Our approach to short-dated bonds
Aviva Investors’ ReturnPlus strategy aims to provide access to high quality credit spreads with low volatility. The strategy invests in liquid, short-maturity, highly rated fixed-income securities while hedging interest rate and currency risks. Our approach aims to benefit from our extensive experience managing assets to meet clients’ liabilities and risk-based capital requirements to optimise return and capital efficiency.
Why invest?
The strategy is designed to target attractive risk-adjusted returns relative to cash, while seeking to reduce volatility compared with short-dated investment grade credit strategies. For insurance investors, the strategy is structured to support capital-efficient asset allocation. Potential benefits include:
Enhancing returns
Targeting above cash returns of:
Targeting Sonia1 +75bps, ESTR2 +50bps and SOFR3 +75bps p.a.*
Low volatility
Aiming to deliver stable performance and liquidity across a range of challenging market scenarios.
Capital efficiency
Aiming to deliver stable performance and liquidity across a full range of market conditions.
1 GBP Strategy Targeting Sterling Overnight Index Average, a widely used interest rate benchmark and reference rate for sterling overnight Indexed Swaps (OIS).
2 EUR Strategy Targeting Euro Short Term Rate, the alternative euro risk free rate and replacement for EONIA. ESTER will be published from October 2019.
3 USD Strategy Targeting Secured Overnight Financing Rate, the alternative USD risk-free rate and replacement for LIBOR.
* Over a three-year rolling period, regardless of market conditions. Return shown is net return.
Investment philosophy
Seeks to provide returns above those of traditional cash investments while maintaining a focus on capital preservation, liquidity, and risk management. The strategy invests in short-duration, high-quality fixed income securities and uses currency and interest rate hedging techniques, which may help support portfolio stability under varying market conditions.
Enhanced cash returns
Benefit from regional spread premium and structured FX hedging.
Invest in high-rated, short-maturity securities
Diversified across geographies, issuers, and currencies.
Limited exposure to risk
Hedge interest rate and currency exposures.
Investment insights
Investment thinking that brings together the collective insight of Aviva Investors’ teams from across the globe on the key themes influencing markets.
Views
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Security and transition: How energy is impacting sovereign debt
5 Nov 2026
The low-carbon transition can bolster countries’ energy security, but it can also increase risk in ways that are easy to overlook. Broad indicators are no longer enough to understand the links between energy transition, energy security and sovereign debt risk.
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US midterm elections – snapshot reaction
4 Nov 2026
The US midterm election result is unlikely to see a material change to the US fiscal outlook, while the presidential veto will likely prevent major policy reversals by the Trump administration, says Michael Grady.
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The week in markets: When the giants stumble, the rest step up
30 Oct 2026
Big tech had a bruising week as investors questioned when the huge sums being spent on AI will pay off, yet most other companies quietly moved higher.
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The new realities of investing
30 Oct 2026
Geopolitics, technology and the energy transition are influencing where capital flows, and how investors think about risk, resilience and long-term returns.
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Multi-asset chart of the month for October: Semiconductor valuations surge on AI demand
26 Oct 2026
Huge demand for the processing chips and memory that power artificial intelligence has driven semiconductor valuations sharply higher.
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Making cash work harder in Canada
16 Oct 2026
Elevated levels of cash and short-term assets on Canadian institutions’ balance sheets highlight the need for a middle-ground solution.
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Are we there yet? How road transport is evolving
8 Oct 2026
Electric and self-driving cars, batteries and robotics are progressing in leaps and bounds. Our experts discuss the investment implications.
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Bond Voyage: Beyond capital relief: securitisation reforms and insurer portfolios
8 Oct 2026
Securitisation offers insurers diversification, varied collateral pools and attractive spreads, yet remains underrepresented as allocations depend on more than returns and capital charges.
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Global and active: Fiscal risks strengthen the case for a global allocation to sovereign bonds
7 Oct 2026
With government deficits under the spotlight, fixed income investors need to think globally and take an active approach to allocations.
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Bond Voyage: When private credit moves public markets
10 Sep 2026
Private credit should no longer be treated as a separate asset class beyond public investors’ field of view – it is part of the same ecosystem, influencing price discovery, transfer of risk and recovery outcomes.
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AI boom highlights a flawed bond market
1 Sep 2026
Investors in passive bond funds are being exposed to more risk than they may appreciate as US technology giants turn to fixed income markets to fund massive spending on AI data centres, argues Aviva Investors chief executive Mark Versey.
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UK and EU sustainability regulations: Could a narrow focus be missing the bigger picture?
27 Aug 2026
Regulation must recognise that sustainable investing incorporates more than the provision of sustainable funds alone.
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Investment diversification: Still the only free lunch?
26 Aug 2026
Diversification has always been at the heart of asset management, but recent turmoil, from higher inflation to conflict, trade barriers and the AI revolution, is roiling markets. Can investors still reap its benefits?
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Bond Voyage: The role of investment research in the age of AI
11 Aug 2026
Artificial intelligence (AI) is already helping research analysts work more efficiently, but could it ultimately replace them?
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From volatility to stability: Enhancing portfolio resilience in insurance investment
5 Aug 2026
Insurers have long navigated a distinctive set of investment challenges, what can they do to build portfolios resilient enough for today's volatile environment?
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The case for ReturnPlus: A capital-efficient enhanced liquidity strategy
29 Jul 2026
The ReturnPlus strategy invests in a broad range of liquidity sub-asset classes, while consuming limited regulatory capital. Our ReturnPlus team explores the potential benefits for investors.
House view
House View
No one can predict the future. But our quarterly House View sets out the collective wisdom of our investment teams on the current state of global markets – and where they might be heading.
Key risks of ReturnPlus strategy
Investment risk & Currency risk
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.
Credit and interest rate risk
Bond values are affected by changes in interest rates and the bond issuer's creditworthiness. Bonds that offer the potential for a higher income typically have a greater risk of default.
Illiquid securities risk
Some investments could be hard to value or to sell at a desired time, or at a price considered to be fair (especially in large quantities), and as a result their prices can be volatile.
ReturnPlus team
Meet our ReturnPlus team.
Todd Cutting
Head of Enhanced Liquidity and ReturnPlus
Alastair Sewell
Senior Investment Director
Explore
Fixed income
Fixed income is an indispensable building block for meeting a variety of investment goals, including income, inflation protection, liability management and capital appreciation.