Russell Investment Group
Encyclopedia
Russell Investments is a subsidiary of Northwestern Mutual and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. Its previous headquarters were located in Tacoma, Washington, south of Seattle. The firm is a Turnkey Asset Management Program and provides investment products and services to individuals and institutions in 47 countries. Founded in 1936, Russell focuses on a multi-manager investor approach and is the creator of Russell Indexes
Russell Indexes
The Russell Indexes are a family of global equity indices that allow investors to track the performance of distinct market segments worldwide. Many investors use mutual funds or exchange-traded funds based on the Russell Indexes as a way of gaining exposure to certain portions of the U.S. stock...

.

The company operates principal offices in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

, Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...

, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

, Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, San Francisco and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

.

Russell's clients include retirement plans, endowments, foundations and investment plans of all types. Investors have access to Russell's services through a network that includes many of the world's top banks, brokers, insurance companies and independent investment advisors.

Russell has more than 2,000 associates in more than 20 offices around the world. In October 2008, Russell Investments Canada Ltd. was named one of "Canada's Top 100 Employers
Canada's Top 100 Employers
Canada's Top 100 Employers is an annual competition that recognizes the best places in Canada to work. First held in 1999, the project aims to single out the employers that lead their industries in offering exceptional working conditions and progressive human resources policies. Winners are...

" by Mediacorp Canada Inc., and was featured in Maclean's
Maclean's
Maclean's is a Canadian weekly news magazine, reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events.-History:Founded in 1905 by Toronto journalist/entrepreneur Lt.-Col. John Bayne Maclean, a 43-year-old trade magazine publisher who purchased an advertising agency's in-house...

newsmagazine. Later that month, Russell Investments Canada was also named one of Greater Toronto's Top Employers
Greater Toronto's Top Employers
Greater Toronto's Top Employers is an annual competition that recognizes the best places to work in the Greater Toronto Area...

, which was announced by the Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...

 newspaper.

History

1936 — Local businessman Frank Russell starts a small brokerage firm in Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...

.

1958 — George Russell joins his grandfather's firm, Frank Russell Company. Six months later, George becomes chairman, president and CEO when his grandfather dies. The company has two employees — George and an assistant.

1969 — George pioneers a new industry — strategic pension fund consulting — when he demonstrates his money manager evaluation process during a sales call to J.C. Penney
J.C. Penney
J. C. Penney Company, Inc. is a chain of American mid-range department stores based in Plano, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas. The company operates 1,107 department stores in all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. JCPenney also operates catalog sales merchant offices nationwide in many...

 and secures the giant U.S. retailer as his first client. Nearly four decades later, J.C. Penney remains a client. Russell begins managing money managers, instead of managing money, and opens a New York office to expand the concept nationally.

1974 — Russell's institutional consulting business grows from a single client to 40 major U.S. clients, including AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...

 and General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...

.

1979 — Russell initiates its global presence with the opening of an office in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

1980 — Russell launches its investment management business in response to a client's request for funds that provide a fully diversified and packaged blend of investment managers. Russell begins leveraging its research of outside managers to create a manager-of-managers investment process for smaller retirement plans and individuals.

1984 — Russell researchers create the Russell 1000, Russell 2000, and Russell 3000 Indexes as objective benchmarks for evaluating manager performance. Russell opens an office in Toronto, Ontario.

1986 — Russell opens an office in Tokyo, Japan, which has the second largest pension system behind the United States, and opens an office in Sydney, Australia, expanding to its fourth continent.

1988 — Russell dedicates a new headquarters building in Tacoma, Wash. Custom-designed by George and Jane Russell, the 12-story granite building reflects both urban and natural environments, with each floor capturing views of downtown Tacoma, Puget Sound
Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...

, and Mt. Rainier, Washington’s tallest peak.

1990 — Mike Phillips
Mike Phillips
Mike Phillips may refer to:* Mike Phillips * Mike Phillips * Mike Phillips * Mike Phillips , Montana State Representative...

 is named president of Frank Russell Company. In 1993, he is named chief executive officer. George Russell continues as chairman. George Russell establishes Russell 20-20, a group of independent money managers and plan sponsors who explore emerging markets with an eye toward investment opportunities.

1999 — Russell expands to Singapore. Northwestern Mutual, the largest provider of individual life insurance in the United States, acquires Russell. The company retains the Russell name, management, office locations and investment approach. For the first time, Russell appears on Fortune Magazine's "Best Companies to Work for in America" list, at number 15.

2000 — Russell ranks 13th on Fortune Magazine's "Best Companies to Work for in America" list.

2001 — Russell is again ranked 13th on Fortune Magazine's "Best Companies to Work for in America" list.

2002 — Serving as chairman since 1958, George Russell retires, retaining the role of chairman emeritus for Frank Russell Company and Russell 20-20. Russell ranks 11th on Fortune Magazine's "Best Companies to Work for in America" list.

2003 — Russell changes its business name to Russell Investment Group to better reflect its wide range of investment solutions. Craig Ueland is appointed president of Russell in July 2003 and then CEO effective January 2004.

2004 — In March, Russell acquires Pantheon Ventures
Pantheon Ventures
Pantheon is a private equity investment manager, operating through a series of fund of funds as well as a publicly traded private equity vehicle, Pantheon International Participations. Pantheon invests through new private equity funds as well as secondary market purchases of existing private...

, the global private equity fund-of-funds specialist headquartered in London. In August, Russell acquires the Australian HR services operation of Towers Perrin.

2006 — Russell is ranked among top 100 on Fortune Magazine's "Best Companies to Work for in America" list.

2007 — Russell's family of U.S. equity indexes goes global with the launch of a fully integrated family of global stock indexes. The Russell Global Indexes provide investors worldwide with a comprehensive set of benchmarks that cover small-cap, large-cap and all-cap companies in developed and emerging markets. Russell is again ranked among the top 100 of Fortune Magazine's "Best Companies to Work for in America" list. Russell opens an office in Seoul, Korea.

2008 — Russell is named to Fortune Magazine's "Best Companies to Work for in America" list. Russell's Board of Directors accepted the resignation of Craig Ueland and named John Schlifske, executive vice president with Northwestern Mutual and a member of Russell's board, as Russell's new President and CEO.

2008 — Russell investments announced that they might leave Tacoma, having outgrown their old headquarters. The lease on the headquarters on A Street expires in 2013. Local government officials, wary of losing the biggest company in downtown Tacoma, have started an attractive campaign to keep Russell in Tacoma, including plans for a brand new headquarters.

2008 — FT reports that Russell Investments is to close two of its three main hedge funds following a sharp drop in assets under management to less than two billion USD. Investors were already gated and redemptions reported to be high. Many staff in the Alternatives Division were laid off, with the few remaining persons employed to oversee the wind-down process of the above.

2009 — Russell’s Board of Directors named Andrew Doman as Russell’s new Chief Executive Officer. Andrew Doman assumed role of President upon John Schlifske's return to Northwestern Mutual.

2009 — Russell Investments said they would move headquarters from Tacoma to Chase Center in Seattle.

2010 — Russell Investments is named "Manager of Managers of the Year" at the Global Pensions Awards.

2010 — Russell Investments completes move of headquarters to Seattle. The former Chase Center building is now renamed Russell Investments Center.

2011 — Russell's Board of Directors named Len Brennan as Russell's new Chief Executive Officer. He is also chief executive of the firm's Europe, Middle East, Africa business.

2011 — Russell Investments open it's first regional office in Germany with the launch of Frankfurt operations during October.

Investment Consulting

Russell follows an investment consulting process that guides many of the world's largest investors.

Investment Management and Research

Russell manages more than US$163 billion in assets as of June 30, 2011, allowing for comprehensive and strategic diversification covering the range of asset classes.

Russell Indexes

Russell's family of global equity indexes allows investors to seamlessly track performance of distinct market segments worldwide without gaps or overlaps. Russell launched its family of U.S. indexes in 1984 to accurately measure U.S. market segments. The resulting methodology produced the broad market Russell 3000 Index and the small-cap Russell 2000 Index. The Russell Global Index, introduced in 2007, captures 98% of the global equity market and reflects the performance of more than 10,000 stocks worldwide. As of June 30, 2008, Russell's U.S. indexes have US$4.0 trillion in assets benchmarked to them and account for 63.3 percent of U.S. equity products benchmarked by U.S. institutional investors. Russell/Nomura equity indexes (calculated with Nomura Securities Co., Ltd.) offer broad market or style benchmarks for investors in Japan.

Investment Services

Russell provides a range of investment services, including portfolio management, transition strategies, commission management, cash management, derivatives exposures and agency foreign exchange, which may improve investment performance and may minimize the costs and risks of complex investment implementations.

Russell Retirement Services

In North America, Russell delivers target date and target portfolio products directly to Defined Contribution (DC) plan sponsors, as well as distributes LifePoints Funds through financial professionals.

Community

One of Russell's main corporate values includes active involvement in the communities in which its associates live and work. Russell invests in communities through corporate giving, charitable giving grants in its global hubs, and a generous matching gifts program for contributions of time and money.

See also

  • Russell Indexes
    Russell Indexes
    The Russell Indexes are a family of global equity indices that allow investors to track the performance of distinct market segments worldwide. Many investors use mutual funds or exchange-traded funds based on the Russell Indexes as a way of gaining exposure to certain portions of the U.S. stock...

  • Russell 3000 Index
  • Russell 2500 Index
    Russell 2500 Index
    The Russell 2500 Index measures the performance of the 2,500 smallest companies in the Russell 3000 Index, or about 19% of its total capitalization. Weighted average capitalization is approximately $2 billion and median capitalization is $705.8 million. The largest company in the index is $4.5...

  • Russell 2000 Index
  • Russell 1000 Index
  • Russell Top 200 Index
    Russell Top 200 Index
    The Russell Top 200 Index measures the performance of the 200 largest companies in the Russell 1000 Index, with weighted average market capitalization of $110.5 billion...

  • Russell Top 50 Index
    Russell Top 50 Index
    The Russell Top 50 Index measures the performance of the largest companies in the Russell 3000 Index. It includes approximately 50 of the largest securities based on a combination of their market cap and current index membership and represents approximately 40% of the total market capitalization of...

  • Russell Midcap Index
  • Russell Microcap Index
    Russell Microcap Index
    The Russell Microcap Index measures the performance of the microcap segment of the U.S. equity market. It makes up less than 3% of the U.S. equity market...

  • Russell Small Cap Completeness Index
    Russell Small Cap Completeness Index
    The Russell Small Cap Completeness Index measures the performance of the companies in the Russell 3000 Index excluding the companies in the S&P 500 Index. It provides a performance standard for active money managers seeking a liquid extended benchmark, and can be used for a passive investment...


External links

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