Russell Forms New Research & Strategy Group (Russell.com)

Russell Forms New Research & Strategy Group to Build Investment Solutions for Institutional Clients
New Group Aims to Provide Fully Integrated Service Offering: Consulting, Asset Management and Implementation Services

TACOMA, Wash. — March 22, 2004 — Russell Investment Group, a global leader in multi-manager investing, announced today that it has formed a new Research and Strategy Group as part of its U.S. Institutional Investment Services. The new group will provide Russell's institutional clients with a comprehensive range of research-based solutions in areas including asset allocation and asset liability, portfolio strategies and implementation approaches.

The group is headed by Robert Blackwell, managing director, institutional research and strategy, who reports directly to Paul Reynolds, managing director, Institutional Investment Services.

"Our institutional clients are facing a variety of challenges, including investing in an environment with lower expected equity returns over the long term. To meet the challenges ahead, they need a firm that can deliver solutions across the spectrum from investment advice to active asset management and industry-leading implementation approaches," said Paul Reynolds, managing director, Institutional Investment Services. "The Research and Strategy Group combines some of our best people from several areas of our business and allows them to work closely with clients to develop innovative ideas and approaches to help them meet their fiduciary responsibilities and financial goals."

The Research and Strategy Group currently includes 13 associates, including: John Ilkiw, director, global consulting practices; Michael Hall, director, asset/liability strategy; and, Robert Collie, director, with special responsibility for researching the risks and costs associated with implementing investment programs. The group also will work closely with Russell's existing Capital Markets Research team on matters involving specific market research and forecasts, and economic environments. Russell plans to expand the Research and Strategy Group as client demand requires.

"This new group has been created in direct response to our clients' needs. The volatile investment environment, combined with increased scrutiny on fiduciaries, has made clients keenly aware of the need for leading-edge strategies and best-of-breed products and solutions," said Robert Blackwell, managing director, institutional research and strategy. "To this end, the associates in our Research and Strategy Group will be actively working with clients, spending more time with them, to better understand their businesses and investment challenges. By concentrating on client focused solutions we are confident that we can provide highly relevant, actionable and value-added advice and guidance to our clients."

The Research and Strategy Group is formed as Russell's institutional business continues to grow at a record pace. In 2003, the firm added more than 130 institutional clients across the three largest markets in the world — the U.S., U.K. and Japan.

About Russell
Russell Investment Group, a global leader in multi-manager investing, provides investment products and services in more than 35 countries. Russell manages more than $100 billion in assets and advises clients worldwide representing more than $1.8 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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