The SWIB Podcast: Inside SWIB’s Beta One Portfolio
The SWIB Podcast: Inside SWIB’s Beta One Portfolio
September 3, 2026
Perhaps you have heard the terms “alpha” and “beta” when it comes to investing. Beta is the return you get just from being invested in a particular market or index. Alpha is the extra return you earn for making smart investment decisions. Think about it in bike racing terms, beta is how fast the whole pack is moving. Alpha is when a particular rider takes a calculated risk to finish a little bit ahead of the field.
That is the basic logic behind SWIB’s Beta One portfolio. Beta One isn’t simply about getting market beta. It’s about combining that market exposure with active management and the opportunity to generate additional returns for the Wisconsin Retirement System.
In this episode of The SWIB Podcast, Head of Funds Alpha Derek Drummond and Senior Analyst Ryan Johnston explain how the SWIB Beta One portfolio is designed to find additional returns and fit into the overall investment strategy for the pension system.
Click here to listen to this episode and all past episodes of The SWIB Podcast.
About SWIB
The State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB), created in 1951, is an independent state agency responsible for managing the assets of the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS), the State Investment Fund (SIF), and other state trust funds. As of December 31, 2025, SWIB managed more than $178 billion of total assets, approximately 87% representing WRS assets. SWIB’s management of the WRS trust funds aims to provide a fully funded public pension for over 703,000 current and former employees of state agencies, the university system, school districts and most local governments. The WRS consistently ranks among the 10 largest public pension funds in the U.S. SWIB, a steady economic pillar for the state of Wisconsin, focuses on growing the trust funds, managing risk, and optimizing costs over the long term.