Russell Investments Canada Ltd. has begun U.S. currency hedging in four of its portfolios to minimize risk, the company announced on Tuesday.

Effective Monday, the company implemented the currency hedging in the Russell Retirement Essentials Portfolio, Russell Retirement Essentials Class Portfolio, Russell Diversified Monthly Income Portfolio and the Russell Diversified Monthly Income Class Portfolio.

Russell said it decided to hedge so clients could invest in the portfolios without concern that currency fluctuations between the Canadian and U.S. dollar might materially affect their returns.

“While Russell believes that currency impact is largely muted over the longer term, we also continually monitor the economic and investment environment and try to minimize any potential risks we can foresee for clients,” said Sadiq S. Adatia, chief investment officer of Russell Investments Canada.

“We feel that having this flexibility to hedge the U.S. currency exposure highlights our commitment to investors as we continue to seek ways to improve the risk adjusted experience for our clients.”

IE