Historical Summary Highlights Of Russell's Evolution In Investment Services Russell began as a small brokerage firm in Tacoma, Washington, and has become one of the world's leading investment services firms. With more than 65 years of investing experience, Russell advises some of the world's largest companies and governments on how to invest their assets. Frank Russell started the firm in 1936 in his hometown after working as a stockbroker on Wall Street. In 1958, Frank's grandson, George Russell, joined the company after graduating from Harvard Business School. Just a few months later, after the unexpected death of his grandfather, George took over the company. In 1966, George realized that corporations needed a more disciplined approach to selecting and tracking investment managers — a realization that would transform his career and the future of the company. Follow our timeline for an overview of the events and accomplishments that transformed a small Pacific Northwest company into an industry-leading, multinational corporation... 1936 — Frank Russell starts a small brokerage firm in Tacoma, Washington, a maritime city in Washington state. 1958 — George F. Russell, Jr., joins his grandfather's company after graduating from Harvard Business School. George takes over as president three months later, following Frank's death. He spends the next 11 years building Russell into a company that offers mutual funds and life insurance in the states of Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and Alaska. 1969 — George pioneers the notion of evaluating money managers and selling objective advice to large institutional investors — virtually creating the field of strategic pension fund consulting. George demonstrates his manager evaluation process to J.C. Penney and secures them as the company's first pension fund client. Russell conducts the industry's first formal money manager research, matching up Miller Anderson & Sherrerd with J.C. Penney. Russell also secures J.C. Penney as its first client for directed brokerage services. Investment analyst Peter Dietz is hired to develop a more precise method of performance measurement, known today as time-weighted returns. Russell makes the leap from managing money to managing managers, marking the beginning of a period of tremendous company growth. The company opens a New York office and expands its consulting practice nationally. 1970 — Russell conducts its first formal money manager interviews outside the United States. The company establishes real estate consulting services for institutional clients, a concept well ahead of its time. George speaks out as an early advocate of diversified investing, suggesting US institutional investors invest in "foreign" stocks and real estate. 1972 — Russell launches its sophisticated analytical services, introducing the first portfolio verification system for institutional clients and money managers. 1974 — Russell's institutional consulting business serves 40 major US clients, including IBM, AT&T, and General Motors. 1976 — Analysis at Russell reveals tendency for money managers with similar portfolio characteristics to deliver similar returns, leading to Russell's first equity profile. 1977 — Russell holds its first national sales and marketing conference in Chicago, sparking the formation of the Association for Investment Management Sales Executives (AIMSE). 1979 — Analysts at Russell are the first to recognize investment styles among money managers and to document the cyclical influence of style on investment performance. Russell opens its first overseas office in London as headquarters for evaluating European money managers. Russell employees total 100. 1980 — Russell launches investment management business, extending the company's valuable manager-of-manager concept to smaller retirement plans and their employees and providing companies of all sizes with investment strategies similar to those developed for many of the largest Fortune 500 companies. This marks the beginning of Russell's full-range approach to investment services and the start of the modern-day company. Frank Russell Trust Company (FRTC) is established to manage employee benefit assets for large and midsize companies. Eleven US multi-manager commingled funds are introduced. FRTC launches its International Fund, the first multi-manager investment product to provide non-US equities for institutional investors. Russell analysts introduce the first fixed-income attribution model. Russell introduces the first institutional real estate performance benchmark: Russell-NCREIF Property Index. 1981 — Russell establishes Frank Russell Investment Management Company (FRIMCo), expanding investment management services to smaller companies and individuals through a select network of independent financial advisors and banks. FRIMCo launches 19 multi-manager mutual funds across the United States. 1982 — Russell creates the Russell Russell 1000®, Russell 2000®, and Russell 3000® Indexes to establish better benchmarks for measuring the relative performance of US equity managers Russell launches defined contribution services to provide funds and recordkeeping to retirement plans. 1983 — Assets under management reach US$1 billion. 1984 — Russell opens an office in Toronto, Canada. Russell style indexes are introduced, becoming the first indexes to segment the US stock market by capitalization size and style. The Russell Indexes are now considered by many to be the most accurate benchmarks of stock market performance. 1986 — Russell opens an office in Tokyo, Japan and Sydney, Australia. 1988 — Russell builds current 12-story headquarters in Tacoma, Washington. Trading at Russell's securities brokerage, Frank Russell Securities, totals a record-high 4.8 percent of NYSE volume, on Dec. 21. Russell employees total 650. 1990 — George forms Russell 20-20 to explore investments in emerging markets such as China, Russia, and India. 1991 — Russell opens an office in Auckland, New Zealand. 1992 — Options on the Russell 2000 Index begin trading on the Chicago Board Options Exchange. Russell introduces LifePoints®, its award-winning financial planning and education program. 1993 — Russell embarks on a partnership with Canadian investment giant Richardson Greenshields (now RBC Dominion Securities, a member of Royal Bank Financial Group), to sell its multi-manager funds to investors across Canada. George is named one of the four most influential people in institutional investing by Pensions & Investments. Russell/Yasuda Asset Allocation Model establishes new industry standards for its approach to quantified business planning, winning the prestigious Franz Edelman Award from the Institute of Management Sciences. Russell opens an office in Zurich, Switzerland. Russell 2000 Index data is published daily in The Wall Street Journal. 1994 — Russell's institutional consulting clients comprise 200 of the world's largest retirement funds, including four of Japan's five largest corporate retirement plans and several of the largest retirement funds in Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Europe, Canada, and the United States. The Russell 3000 Index is named best measurable barometer of the US stock market according to Value Line Institutional Services. The company introduces multi-manager funds in Europe, the first family of Russell funds available outside North America. Russell Capital Inc. is established as an investment bank to support global financial organizations with strategic, cross-border ventures and a well-diversified approach to private equity investing. Russell is voted "Best Large Company to Work For in Washington State" by Washington CEO magazine. Russell opens an office in Paris, France. 1995 — Russell launches Canadian stock indexes. Russell invents "ellipses," a state-of-the-art graphical system for measuring and tracking complex universes of managers. Russell announces its nationally-recognized sabbatical program, allowing all associates who have worked at Russell for 10 years a two-month sabbatical. Russell launches its Web site: www.russell.com. Russell's retainer consulting business totals US$500 billion in represented assets. 1996 — Russell announces an alliance with A.G. Edwards brokerage to sell multi-manager funds through 6,000 brokers in 530 US offices. Russell teams with Nomura Research Institute to introduce 15 Russell indexes in Japan. Russell introduces transition management services to help institutional investors reduce the cost of changing money managers. Russell celebrates its 60th year in business. Assets under management reach US$26 billion. Russell employees total 1,100. 1997 — Russell's Asian Infrastructure Fund reaches targeted US$1 billion. The company introduces its multi-manager funds to Australia and New Zealand through an alliance with ANZ. Russell joins forces with internationalLiberty Group Group, bringing multi-manager funds to investors in South Africa. Russell's securities business logs a record high on July 17 for principal traded: US$417,833,357. Russell opens a sales office in Amsterdam. Russell announces employee equity participation plan for all Russell associates. Russell's retainer consulting business surpasses US$1 trillion in represented assets. Assets under management reach US$35 billion. 1998 — Mellon Trust and Russell's analytical services division announce the formation of Russell/Mellon Analytical Services, a joint venture serving many of the world's largest investment managers. Russell teams with Société Générale, a leading French bank, to launch the first-ever multi-manager funds available across continental Europe. Russell's securities business logs record volume on April 15 for shares traded: 8,768,633. Russell employees total 1,400. Assets under management total US$42 billion. 1999 — Russell is acquired by Northwestern Mutual, effective Jan. 1, becoming a subsidiary of the nation's largest provider of individual life insurance. Russell retains its name, management, office locations, and investment approach. Russell/Mellon Analytical Services is launched in January 1999, creating one of the world's top providers of performance measurement and portfolio analysis products. Russell teams with Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi to launch multi-manager funds in Japan. Russell teams with Development Bank of Singapore to launch multi-manager funds in Singapore.Russell ranks 15th on Fortune magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work for in America." 2000 — Frank Russell Canada introduces LifePoints® Portfolios. Russell ranks 13th on Fortune magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work for in America." Russell teams with ARCA SGR Spa to launch multi-manager funds in Italy. Assets under management total US$65 billion. 2001 — Frank Russell Canada establishes a strategic alliance with TD Evergreen, the full-service wealth management arm of TD Canada Trust. Russell launches Sovereign and LifePoints Portfolios through ScotiaMcLeod, one of Canada's leading, full-service investment firms. Russell again ranks 13th on Fortune magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work for in America." BMW and Russell join forces to introduce a unique multi manager investment program to German investors. Scottish Widows announced a corporate alliance with Frank Russell Company, to offer a "best of breed" Multi-Manager investment program to UK personal investors. Russell signs strategic alliance with Bank Hapoalim, Israel's leading bank to offer Multi-Manager Investment Program. Russell partners with DnB Investor, the mutual fund arm of Den Norske Bank, and launches an innovative MULTI ASSET MULTI STYLE MULTI MANAGER™ investment program in Norway. 2002 — Russell ranks 11th on Fortune magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work for in America." Assets under management total $110 billion. Cerulli Associates names Frank Russell Company largest global manager-of-managers. 2003 —Russell adopts the "dba" name Russell Investment Group, to better reflect its wide range of investment solutions. Russell acquires Pantheon; a global private equity specialist as Russell's solution for private equity funds-of-funds. Russell named one of Canada's Top 100 Employers 2004 — Russell is led by President and CEO Craig Ueland as Mike Phillips continues as Chairman. Russell acquires Towers Perrin's HR Services Operation in Australia. Russell Canada establishes a strategic alliance with Richardson Partners Financial Limited. Russell Canada is again listed as one of Canada's Top 100 Employers. 2005 — Cerulli Associates names Frank Russell Company largest global manager-of-managers. Russell Canada expands distribution of LifePoints® Portfolios. 2006 — Russell Canada purchases First Asset Advisory Services. Following two years as Director of Russell's Institutional Solutions group, Irshaad Ahmad is appointed president and managing director of Russell Investments Canada. 2007 —Our market-leading family of U.S. equity indexes went global with the launch of the Russell Global Indexes. And we were proud to be ranked number 30 on Fortune Magazine's "Best Companies to Work For in America" list. In addition, we surpassed US$220 billion in assets under management (AUM) by midsummer.

Products and services described on these websites are intended for Canadian residents only. Information on these sites should not be considered a solicitation to buy or an offer to sell a security to any person. Persons outside Canada may find more information about products and services available within their jurisdictions by going to Russell's worldwide site, http://www.russell.com.

Legal Information    Privacy Policy     Required Sales Disclosure

© Russell Investments Canada Limited 2008. All Rights Reserved.