Russell gets the boot for Smartshares

The Cook Islands National Superannuation Fund (CINSF) has decided to replace the actively managed Russell multi-manager funds with a passive ‘reference portfolio’ of global equities and bond products offered under the Smartshares sub-brand, SuperLife.

This month CINSF will transfer its assets to a reference portfolio composed of international bonds and equities using Smartshares’ SuperLife Total World (NZD Hedged) & (Unhedged) Funds – both of which access the Vanguard Total World Stock ETF, tracking the FTSE Global All-cap Index for its equity exposure and Smartshares’ SuperLife Global Aggregate Bond Fund, which accesses the iShares Core Global Agg Bond UCITS ETF tracking the Bloomberg Global Agg Index 100% hedged to the NZD.

This Reference Portfolio forms the basis for CINSF market exposure against which all future active management endeavours will be measured for their capacity to add value.

Smartshares chief executive Hugh Stevens said the decision will "improve efficiency" of the super fund.