take a broader and more active view to help us improve risk-adjusted returns for our clients.
Growth and resilience
A robust multi-asset strategy depends on three factors: built-in responsible investment, strong portfolio construction and dynamic management. But what does this look like in practice? Thomas Stokes explains
“The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.”
That’s as it should be. Think back to the analogy from nature: like a flourishing forest, a good multi-asset strategy will be diversified, resilient and primed for long-term growth.
Footnote / source * 'Ethics and Alpha', Aviva Investors, November 7, 2018 ** Based on peer analysis of 10 of the top selling multi-asset funds in the UK adviser market with a Dynamic Planner risk rated 5 as at 31 May 2020. UK assets include equity, fixed income and property.
Taking the realist’s view, we are always prepared to adjust the sails.
Overall, our engagement has helped to drive positive change on issues such as the inclusion of female executives on boards, reduction of plastics in the ocean, protection of World Heritage Sites and meeting climate change targets.
Strong portfolio construction
Responsibility built-in
But volatility doesn’t capture how much money an investor could lose in a tail-risk event, like the global financial crisis or the COVID-19 pandemic.
By incorporating tail risk into our analysis, we can glean a better understanding of the factors truly driving risk and return. For example, Japanese equities have historically been more volatile than UK and US stocks; but when tail risk is considered, Japanese equities may stack up much more favourably, due to the defensive nature of the Japanese yen.
Number of management resolutions Aviva Investors voted at in 2019
5,382
Percentage of those 5,382 resolutions Aviva Investors voted against
24
%
Percentage of resolutions voted against on pay proposals
Number of ESG professionals supporting Aviva Investors' fund managers
22
Investment integration
Number of engagements with 2,149 companies
3,122
MAF PLUS
III
MAF CORE
Uncorrelated
Defensive
Growth
Both ranges have less than 8% in UK assets, compared to peers who have around 35%**
Growth assets have the potential to drive the portfolio’s growth – they include equities and riskier forms of fixed income.
Defensive assets are held to protect the value of investments and manage risks: these include cash, government bonds and lower-risk corporate bonds.
Uncorrelated assets have the potential to perform in all conditions, or with low correlation to traditional asset classes. We access these through a combination of esoteric investments, such as absolute-return strategies, global convertibles and real assets.
This stance is confirmed by our strong voting and engagement track record. In 2019, Aviva Investors voted at over 5,000 management resolutions and voted against management 24 per cent of the time; when it came to pay proposals, we voted against management 46 per cent of the time.
46
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Andrew Scott, professor of economics at London Business School and author of the influential book The 100-Year Life, is one of the world’s leading experts on the social and economic implications of rising longevity.
The 100-Year Life
The coronavirus pandemic is a global healthcare crisis. It has also inflicted huge economic damage. In many countries, GDP has slumped, stock-market volatility has risen and central banks have slashed interest rates to record lows, which is supressing bond yields. This brings new challenges for those approaching retirement.
In a recent interview with Aviva Investors, he argued that people need to think more carefully about how they plan for a long retirement: it is not just about accumulating more savings, but also investing them wisely. Scott notes:
“In a world where we have very low interest rates and very long lifespans, drawdown is a nightmare issue. People will be looking at their portfolios in very different ways. With current interest rates and the length of life you might be living, the old expectations about how much of your assets you might be able to draw down each year (which used to be around four per cent) will just not be sustainable. You might have to be much more active in managing your portfolio,” he added.
The current economic environment brings additional challenges. Government bond yields are at record lows, with the UK 10-year government bond yield at just 0.2 per cent as of October 28. This has pushed up the cost of annuities, whose price is based on benchmark bond yields. Data from Moneyfacts shows the average annual standard annuity income for someone aged 65 (single life, £10,000, without any guarantees or inflation protection) fell by six per cent in the first quarter of 2020 to its lowest level ever.
Balancing act
For years, interest rates, and by extension, annuity rates, have been sliding lower, meaning that managing the longevity risk challenge has become something of a balancing act.
For investors to manage longevity effectively, their assets need to keep pace with inflation. Those that do so are typically higher growth assets, but that often comes with greater volatility. Volatility brings in sequencing risk (the risk that significant falls in asset prices early in retirement compromise an investor’s ability to generate returns in the long term). So advisors have to address client needs that exist over different time horizons – near-term income requirements and long-term growth.
Older people are at increased risk from the virus. But it is also true that most people are enjoying longer, more active lives than previous generations, thanks to medical advances and healthier lifestyles.
There is also the potential problem of inflation. The vast government stimulus packages unleashed in response to the pandemic have prompted concerns that inflation could rise in the medium-to-long term, when markets start to recover. This could erode the value of savings held in government bonds and cash.
There are ways this can be managed in a non-investment context. Part-time working, and flexibility around retirement dates, can reduce the period in which clients are dependent on their savings. Equally, retaining alternative sources of income, such as buy-to-let property, can help manage the highs and lows of financial markets and mitigate sequencing risk. But there are ways to manage longevity through an investment portfolio as well.
Living longer is a wonderful thing – but it also means more savings are required for a comfortable retirement. The potential costs are often underestimated. Research suggests 50 per cent of people aged 65 and over will spend up to £20,000 on care costs as they age, with ten per cent facing costs of over £100,000.
If clients need growth, they should look to the widest possible opportunity set, taking a global view and avoiding domestic bias. Equally, in the search for growth, portfolios should reach beyond equities to economically sensitive credit in high yield or emerging markets.
Diverging from the peer group in this way offers a wider range of growth drivers, and more opportunity to deliver effective diversification. Diversification can be enhanced further by blending these growth assets with defensive ones such as government bonds and cash, along with uncorrelated positions that aren’t linked to market direction, such as absolute return or commodities.
However, the suitability of these assets, and their propensity to deliver growth, will vary with market conditions. This means it is important that portfolios are managed proactively as market conditions evolve, to ensure the right blend of assets is held depending on the prevailing opportunity set at any given time.
Growth solutions
The Aviva Investors Multi-asset Fund (MAF) Plus range, for example, is made up of growth, defensive and uncorrelated assets depending on an investor’s appetite for risk.
Growth assets have the potential to drive capital growth. These assets are also more volatile, but longer retirements mean their growth potential is advantageous. Defensive assets such as cash and government bonds, meanwhile, can protect the value of investments and help manage risks.
The portfolios can also hold uncorrelated assets in order to improve diversification. However, rather than adopting a fixed asset allocation, the funds’ allocations can be shifted tactically across these assets to deliver longer term growth, while remaining aligned to a client’s risk profile.
Alongside MAF Plus, the recently launched MAF Core range aims to provide a similar asset allocation within set volatility parameters and a focus on ESG, but through a predominantly passive approach.
In a market-leading move, Aviva Investors has established clear objectives that allow advisers to assess Value For Money from both propositions. Both MAF Plus and MAF Core fund ranges have similar volatility targets, and a common benchmark.
However, the MAF Plus range uses a wider array of componentry, including more active management, to target an average return of 1.3 per cent per annum in excess of its benchmark (before OCF of 0.6 per cent per annum).
Different paths to Value For Money
By contrast, the lower cost, more passive-focused MAF Core range targets an average return of 0.3 per cent (before OCF of 0.15 per cent per annum). Advisors, now faced with a choice between a higher cost solution targeting a clearly defined higher return, and a lower cost, lower return solution, are able to make a clear assessment of Value for Money on behalf of their clients.
This transparency is allied to a dynamic yet flexible investment approach that seeks to deliver the long-term growth needed both to grow a client’s pension savings in the accumulation years, and also to mitigate the risks associated with inflation – a key risk factor with longevity during the period of decumulation.
“In general, the response from the investment industry has been that people should just save more. ”
But there are ways to manage longevity risk through an investment portfolio as well.
In 1970, a 65-year-old male had a remaining life expectancy of 13 years; by 2018, that figure had risen to 18.6 years; for 65-year-old women, remaining life expectancy has risen from 17 years to 21 years.
Retirement aged couple??
“But if I work until I am 70, I will want to invest in different assets than if I retire at 55. There are a lot of co-variances that change. And there could also be a lot of changes in people’s risk profiles,” Scott said.
The prospect of a long retirement should be cause for celebration. Finding the right way to invest and grow clients’ savings can ensure individuals are able to enjoy it to the full.
PLUS
CORE
/
Men
Women
Remaining years of life expectancy (at 65)
1970
2018
13
18.6
17
21
Sample holdings
It is important that portfolios are managed proactively as market conditions evolve, to ensure the right blend of assets
Aviva Investors has a prediction: within five years your clients’ pension and investments will be invested “sustainably”.
This surge of interest also seems set to continue, especially with events such as the COVID-19 crisis and the Black Lives Matter movement serving as a powerful reminder of the issues we face today. Ultimately, this push from clients will help to force the hand of the finance industry to do better.
According to investment director Thomas Stokes, the fund managers of tomorrow will be increasingly judged not just by their investment performance, but also on how they approach environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, such as climate change, inequality and social diversity. Fortunately, these two aspects aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive.
At the same time, further regulations will require fund managers to be far more transparent about the ESG credentials of the funds they manage, and advisers will have to explain how they use that information in making their recommendations. The main objective of the new rules is to educate individuals on responsible investment, and, for those who are interested, to ensure they are provided with a suitable ESG solution.
New EU regulation promoting responsible investment is coming to our shores and not before time, says Thomas Stokes, investment director at Aviva Investors
These moves are just the first ripples in a coming wave of legislation. As ESG investing matures, regulation will strengthen and the definition of what an ESG investment is will become more defined.
Why are you so confident ESG investing is going to become more prominent? Firstly, we believe there are powerful driving forces behind the demand for ESG investing; this isn’t just a fad. Let’s look at the situation today. Most people have relatively little knowledge of how their pension and investments are invested.
How influential can regulation really be? The answer is ‘very’. Can you remember smoking in restaurants and being able to take your shopping home in a free plastic bag? These unhealthy and unsustainable behaviours changed very quickly thanks to regulation. In a similar fashion, we will also see a shift in the investment world as ESG investing becomes the norm. And, just like the restrictions on smoking and plastics, this change is in everyone’s best interests.
What is the regulation? There’s new regulation currently being finalised by the European Commission, which is due to hit UK shores next year. For a financial adviser in the UK, it will mean that they will need to ask their client if they want them to recommend funds that take ESG into account.
How would you define the joining of sustainable principles with traditional investment strategies for investors? In essence, investment returns are not the only thing clients are going to be interested in the years to come. They will also want to ensure their money is being used responsibly to build a better world for themselves and for future generations. The reason we’re so positive is because we believe these two goals are aligned. Moreover, these changes highlight a powerful truth: a more responsible financial industry can bring about a lot of positive change to build a fairer and more sustainable world.
Footnotes * Robert G. Eccles, Ioannis Ioannou, George Serafeim, ‘The impact of corporate sustainability on organizational processes and performance’, Harvard Business School, November 2014
In fact, there’s empirical research that shows the opposite. For instance, a Morningstar study analysed 4,900 funds and they found that 59 per cent of sustainable funds had beaten their traditional peers over a 10-year period through to 2019.*
59
92
Some people may know the name of their pension provider for example, but few will have an awareness of the specific companies and securities they have indirectly handed their money to. In their defence, as an industry we haven’t made it easy for investors to truly connect with their money.
On a positive note, just as people have become avid recyclers in recent years, they are now becoming more conscientious about where they’re investing.
To give you some numbers, a recent Aviva survey showed that 92 per cent of advisers believe that ESG will be a larger proportion of their business in the next couple of years, and this is primarily due to increased demand from their clients.
Other than client demand, an imminent revolution in regulation will also have a huge influence on the industry.
In this article Aviva Investors’ Thomas Stokes reveals why, and how the group is so committed to incorporating ESG into its multi-asset strategies.
This diagram is for illustrative purposes only, asset allocations are subject to change. Global equity = MSCI® All Countries World Index (Net). Global bonds = Bloomberg Barclays® Global Aggregate Bond Index Hedged GBP. *OCF is the Ongoing Charges Figure. **pa is per annum. The performance of the Funds are measured versus the performance benchmark over 3 year rolling periods.
Peter Fitzgerald Chief Investment Officer, Multi-asset & Macro and Portfolio Manager, AIMS Target Return and Target Income Funds Peter began his career at Old Mutual in 1995 before joining BNP Wealth Management’s Multi-asset team. He has extensive international experience having worked in Asia, Latin America and Europe. Peter holds a postgraduate diploma in Education from Trinity College Dublin and a degree in European studies from the University of Cork. He is also a CFA® charterholder. Peter leads Aviva Investors’ global Multi-asset & Macro investment team and is responsible for the team’s strategic direction. Additionally, he is a portfolio manager of the AIMS Target Return and Target Income funds.
Meet the team
The Aviva Investors Multi-Asset Fund Core & Plus range invests globally in a selection of asset classes, including equities and bonds. The range offers investors access to a variety of different investments in one place, as well as Aviva Investors strong heritage in multi-asset investing
Aviva Investors MAF Core and Plus range overview
Multi-asset and macro specialists
55+
Assets under management
£80bn+
Heritage in managing multi-asset funds
35yrs+
Aviva Investors multi-asset heritage
The multi-asset fund core & Plus range
MAF Core
MAF Plus
LOWEST RISK
HIGHEST RISK
IV
V
II
I
20% Global equity 80% Global bonds
45% Global equity 55% Global bonds
60% Global equity 40% Global bonds
75% Global equity 25% Global bonds
100% Global equity 0% Global bonds
Performance benchmarks
Volatility risk range (% of global equity volatility)
20%
45%
60%
75%
100%
PREV
Fixed fund cost (OCF)*
Outperformance target verus the performance benchmark**
0.15%
+0.30% pa
Capped fund cost (OCF)*
0.60%
+1.30% pa
Sunil Krishan Head of Multi-asset Funds Prior to joining Aviva Investors, Sunil was a Senior Multi-Asset Portfolio Manager at Santander Asset Management, having been Head of Global Asset Allocation at Hermes Investment Management and Head of Market Strategy at the British Telecom Pension Scheme. He also spent 10 years at BlackRock Investment Management in a number of roles including portfolio management, research and strategy. He holds an MSc in Economics from Birkbeck College, University of London and an MA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Balliol College, University of Oxford. He is also a CFA® Charterholder. At Aviva Investors Sunil heads the team which manages long-only multi-asset funds and mandates. He is also a member of the Multi-Assets leadership group and a contributor to the AIMS investment process.
Paul Parascandalo Fund Manager, Multi-assets Paul joined Aviva Investors as an Implementation Manager in the multi-asset funds team, before moving into the fund management role. Prior to Aviva Investors he held a number of roles at HSBC in their private banking arm. Paul holds an MSc (Hons) in Theoretical Physics from University College London and a BSc (Hons) Financial Services from the Institute of Financial Services. He is also a CFA® charterholder. Paul is a lead multi-asset fund manager at Aviva Investors. He co-manages the Aviva Investors Multi-asset Fund (MAF) and Multi-manager ranges. He is also lead manager of the Aviva Investors with-profits funds.
Guillaume Paillat Fund Manager, Multi-assets Guillaume joined Aviva Investors from First State Investments where he was managing Multi-asset portfolios. Prior to that he was in charge of Global Fixed Income portfolios with Colonial First State in Sydney. He began his career with AXA Investment Managers. Guillaume holds a Master’s degree in Investment Management from Paris Dauphine University. Guillaume is a portfolio manager within the long-only Multi-asset team.
Thomas Stokes Investment Director, Multi-assets Prior to joining Aviva Investors, Thomas worked for Aviva Life and was responsible for relationship management in the intermediary market. He began his career working for Walker Crips, a wealth management firm, where he was responsible for advising private and corporate clients. Thomas holds a Diploma in Financial Planning and the Investment Management Certificate. He is also a CFA® charterholder. Thomas is a investment director at Aviva Investors. He is focused on supporting the fund managers, articulating their investment process, portfolio positioning and investment performance to clients and consultants.
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