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 (TAMP) 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.
The company operates principal offices in London, Paris, Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Singapore, Seoul, Tokyo, Toronto, San Francisco and New York.
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 1,750 associates in more than 20 offices around the world.[1] In October 2008, Russell Investments Canada Ltd. was named one of "Canada's Top 100 Employers" by Mediacorp Canada Inc., and was featured in Maclean's newsmagazine. Later that month, Russell Investments Canada was also named one of Greater Toronto's Top Employers, which was announced by the Toronto Star newspaper.
As we close 2009, you likely have already seen some decade reviews, best-of lists, worst-of lists, and the like.
Here is our perspective on the startling transformation of Russell Investments from the best-of category to something not so worthy of recognition over the decade.
It’s not the kind of story that inspires confidence in Russell’s ability to “Improve Financial Security for People,” the company’s long-held mission. With the firm continuing to unravel like a holiday sweater well past its prime, Russell closes the decade as a skeleton of what it used to be … and skeleton a that appears to have broken bones at that.
For more than seven decades, Russell has had a special presence in Tacoma. Starting as a small brokerage in 1936, the firm became one of the largest pension consultants in the U.S. as well as a dominating presence in the Tacoma business landscape. From 1999 through 2008, it was named one of the best companies to work for in the U.S. seven times. Russell had a 20% annual revenue growth rate and took great care of its employees.
And then, to close a decade of significant change for the company, along came a series of unfortunate events executed by the corporate parent company and Russell’s first “outsider” CEO, Andrew Doman. Corporate complications were, of course, heightened by global economic and market conditions.
In 1999, George Russell sold Frank Russell Company to Northwestern Mutual, the huge Milwaukee-based insurance carrier. Russell retired and for the first five years under its new owners the firm continued to grow under CEO Mike Phillips. In 2005, Phillips handed the CEO reins over to Craig Ueland and the firm continued to build a global business serving institutional investors, distributing mutual funds and providing indexes and investment benchmarks for investors.
In June 2008, Ueland left the company under mysterious circumstances. Northwestern Mutual, having named one if its executives, John Schlifske, as Russell’s interim CEO, orchestrated the reconstruction of Russell leadership. Doman was hired in January of 2009.
Doman was a consultant at McKinsey & Company. Nobody really expects him to be a long-term company leader. He’s renting a home in Gig Harbor and his family remains in London. The consensus perception is that he’s a change agent. He has brought in other former McKinsey consultants who have led an effort to redefine the company, possibly positioning it for sale. Based on the activity since the middle of 2008, Northwestern and Doman have succeeded in stripping almost all historically important character and leadership from the company.
Doman inherited a mess that began around the time of Ueland’s exit and grew under Northwestern Mutual’s control in the second half of 2008.
After the beginning of the financial crisis in October 2008, Russell shut down its hedge fund team (based in London) when the department lost millions on risky bets.
In the last quarter of 2008, some of the Russell money market funds held large positions in Lehman Brothers short-term paper which became worthless. Northwestern Mutual loaned Russell $764 million so these funds wouldn’t “break the buck.”
As a result of the loan, the value of Russell’s internal private stock price (used as an employee retention tool) was scheduled to be reduced to zero. Many of the top managers were offered the chance to retire from the firm and get paid out from their internal stock holdings based on the past year’s price. Many jumped ship and took the deal. It was much more attractive than waiting perhaps four or five years before the shares built up any value again.
1. Long track record of growth
We've been a growth company for decades, and our growth continues.
2. Financial leadership
We are a pioneer in multi-manager investing and the creator of the Russell Indexes. We now manage $155.4 billion in assets¹ and provide advice on approximately $786 billion in assets worldwide².
3. Investment in people
We have a genuine focus on our people. It underlies everything we do. We've long believed that investing in them allows us to bring our most innovative solutions to clients.
4. Global opportunities
We serve clients in 46 countries and staff major offices in 14. We're present in major financial centers like London, New York, Sydney and Tokyo. With a presence this broad, opportunities for success are unlimited.
5. Unparalleled work environment
With an exceptional corporate culture, exciting growth opportunities and a premier benefits package, it's no wonder Fortune magazine has often ranked us among the "100 Best Companies to Work for in America."
In what represents one of the most far-reaching acquisitions in the Australian financial services sector, Russell Investment Group has acquired Towers Perrin (Australia).
The acquisition, announced today, flows from the collaboration arrangements between the two companies started in 2002.
Russell Investment Group managing director Alan Schoenheimer says the acquisition represents the next logical step in the relationship.
"It follows three years of successful collaboration between the two firms, who have shared investment research resources as well as jointly completing many of Australia's largest superannuation outsourcing deals," he says.
"This landmark transaction creates an investment and superannuation powerhouse," Schoenheimer says. "The range of services is unmatched in the Australian marketplace and our organisations are now ideally positioned for strong growth in this competitive environment."
The transaction is not expected to result in any significant level of job losses, with both Schoenheimer and Towers Perrin managing director David Solomon claiming that little overlap existed which would necessitate down-sizing.
"If anything, we have been running a little lean," Solomon says. "Obviously, knowing that this was in train, we have not been extensively recruiting over recent months."
The key elements of the deal will see the human resources business of Towers Perrin become known as Russell Employee Benefits and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Russell Investment Group.
Towers Perrin's Australian asset consulting practice will integrate with Russell's asset consulting practice and the two practices will be fully integrated to create Australia's largest asset consulting business.
The Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) today announced that Martin Leibowitz, managing director, U.S. equity strategy, Morgan Stanley, and Don Ezra, director of strategic advice, Russell Investment Group, have been selected for the 2004 EBRI Lillywhite Award in recognition of outstanding lifetime contributions to Americans’ economic security.
EBRI, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization, established the Lillywhite Award in 1992 to acknowledge individual and group excellence in the fields of retirement, health and economic security. The winners of the Lillywhite Award are recognized as persons or organizations that have made significant contribution to the investment management and employee benefits fields and whose outstanding service has enhanced Americans’ economic security.
“Millions of workers both here and abroad will enjoy a more comfortable retirement because of the path-breaking work done by the Lillywhite winners,” said EBRI President and CEO Dallas Salisbury in announcing the 2004 winners.
Martin Leibowitz is a leading authority on bond analysis and overall portfolio allocation strategy. He became managing director of the U.S. equity strategy team at Morgan Stanley earlier this year.
Leibowitz previously was vice chairman and chief investment officer of TIAA-CREF, which he joined after a 26-year career at Salomon Brothers. He is the author of four books and more than 130 articles on pension and investment issues. He has a reputation both for doing important and provocative research and for presenting it in an accessible fashion.
He is an author of Return Targets and Shortfall Risk: Studies in Strategic Asset Allocation, published in 1996. An earlier work he coauthored, Inside the Yield Book; New Tools for Bond Market Strategy, was first published in 1972 and has since gone through multiple printings. This year the authors of the Yield Book published Inside the Yield Book: The Classic that Created the Science of Bond Analysis. Articles authored by Leibowitz have repeatedly received the Graham and Dodd Award for exemplary financial writing.
Don Ezra is a 20-year veteran of Russell and his current role, director of strategic advice, was created in 2000 in response to a worldwide investor need for focus on “big picture” issues. In this role he provides expert insight on specific governance and financial matters. Ezra previously was managing director of Russell’s global consulting business and headed the firm’s investment policy and research unit. He has extensive international experience and has worked in Canada and the United Kingdom.
A widely published author in the pension fund industry, Ezra co-wrote, with Keith P. Ambachtsheer, Pension Fund Excellence: Creating Value for Stakeholders, which was published in 1998 and is now viewed as a classic in the field. He is also the author of The Struggle for Pension Fund Wealth, published in 1984 and Understanding Pension Fund Finance and Investment (1979).
While he has won technical awards from the Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance, the Financial Analysts Journal and the Financial Research Institute of Canada, Ezra is known particularly for the clarity of his writing. He explains complex ideas in ways that both management and employees can understand – a skill that has made him a popular speaker around the world and has greatly helped spread the influence of his ideas.
EBRI’s Lillywhite Award is named after Ray Lillywhite, a pioneer in the pension field, who for decades guided state employee pension plans. Lillywhite helped found numerous professional organizations and educational programs. He retired from Alliance Capital in 1992 at age 80, after a 55-year career in the pension and investment field. He exemplifies not only excellence but also innovation in lifelong achievements, teaching and learning.
Past recipients of the EBRI Lillywhite Award include Roger Bransford, William N. Bret, John A Connors, James A. Curtis, Nel Daniels, Harry L DuBrin, Jr., G. David Hurd, John W. English, William A. Ferguson, Peter E. Friedes, Kenneth K. Keene, Jack E. Kennedy, Robert G. Kirby, Juanita Morris Kreps, Marvin A. Levins, Ray Lillywhite, Robert D. Paul, Claude Rosenberg, George F. Russell, Jr., Clifford R. Simmons, A.J.C. Smith, Quentin I. Smith, Jr., Joseph J. Stahl II, Douglas D. Stegner, George B. Swick, National Council on Teacher Retirement (NCTR) and TIAA-CREF.
The award will be presented to Leibowitz at an April 26 conference in Pinehurst, NC sponsored by the Investment Management Institute. Speakers will include Kenneth Holmes, who gave Lillywhite his first post in the investment industry; Michael Clowes, editorial director of Pensions and Investments.
Ezra will receive his award May 21 at the 2004 Russell International Conference, in Lake Las Vegas, NV. The ceremony will include presentation of the award by EBRI President and CEO Dallas Salisbury and remarks by Russell CEO Craig Ueland.
Russell associates are our most important investment. They're smart people who like to work hard. That's why Russell offers high-end benefits like paid sabbaticals, flexible schedules, vacation allowance and excellent medical and dental benefits.
Our goal is to keep great associates happy and healthy. A creative mind needs time to reflect, re-energize and learn. Russell pays for career development education and offers top-notch tuition reimbursement programs. To reinforce our commitment to work/life balance, each location also offers a variety of premier benefits as well, such as health club membership and more.
Smart people also like to plan for the future. Russell helps you get there, by offering the Russell Retirement Plan. Russell contributes 10 percent of each associates annual base pay to the Russell Retirement Plan, and will match up to an additional 5 percent of the associates 401k contribution. While Russell has contributed to the plan for over 30 years, these contributions are discretionary. Associates are eligible for the company contribution after six months of service.
At Russell, we recognize that refreshed associates-with time away from work to recharge-are more likely to come up with the great ideas. Our vacation schedules and company-sponsored activities are just some of the ways we help keep inspiration coming. Fully paid, eight week sabbaticals every ten years of employment reward our longer-term associates and provides a unique opportunity to rest and rejuvenate.
The company operates principal offices in London, Paris, Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Singapore, Seoul, Tokyo, Toronto, San Francisco and New York.
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 1,750 associates in more than 20 offices around the world.[1] In October 2008, Russell Investments Canada Ltd. was named one of "Canada's Top 100 Employers" by Mediacorp Canada Inc., and was featured in Maclean's newsmagazine. Later that month, Russell Investments Canada was also named one of Greater Toronto's Top Employers, which was announced by the Toronto Star newspaper.
As we close 2009, you likely have already seen some decade reviews, best-of lists, worst-of lists, and the like.
Here is our perspective on the startling transformation of Russell Investments from the best-of category to something not so worthy of recognition over the decade.
It’s not the kind of story that inspires confidence in Russell’s ability to “Improve Financial Security for People,” the company’s long-held mission. With the firm continuing to unravel like a holiday sweater well past its prime, Russell closes the decade as a skeleton of what it used to be … and skeleton a that appears to have broken bones at that.
For more than seven decades, Russell has had a special presence in Tacoma. Starting as a small brokerage in 1936, the firm became one of the largest pension consultants in the U.S. as well as a dominating presence in the Tacoma business landscape. From 1999 through 2008, it was named one of the best companies to work for in the U.S. seven times. Russell had a 20% annual revenue growth rate and took great care of its employees.
And then, to close a decade of significant change for the company, along came a series of unfortunate events executed by the corporate parent company and Russell’s first “outsider” CEO, Andrew Doman. Corporate complications were, of course, heightened by global economic and market conditions.
In 1999, George Russell sold Frank Russell Company to Northwestern Mutual, the huge Milwaukee-based insurance carrier. Russell retired and for the first five years under its new owners the firm continued to grow under CEO Mike Phillips. In 2005, Phillips handed the CEO reins over to Craig Ueland and the firm continued to build a global business serving institutional investors, distributing mutual funds and providing indexes and investment benchmarks for investors.
In June 2008, Ueland left the company under mysterious circumstances. Northwestern Mutual, having named one if its executives, John Schlifske, as Russell’s interim CEO, orchestrated the reconstruction of Russell leadership. Doman was hired in January of 2009.
Doman was a consultant at McKinsey & Company. Nobody really expects him to be a long-term company leader. He’s renting a home in Gig Harbor and his family remains in London. The consensus perception is that he’s a change agent. He has brought in other former McKinsey consultants who have led an effort to redefine the company, possibly positioning it for sale. Based on the activity since the middle of 2008, Northwestern and Doman have succeeded in stripping almost all historically important character and leadership from the company.
Doman inherited a mess that began around the time of Ueland’s exit and grew under Northwestern Mutual’s control in the second half of 2008.
After the beginning of the financial crisis in October 2008, Russell shut down its hedge fund team (based in London) when the department lost millions on risky bets.
In the last quarter of 2008, some of the Russell money market funds held large positions in Lehman Brothers short-term paper which became worthless. Northwestern Mutual loaned Russell $764 million so these funds wouldn’t “break the buck.”
As a result of the loan, the value of Russell’s internal private stock price (used as an employee retention tool) was scheduled to be reduced to zero. Many of the top managers were offered the chance to retire from the firm and get paid out from their internal stock holdings based on the past year’s price. Many jumped ship and took the deal. It was much more attractive than waiting perhaps four or five years before the shares built up any value again.
1. Long track record of growth
We've been a growth company for decades, and our growth continues.
2. Financial leadership
We are a pioneer in multi-manager investing and the creator of the Russell Indexes. We now manage $155.4 billion in assets¹ and provide advice on approximately $786 billion in assets worldwide².
3. Investment in people
We have a genuine focus on our people. It underlies everything we do. We've long believed that investing in them allows us to bring our most innovative solutions to clients.
4. Global opportunities
We serve clients in 46 countries and staff major offices in 14. We're present in major financial centers like London, New York, Sydney and Tokyo. With a presence this broad, opportunities for success are unlimited.
5. Unparalleled work environment
With an exceptional corporate culture, exciting growth opportunities and a premier benefits package, it's no wonder Fortune magazine has often ranked us among the "100 Best Companies to Work for in America."
In what represents one of the most far-reaching acquisitions in the Australian financial services sector, Russell Investment Group has acquired Towers Perrin (Australia).
The acquisition, announced today, flows from the collaboration arrangements between the two companies started in 2002.
Russell Investment Group managing director Alan Schoenheimer says the acquisition represents the next logical step in the relationship.
"It follows three years of successful collaboration between the two firms, who have shared investment research resources as well as jointly completing many of Australia's largest superannuation outsourcing deals," he says.
"This landmark transaction creates an investment and superannuation powerhouse," Schoenheimer says. "The range of services is unmatched in the Australian marketplace and our organisations are now ideally positioned for strong growth in this competitive environment."
The transaction is not expected to result in any significant level of job losses, with both Schoenheimer and Towers Perrin managing director David Solomon claiming that little overlap existed which would necessitate down-sizing.
"If anything, we have been running a little lean," Solomon says. "Obviously, knowing that this was in train, we have not been extensively recruiting over recent months."
The key elements of the deal will see the human resources business of Towers Perrin become known as Russell Employee Benefits and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Russell Investment Group.
Towers Perrin's Australian asset consulting practice will integrate with Russell's asset consulting practice and the two practices will be fully integrated to create Australia's largest asset consulting business.
The Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) today announced that Martin Leibowitz, managing director, U.S. equity strategy, Morgan Stanley, and Don Ezra, director of strategic advice, Russell Investment Group, have been selected for the 2004 EBRI Lillywhite Award in recognition of outstanding lifetime contributions to Americans’ economic security.
EBRI, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization, established the Lillywhite Award in 1992 to acknowledge individual and group excellence in the fields of retirement, health and economic security. The winners of the Lillywhite Award are recognized as persons or organizations that have made significant contribution to the investment management and employee benefits fields and whose outstanding service has enhanced Americans’ economic security.
“Millions of workers both here and abroad will enjoy a more comfortable retirement because of the path-breaking work done by the Lillywhite winners,” said EBRI President and CEO Dallas Salisbury in announcing the 2004 winners.
Martin Leibowitz is a leading authority on bond analysis and overall portfolio allocation strategy. He became managing director of the U.S. equity strategy team at Morgan Stanley earlier this year.
Leibowitz previously was vice chairman and chief investment officer of TIAA-CREF, which he joined after a 26-year career at Salomon Brothers. He is the author of four books and more than 130 articles on pension and investment issues. He has a reputation both for doing important and provocative research and for presenting it in an accessible fashion.
He is an author of Return Targets and Shortfall Risk: Studies in Strategic Asset Allocation, published in 1996. An earlier work he coauthored, Inside the Yield Book; New Tools for Bond Market Strategy, was first published in 1972 and has since gone through multiple printings. This year the authors of the Yield Book published Inside the Yield Book: The Classic that Created the Science of Bond Analysis. Articles authored by Leibowitz have repeatedly received the Graham and Dodd Award for exemplary financial writing.
Don Ezra is a 20-year veteran of Russell and his current role, director of strategic advice, was created in 2000 in response to a worldwide investor need for focus on “big picture” issues. In this role he provides expert insight on specific governance and financial matters. Ezra previously was managing director of Russell’s global consulting business and headed the firm’s investment policy and research unit. He has extensive international experience and has worked in Canada and the United Kingdom.
A widely published author in the pension fund industry, Ezra co-wrote, with Keith P. Ambachtsheer, Pension Fund Excellence: Creating Value for Stakeholders, which was published in 1998 and is now viewed as a classic in the field. He is also the author of The Struggle for Pension Fund Wealth, published in 1984 and Understanding Pension Fund Finance and Investment (1979).
While he has won technical awards from the Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance, the Financial Analysts Journal and the Financial Research Institute of Canada, Ezra is known particularly for the clarity of his writing. He explains complex ideas in ways that both management and employees can understand – a skill that has made him a popular speaker around the world and has greatly helped spread the influence of his ideas.
EBRI’s Lillywhite Award is named after Ray Lillywhite, a pioneer in the pension field, who for decades guided state employee pension plans. Lillywhite helped found numerous professional organizations and educational programs. He retired from Alliance Capital in 1992 at age 80, after a 55-year career in the pension and investment field. He exemplifies not only excellence but also innovation in lifelong achievements, teaching and learning.
Past recipients of the EBRI Lillywhite Award include Roger Bransford, William N. Bret, John A Connors, James A. Curtis, Nel Daniels, Harry L DuBrin, Jr., G. David Hurd, John W. English, William A. Ferguson, Peter E. Friedes, Kenneth K. Keene, Jack E. Kennedy, Robert G. Kirby, Juanita Morris Kreps, Marvin A. Levins, Ray Lillywhite, Robert D. Paul, Claude Rosenberg, George F. Russell, Jr., Clifford R. Simmons, A.J.C. Smith, Quentin I. Smith, Jr., Joseph J. Stahl II, Douglas D. Stegner, George B. Swick, National Council on Teacher Retirement (NCTR) and TIAA-CREF.
The award will be presented to Leibowitz at an April 26 conference in Pinehurst, NC sponsored by the Investment Management Institute. Speakers will include Kenneth Holmes, who gave Lillywhite his first post in the investment industry; Michael Clowes, editorial director of Pensions and Investments.
Ezra will receive his award May 21 at the 2004 Russell International Conference, in Lake Las Vegas, NV. The ceremony will include presentation of the award by EBRI President and CEO Dallas Salisbury and remarks by Russell CEO Craig Ueland.
Russell associates are our most important investment. They're smart people who like to work hard. That's why Russell offers high-end benefits like paid sabbaticals, flexible schedules, vacation allowance and excellent medical and dental benefits.
Our goal is to keep great associates happy and healthy. A creative mind needs time to reflect, re-energize and learn. Russell pays for career development education and offers top-notch tuition reimbursement programs. To reinforce our commitment to work/life balance, each location also offers a variety of premier benefits as well, such as health club membership and more.
Smart people also like to plan for the future. Russell helps you get there, by offering the Russell Retirement Plan. Russell contributes 10 percent of each associates annual base pay to the Russell Retirement Plan, and will match up to an additional 5 percent of the associates 401k contribution. While Russell has contributed to the plan for over 30 years, these contributions are discretionary. Associates are eligible for the company contribution after six months of service.
At Russell, we recognize that refreshed associates-with time away from work to recharge-are more likely to come up with the great ideas. Our vacation schedules and company-sponsored activities are just some of the ways we help keep inspiration coming. Fully paid, eight week sabbaticals every ten years of employment reward our longer-term associates and provides a unique opportunity to rest and rejuvenate.