Russell Investments - History

History

1936 — Local businessman Frank Russell starts a small brokerage firm in Tacoma, Washington.

1958 — George Russell joins his grandfather's firm, Frank Russell Company. Six months later, George becomes chairman, president and CEO when his grandfather dies. The company has two employees — George and an assistant.

1969 — George pioneers a new industry — strategic pension fund consulting — when he demonstrates his money manager evaluation process during a sales call to J.C. Penney and secures the giant U.S. retailer as his first client. Nearly four decades later, J.C. Penney remains a client. Russell begins managing money managers, instead of managing money, and opens a New York office to expand the concept nationally.

1974 — Russell's institutional consulting business grows from a single client to 40 major U.S. clients, including AT&T and General Motors.

1979 — Russell initiates its global presence with the opening of an office in London.

1980 — Russell launches its investment management business in response to a client's request for funds that provide a fully diversified and packaged blend of investment managers. Russell begins leveraging its research of outside managers to create a manager-of-managers investment process for smaller retirement plans and individuals.

1984 — Russell researchers create the Russell 1000, Russell 2000, and Russell 3000 Indexes as objective benchmarks for evaluating manager performance. Russell opens an office in Toronto, Ontario.

1986 — Russell opens an office in Tokyo, Japan, which has the second largest pension system behind the United States, and opens an office in Sydney, Australia, expanding to its fourth continent.

1988 — Russell dedicates a new headquarters building in Tacoma, Wash. Custom-designed by George and Jane Russell, the 12-story granite building reflects both urban and natural environments, with each floor capturing views of downtown Tacoma, Puget Sound, and Mt. Rainier, Washington’s tallest peak.

1990 — Mike Phillips is named president of Frank Russell Company. In 1993, he is named chief executive officer. George Russell continues as chairman. George Russell establishes Russell 20-20, a group of independent money managers and plan sponsors who explore emerging markets with an eye toward investment opportunities.

1999 — Russell expands to Singapore. Northwestern Mutual, the largest provider of individual life insurance in the United States, acquires Russell. The company retains the Russell name, management, office locations and investment approach. For the first time, Russell appears on Fortune Magazine's "Best Companies to Work for in America" list, at number 15.

2000 — Russell ranks 13th on Fortune Magazine's "Best Companies to Work for in America" list.

2001 — Russell is again ranked 13th on Fortune Magazine's "Best Companies to Work for in America" list.

2002 — Serving as chairman since 1958, George Russell retires, retaining the role of chairman emeritus for Frank Russell Company and Russell 20-20. Russell ranks 11th on Fortune Magazine's "Best Companies to Work for in America" list.

2003 — Russell changes its business name to Russell Investment Group to better reflect its wide range of investment solutions. Craig Ueland is appointed president of Russell in July 2003 and then CEO effective January 2004.

2004 — In March, Russell acquires Pantheon Ventures, the global private equity fund-of-funds specialist headquartered in London. In August, Russell acquires the Australian HR services operation of Towers Perrin.

2006 — Russell is ranked among top 100 on Fortune Magazine's "Best Companies to Work for in America" list.

2007 — Russell's family of U.S. equity indexes goes global with the launch of a fully integrated family of global stock indexes. The Russell Global Indexes provide investors worldwide with a comprehensive set of benchmarks that cover small-cap, large-cap and all-cap companies in developed and emerging markets. Russell is again ranked among the top 100 of Fortune Magazine's "Best Companies to Work for in America" list. Russell opens an office in Seoul, Korea.

2008 — Russell is named to Fortune Magazine's "Best Companies to Work for in America" list. Russell's Board of Directors accepted the resignation of Craig Ueland and named John Schlifske, executive vice president with Northwestern Mutual and a member of Russell's board, as Russell's new President and CEO.

2008 — Russell investments announced that they might leave Tacoma, having outgrown their old headquarters. The lease on the headquarters on A Street expires in 2013. Local government officials, wary of losing the biggest company in downtown Tacoma, have started an attractive campaign to keep Russell in Tacoma, including plans for a brand new headquarters.

2008 — FT reports that Russell Investments is to close two of its three main hedge funds following a sharp drop in assets under management to less than two billion USD. Investors were already gated and redemptions reported to be high. Many staff in the Alternatives Division were laid off, with the few remaining persons employed to oversee the wind-down process of the above.

2009 — Russell’s Board of Directors named Andrew Doman as Russell’s new Chief Executive Officer. Andrew Doman assumed role of President upon John Schlifske's return to Northwestern Mutual.

2009 — Russell Investments said they would move headquarters from Tacoma to Chase Center in Seattle.

2010 — Russell Investments is named "Manager of Managers of the Year" at the Global Pensions Awards.

2010 — Russell Investments completes move of headquarters to Seattle. The former Chase Center building is now renamed Russell Investments Center.

2011 — Russell's Board of Directors named Len Brennan as Russell's new Chief Executive Officer. He is also chief executive of the firm's Europe, Middle East, Africa business.

2011 — Russell Investments opens its first regional office in Germany with the launch of Frankfurt operations during October.