Enhancing portfolio resilience with a capital-efficient short-dated fixed income strategy
Credit spreads and short-dated interest rates can be volatile over time, shaping the risk and return dynamics available to investors. As a result, balancing liquidity, capital preservation and return remains a key portfolio challenge.
ReturnPlus is designed with the aim to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns across the market cycle, by capturing high-quality credit spreads from a globally, diversified fixed income portfolio, while limiting exposure to market shocks and unintended risks. The result is a liquid, capital-efficient strategy with enhanced return potential beyond short-dated fixed income, delivered in a unique, zero-duration format that reduces sensitivity to interest rate movements.
The fixed income dilemma: Balancing return, capital and resilience
Today's market environment presents investors with difficult trade-offs.
Moving further along the risk spectrum can improve yield opportunities, but is likely to introduce additional exposure to duration, spread volatility and market uncertainty. Holding excess cash can provide flexibility and liquidity, but may reduce long-term return potential.
For many investors, the challenge is no longer simply finding income. It is finding resilient sources of return that can support portfolio objectives while maintaining flexibility to respond as conditions change.
Cash
Provides liquidity and capital preservation but may limit return potential.
Traditional credit
Can enhance income but introduces exposure to duration and spread risk.
The investor challenge
Balancing return, liquidity, flexibility and risk in an uncertain environment.
Why ReturnPlus? Potential to enhance portfolio resilience with a capital-efficient, short-dated fixed income strategy
ReturnPlus seeks to bridge the gap between cash allocations and conventional investment-grade credit.
The strategy accesses diversified opportunities across global fixed income markets, including sovereign, sovereign-related, covered bond and corporate debt exposures. By systematically hedging interest-rate and currency risk, ReturnPlus aims to isolate and access globally diversified credit premia while reducing sources of unwanted volatility.
Figure 1: A differentiated position on the risk-return spectrum
Note: For illustrative purposes only. Expected return targets may not be achieved due to market conditions and the value of an investment may go up or down. The investor may not get back the original amount invested.
Rather than extending duration or increasing credit risk in pursuit of higher returns, ReturnPlus seeks a more efficient solution: diversified credit spread exposure within a liquid, actively managed framework.
An approach built around return, efficiency and resilience
Potential for attractive returns
ReturnPlus is designed to capture a diversified range of credit spread opportunities from global short-dated fixed income markets.
The strategy targets returns of SONIA +75 basis points in sterling and ESTR +50 basis points in euros over rolling three-year periods. Targets are not guaranteed and may not be achieved.
Capital efficiency
The strategy focuses on high-quality credit exposures and seeks to minimise non-credit risks through interest-rate and currency hedging.
This approach can provide particular benefits for investors operating within capital-sensitive frameworks, including insurers subject to risk-based capital requirements.
Resilience
ReturnPlus invests in highly liquid instruments and is designed to withstand shocks, capitalise on dislocations and deliver stable returns over the market cycle.
With daily liquidity and short settlement periods, the strategy can support both strategic allocations and evolving portfolio needs.
Relevant for insurance portfolios. Relevant far beyond them.
The origins of ReturnPlus lie in managing insurance balance sheets.
For decades, Aviva Investors has helped insurers balance liquidity, capital efficiency and portfolio return objectives. This experience shaped the development of ReturnPlus and its focus on resilience, risk discipline and capital efficiency.
Today, insurers continue to be important users of the strategy. At the same time, pension schemes and other investors increasingly utilise ReturnPlus as a source of diversified spread exposure and strategic cash enhancement.
£32bn
Liquidity assets managed*
Less than 1%
Annualised volatility since inception**
Global opportunity set
Multi-currency implementation
Specialist capabilities
Specialist liquidity, fixed income and insurance solutions teams
*Source: Aviva Investors, as at 30 June 2026
**Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns. Inception date for GBP is October 31, 2014, EUR 12 March, 2020 and USD 7 July, 2025.
Different investors. Different objectives.
ReturnPlus supports a variety of portfolio objectives across insurance and pension portfolios.
How insurers use ReturnPlus
Insurers are balancing return, capital efficiency and liquidity in an increasingly volatile market environment. ReturnPlus can support a range of investment objectives.
Strategic cash optimisation
Typical use case: Strategic cash allocations
Many insurers hold capital in cash or cash-equivalent strategies to meet future obligations and liquidity requirements. ReturnPlus can help generate additional return from strategic cash holdings while maintaining strong liquidity characteristics and a focus on capital preservation.
Return on capital
Typical use case: Backing non-annuity liabilities
ReturnPlus provides diversified sources of credit spread exposure while seeking to contain interest-rate risk through its portfolio construction. This can help insurers improve return on capital while supporting broader balance-sheet objectives.
Fixed income optimisation
Typical use case: Core fixed income portfolios
ReturnPlus can complement sovereign and investment-grade short-dated credit allocations by providing access to diversified sources of spread income, helping improve portfolio efficiency whilst maintaining liquidity.
How pension schemes use ReturnPlus
Pension schemes are increasingly looking for diversified sources of return that sit between traditional liability-driven investments and buy-and-maintain credit allocations.
Diversified spread exposure
Typical use case: Cashflow-driven investment portfolios
ReturnPlus can provide pension schemes with an additional source of diversified credit spread exposure, complementing traditional fixed income allocations whilst maintaining a focus on liquidity and risk management.
LDI complement
Typical use case: Liability-aware portfolio construction
Positioned between liability-driven investment strategies and buy-and-maintain credit allocations, ReturnPlus can help schemes diversify sources of return whilst remaining aligned with broader liability management objectives.
Endgame positioning
Typical use case: Improving portfolio efficiency as funding levels improve
As schemes progress towards endgame objectives, ReturnPlus can provide a flexible source of spread income that supports portfolio returns without significantly increasing risk, helping schemes maintain flexibility as objectives evolve.
In conversation with Insurance Asset Management: Why insurers are turning to Aviva Investors ReturnPlus
In partnership with IAM, Todd Cutting and Mike Leonard discuss Aviva Investors' ReturnPlus strategy and its potential benefits for insurers. Our short video explores the strategy's key features and explains how it can provide flexibility, improve return on capital and remove interest rate risk.
Transcript for video #
Transcript not available
Built to navigate changing market environments
Market stress can expose weaknesses in traditional liquidity strategies.
ReturnPlus was developed with a focus on maintaining liquidity and managing downside risks through diversified sources of spread exposure and disciplined risk management.
During the UK gilt market disruption in 2022, the strategy demonstrated resilience while many traditional yield-enhancement assets faced significant volatility. The diversified nature of the portfolio and access to multiple global liquidity sources helped support implementation throughout the period.
Figure 2: Performance comparison during the 2022 gilt crisis
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns. Illustration shown net of fees for the Aviva ReturnPlus strategy.
Note: Indexed to 100, data from May 31 to December 31, 2022. Indices used: Aviva ReturnPlus Strategy; Global asset-backed securities: Bloomberg Global Aggregate Asset Backed TR Index Hedged GBP; Global corporates: Bloomberg Global Aggregate Corporate TR Index Hedged GBP; Euro corporates: Bloomberg Euro Aggregate Corporates TR Index Value Hedged GBP.
Aviva Investors, Bloomberg. Data as of September 2024.
A long-term track record
Since its inception, ReturnPlus has aimed to deliver enhanced returns above cash while maintaining a focus on liquidity and capital preservation.
The strategy has developed a long-term track record through a range of market environments, demonstrating its ability to access diversified sources of return while maintaining relatively low levels of volatility.
Strategy inception
GBP: October 2014
EUR: March 2020
USD: July 2025
Target
SONIA1 +75bps (GBP) ESTR2 +50bps (EUR) SOFR3 +75bps (USD)
Liquidity
Daily dealing
Credit quality
Minimum AA- rated for non-government exposures
Minimum A-rated otherwise
SFDR classification*
Article 8**
Settlement
T+3 (ReturnPlus GBP/EUR) | T+2 (ReturnPlus USD)
Past performance is not a reliable guide to future performance. Note: bps = basis points. Source: Aviva Investors, as at 30 June 2026.
1 GBP Strategy benchmark is SONIA: Sterling Overnight Index Average Rate.
2 EUR Strategy benchmark is ESTR: Euro Short Term Rate.
3 USD Strategy benchmark is SOFR: Secured Overnight Finance Rate.
*This is a voluntary classification.
**The strategy is classified as Article 8 under SFDR. This classification is a voluntary disclosure and should not be interpreted as an official label or award.
ReturnPlus fund
Explore our ReturnPlus funds in USD, GBP, and EUR, designed to optimise your excess cash.
Aviva Investors ReturnPlus Fund
The strategy targets a stable return over cash by investing in short-maturity, highly rated fixed income securities while mitigating risk and maintaining liquidity.
Strategy literature
Whitepaper: The case for ReturnPlus
A detailed examination of the strategy's approach to returns, capital efficiency and liquidity.
ReturnPlus: Strategy-in-brief
Explore portfolio construction, investment approach and strategy characteristics.
ReturnPlus monthly holdings
ReturnPlus fund
Explore our ReturnPlus funds in GBP and EUR, designed to optimise your excess cash.
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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Driving stewardship together
29 Jul 2026
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The case for ReturnPlus: A capital-efficient enhanced liquidity strategy
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Clarity and resilience: New guidance for European Money Market Funds
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Bond Voyage: Oil shocks without the drama
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The reaction to the latest oil price shock provides further evidence that those countries which have taken steps to strengthen their financial position are being rewarded by bond investors.
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Bond Voyage: Markets repricing as Gulf conflict threatens energy shock
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The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to impact the markets while inflation expectations are recalibrated.
Bond Voyage
Bond Voyage: A journey into fixed income
Each month, our freewheeling fixed-income newsletter gathers insights from our high-yield, investment-grade, emerging-market and global sovereign bond teams.
Fixed Income Compass
Compass
Compass draws on the insights of our Matrix Pods. These are cross-functional forums that bring together portfolio managers, strategists, economists, and traders to generate forward-looking, consensus-based views on key fixed income asset classes. This provides investors with a clear view on key risk drivers, helping guide portfolio positioning and enhance decision-making across the key fixed income asset classes.
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.
Iain Forrester
Head of Fixed Income Solutions
Todd Cutting
Head of Enhanced Liquidity and ReturnPlus
Alastair Sewell
Senior Investment Director
Michael Leonard
Head of Insurance Solutions
Alexander Ieri
Portfolio Manager
Looking for a different approach to liquidity and fixed income?
Discover how ReturnPlus seeks to help insurers, pension schemes and other investors to access diversified credit premia whilst maintaining a strong focus on liquidity, flexibility and capital preservation.
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.
Important information
THIS IS A MARKETING COMMUNICATION
Except where stated as otherwise, the source of all information is Aviva Investors Global Services Limited (“Aviva Investors”). Unless stated otherwise any views, opinions and future returns expressed are those of Aviva Investors and based on Aviva Investors internal forecasts. 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 value of an investment and any income from it may go down as well as up and the investor may not get back the original amount invested.
Past performance is not a guide to future returns. Where relevant, information on our approach to the sustainability aspects of the strategy and the Sustainable Finance disclosure regulation (SFDR) including policies and procedures can be found on the following link: https://www.avivainvestors.com/en-gb/capabilities/sustainable-finance-disclosure-regulation/
In Europe this document is issued by Aviva Investors Luxembourg, with its registered office located 2 rue du Fort Bourbon, L-1249 Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Aviva Investors Luxembourg is supervised by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier, R.C.S Luxembourg B25708.
In the UK this document is issued by Aviva Investors Global Services Limited, registered in England and Wales No. 1151805, with its registered office located at 80 Fenchurch Street, London, EC3M 4AE. Aviva Investors Global Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Firm Reference No. 119178. In Switzerland, this document is issued by Aviva Investors Schweiz GmbH.