Institutional investors

Russell webcasts Forward thinking. Objective insight. Our webcasts offer insight and perspectives from our top investment experts on the current complex economic landscape. Webcast recordings Getting real about adding real assets to your defined contribution plan menu Plan sponsors looking to increase the options available for participants in their defined contribution plans have begun to consider alternatives as part of their program. Investments such as real assets, traditionally seen in the defined benefit space, have begun to appear on defined contribution menus. They offer the ability to help participants diversify the return sources within their investment program as well as potentially provide some protection again inflation — but how do you as a plan sponsor ensure that you're providing the right options? Listen in on a best practices discussion centered on how & when to include alternatives in your menu and best practices around how to best evaluate the successful integration of real assets into your overall plan. Our experts, Josh Cohen, Defined Contribution Practice Leader, and James Ind, Managing Director, highlight infrastructure investing, a real asset category that warrants greater evaluation for inclusion in DC plan investment options.   View webcast Josh Cohen DC Practice Leader   James Ind Managing Director, Investments   The Euro-zone is in crisis. Where do we go from here? The European debt crisis is not only lingering, but spreading, now heightening fears that Europe will slide into a recession and pull the other developed nations in with them. Will the 17 euro-zone leaders be able to pull together a comprehensive plan for recovery during meetings on 10/26? What happens if they can't? Recorded on Friday, October 28th, Russell experts Rachel Carroll and Erik Ristuben discuss the current economic situation, the impact it could have on US markets, and steps Europe might take to turn the tide in their favor.   View webcast Rachel Carroll Consultant   Erik Ristuben Chief Investment Officer, Client Strategies   11 actions designed to improve your defined contribution plans in 2011 View webcast Listen to a lively discussion around three of the eleven key priority actions that Russell has identified for defined contribution plan sponsors for 2011. Our topics for the discussion include: Demystifying the “date debate” Considerations regarding adding alternative asset classes to target date strategies Choosing best of breed investment managers Moderator: D. Don Ezra, Co-head, Global Consulting, Russell Investments       Our panelists include: Josh Cohen, Defined Contribution Practice Leader, Russell Investments Fred Reish, Partner, Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP John Rekenthaler, Vice President of Research, Morningstar   This webcast is the first of a two part series on Russell's 11 for 2011 priority list. Opportunistic Webcast Series: Diversifying your portfolio with Commodities Commodity investing has been a hot topic over the past 18 months. Investors have been looking to gold, oil, and agricultural commodities as a portfolio diversifier and source of returns.  Is this trend expected to continue?  And if so, what sectors and vehicles are most likely to lead the pack? Audio recording Campbell Harvey, J. Paul Sticht Professor of International Business at the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University A widely published author and investing expert, Dr. Harvey will provide a macro view of the current market environment, focused on topics such as the role of commodities in the global economy, the anticipated return profile of these investments, and how that stacks up against the return profiles of both equities and fixed income.       Mark Paris, Senior Research Analyst     Janine Baldridge, Global Head of Consulting & Advisory Services     The next phase for alternatives Janine Baldridge, Global Head of Consulting & Advisory Services Bill Lee, Chief Investment Officer and Vice President, Pensions and Foundation Investments - Kaiser Permanente What's next for alternative investments? And how are your peers adapting to changes in the alternatives landscape? This webcast covers: Global trends in alternative investing, A CIO's perspective on how institutions are adapting, Day-to-day realities of managing an alternatives portfolio, and What investors expect from their investment managers going forward View webcast Developing a better risk management framework Bob Collie, Managing Director, Investment Strategy & Consulting Bruce Curwood, Director, Investment Strategy Risk is largely unpredictable and as such, requires greater preparedness and emphasis in the governance process. In this session, we demonstrate the importance of clearly defining your long term objectives, time horizon, and risk tolerance while measuring their short-term impact on both your organization's fund and balance sheets. This session will help you: Identify and prioritize the risks you should be managing in your portfolio Determine your organization's risk tolerance Identify how to build a fund-wide risk management framework for your governance process View webcast How much are you paying for Foreign Exchange? Ian Toner, Global Head of Commission Management & Currency Implementation John Halligan, President, Global Trading Analytics Equity and fixed income trading is generally well understood by investors, with detailed trading and reporting processes in place around this activity. Foreign exchange trading, however, has often been regarded as more an administrative than an investment process. In many cases, this has led to less effective trading processes, less detailed analysis of results, and less transparency for investors. As foreign assets become a larger part of a diversified investment program, and as fiduciary standards for oversight increase, investors will increasingly demand similar market structures, disclosure and measurement tools for their foreign exchange trades as for their equity and fixed income trades. Ian Toner and John Halligan conduct an intimate discussion around what we believe to be best execution practices on one of the richest sources of revenues to U.S. banks, foreign exchange trading. To learn more about our insights and research, please contact David or Gerry:     West Coast David Rothenberg Managing Director 866-926-5934 East Coast Gerry Lillis Director 866-459-4128 Nothing contained in this material is intended to constitute legal, tax, securities, or investment advice, nor an opinion regarding the appropriateness of any investment, nor a solicitation of any type. The general information contained in this publication should not be acted upon without obtaining specific legal, tax, and investment advice from a licensed professional. Please remember that all investments carry some level of risk, including the potential loss of principal invested. They do not typically grow at an even rate of return and may experience negative growth. As with any type of portfolio structuring, attempting to reduce risk and increase return could, at certain times, unintentionally reduce returns. Diversification does not assure a profit and does not protect against loss in declining markets. Russell Investment Group is a Washington, USA corporation, which operates through subsidiaries worldwide, including Russell Investments, and is a subsidiary of The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company. USI-11705