Russell Gains AUD$700 Million Assignment (Russell.com)

Russell Gains AUD$700 Million Assignment From News Limited in Australia
Outsourcing Deal Sets Record

TACOMA, Wash. — Jan. 21, 2005 — Russell Investment Group secured the largest corporate superannuation outsourcing deal ever in Australia when News Limited announced it will hire Russell to manage its AUD$700 million superannuation fund, which is called NewsSuper.

News Limited is the largest newspaper publisher in Australia, offering more than 120 metropolitan, regional and suburban titles. The company's publications account for about 70 percent of Australia's newspaper circulation, selling 13.6 million newspapers each week.

NewsSuper will become part of the Russell SuperSolution Master Trust, where it will be specially managed as a separate sub-section of the Trust. The SuperSolution Master Trust was established in July 2003 and has since attracted a range of corporate and other institutional funds totaling more than AUD$2 billion.

Keith Brodie, Group HR Director of News Limited, said the company had taken a number of successful steps along the outsourcing route. The complex 8,000-member fund, which has been administered by Towers Perrin since early 2001, appointed Russell as its asset consultant in July 2003.

"We concluded that with the advent of choice and the ongoing changes to government regulation and associated compliance burden, we were better off leaving it to the experts," Brodie said. "We have had a strong relationship with Russell and formed a view that they were the only firm who could fully accommodate the investment and administrative complexities of our fund."

The deal reinforces the complementary strengths of the Russell and Towers Perrin businesses in Australia, which since joining forces six months ago have achieved remarkable success across both the investment and administration sectors.

"Russell has positioned itself as the market-leading solution for Australian corporate super funds, and we look forward to continuing the high level of service the NewsSuper members have come to expect from us," said Alan Schoenheimer, managing director of Russell in Australasia. "Russell's range of investment and administration services is unmatched in the Australian marketplace. This deal highlights the fact that even very large organizations can achieve a sophisticated and cost-effective outsourced solution for their employees."

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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