Russell/Nomura Indexes to Add 94 New Firms in Annual Reconstitution (Russell.com)

Russell/Nomura Indexes to Add 94 New Firms in Annual Reconstitution
Membership Lists Reflect Changes in Japanese Market

TACOMA, Wash. — November 16, 2005 — The family of Russell/Nomura indexes, which capture 98% of the float-adjusted market capitalization of the Japanese equity market, will add 94 new firms as part of the annual reconstitution process on December 1. The preliminary lists of additions and deletions for the Russell/Nomura Total Market™ Index and the Russell/Nomura Prime™ Index are posted on http://qr.nomura.co.jp/.

The Russell/Nomura Indexes are reconstituted annually to reflect changes in the Japanese marketplace. Companies are ranked October 31 based on available market capitalization. Changes in the constituents announced today are subject to change if any corporate activity occurs or if any new information is received prior to December 1.

Today's "additions" list for the Russell/Nomura Total Market Index indicates the industry with the largest change in terms of the number of companies newly added is "Information & Communication" with 21 firms set for inclusion. The next largest gains will be among Services (14), Retail Trade (11) and Real Estate (10).

The industries which will see the largest number of companies deleted from Russell/Nomura indexes are Electric Appliances (10), Information & Communications (8), Chemicals (7) and Wholesale Trade (7.)

In terms of the weighting of the 33 industries reflected in the index, the "Services" sector will show the largest increase. It will be followed by Securities & Commodity Futures and Other Financial Business.

Industries declining in terms of weighting within the index will be lead by Transportation Equipment, Electric Power & Gas and Pharmaceutical.

"We can see recent changes in the Japanese equity market by looking at changes in the Russell/Nomura Total Market Index," said Noriyuki Oharazawa, Senior Project Manager, Indexes, at Russell. "These preliminary changes show us stocks other than Tokyo Stock Exchange 1^st Section are getting more and more important in investing into the Japanese market."

Among the new names added to the Russell/Nomura Total Market Index, 24 are traded on JASDAQ, while 31 of the names deleted from the index are traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange 1^st Section.

Regarding the 21 additions in the Information & Communication sector, 17 of them are listed on exchanges other than the Tokyo Stock Exchange 1^st Section.

Russell/Nomura Prime Index

The Russell/Nomura Prime Index, which represents all Japanese equity markets and measures the performance of Japan's top 1,000 float-adjusted stocks, will add 44 names on December 1. This index was designed as a benchmark for passive management strategies.

Among the 33 industries represented in this index, "Services" will increase the most in terms of weighting. It will be followed by Securities & Commodity Futures and Real Estate. In terms of the number of additions, "Services" will include nine new names. It will be followed by Real Estate (7), Retail Trade (5) and Electric Appliances (4).

By contrast, "Transportation Equipment" will show the largest decline in terms of weighting and "Electric Appliances" will see the largest drop in the number of names.

The Russell/Nomura Prime Index limits the impact of small market movements by applying a banding methodology at reconstitution. Securities ranked 901 through 1,100 will only be included in the index if they were members prior to reconstitution up until a number of 1,000 securities is reached. If 1,000 securities are not included after this exercise, non members in this range will be included until the number of members reaches 1,000.

"The newly added companies in this index should receive attention from investors as proficient stocks," said Oharazawa.

The total market value of the Russell/Nomura Prime Index will likely increase to 282 trillion yen from 274 trillion yen as a result of this year's reconstitution process. The total market value of the Russell/Nomura Total Market Index will likely increase from 285 trillion yen to 295 trillion yen as a result of this year's reconstitution process.

"The index reconstitution process objectively captures the changing fortunes of companies and industries in the Japanese equity market," said Kelly Haughton, strategic director for Russell indexes. "Reflecting such changes in the market assures money managers and other investors that each Russell/Nomura index is truly representative of the market segment it reflects."

Securities that leave the Russell/Nomura indexes between reconstitution dates due to mergers, acquisitions, or other similar corporate activity are not replaced. Thus, the number of securities in the indexes over the year fluctuates according to corporate activity. The only additions between reconstitution dates are as a result of spin-offs and initial public offerings falling in the large segment (as determined by the latest reconstitution).

About Russell/Nomura Japan Equity Indexes
In 1995, Russell Investment Group and Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. jointly developed Russell/Nomura Japan Equity Indexes that serve to measure performance based on various investment policies. The indexes are value weighted and include only common stocks domiciled in Japan. All indexes are subsets of the Russell/Nomura Total Market™ Index, which represents approximately 98% of the investable Japan equity market. Russell/Nomura Prime was additionally developed in 2004 to be a benchmark for passive investment strategies. The Russell/Nomura Prime Index Futures was listed on the Osaka Securities Exchange in April 2005.

About Russell
Russell Investment Group, a global leader in multi-manager investment services, provides investment products and services in more than 35 countries. Russell manages more than $148 billion in assets and advises clients worldwide representing more than $2.3 trillion. Founded in 1936, Russell is a subsidiary of Northwestern Mutual and is headquartered in Tacoma, Wash., with additional offices in New York, Toronto, London, Paris, Singapore, Sydney, Auckland and Tokyo.

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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