DALBAR Study Ranks Russell in Top Five (Russell.com)

DALBAR Study Ranks Russell in Top Five
New ranking reflects the need for diversified, objective and transparent investment solutions

TACOMA, Wash. — December 7, 2004 — Russell Investment Group, a global leader in multi-manager investing, was recently ranked #5 in the General Opinion category of DALBAR's Mutual Fund National Rankings: Opinions of Financial Professionals.

DALBAR, a Boston-based company providing measurement systems and syndicated research for financial services industry participants, conducted the survey from June through August 2004 and collected input from 2,437 financial professionals regarding 39 investment firms.

"It has been a tumultuous year for the mutual fund industry and financial professionals have voiced a consistent opinion. They want to work with fund companies with a strong culture of integrity and offer their clients' objective, transparent investment solutions that provide consistent long-term performance," said Lou Harvey, CEO of DALBAR.

"We are very pleased to be recognized by financial professionals because we have focused specifically on building broad and cooperative relationships with them. In the 20 plus years we have been working with advisors, we have always viewed their business goals and their clients' investment goals as the drivers of our relationship," said Craig Wainscott, director of knowledge capital, Russell Investment Group.

"At a time when individuals are seeking more and more advice, we believe our institutional-quality multi-manager solution allows advisors to spend more time focusing on their clients by allowing them to leverage the full depth and breadth of our manager research and selection capabilities."

Russell currently works with more than 250 financial intermediaries in the U.S., including Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs), and financial representatives from Northwestern Mutual, AG Edwards and Raymond James.

Contact: Steve Claiborne (253) 594-1858

Russell Investment Group is a registered trade name of Frank Russell Company, a Washington, USA corporation, which operates through subsidiaries worldwide. Frank Russell Company is a subsidiary of The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company.

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