Highlights of the Company's Evolution in Investment Services
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. At this point, 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. More than 35 years later, J.C. Penney remains a client.
Fueled by George's new idea, Russell begins managing money managers, instead of managing money, and opens a New York office to expand the concept nationally. George also launches a data business based on performance measurement information and a securities trading business for the company's institutional investors.
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 a London office.
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. George creates two investment management subsidiaries, and 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 introduces its presence in Canada with the opening of 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 — Custom designed by George and Jane Russell, the new Russell world headquarters located in Tacoma, Washington is dedicated. Designed to reflect both the urban and natural environments, the 12-story granite building is deliberately oriented on the property so that every floor has direct views of Mount Rainier.
1989 — The Russell Tactical Allocation Fund is established, bringing the total number of investment funds to fourteen.
Frank Russell Securities trading volume hits 1% of the total NYSE volume, trading over 1 million shares a day.
1990 — Mike Phillips is the first new president of Frank Russell Company in 32 years; and 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.
1991 — Frank Russell Company and Tokyo-based Yasuda Fire & Marine Co., Ltd, one of Japan's largest insurance companies, develop the first practical financial modeling tool utilizing sophisticated forecasting and analytical techniques. It is hailed as the largest known asset allocation model in existence.
1992 — Russell launches four multi-manager, multi-style funds for individual investors throughout Canada.
Russell Assets Under Management hit $5 billion (US).
1997 — Russell's consulting business surpasses $1 trillion in represented assets.
1999 — Russell's global office network — which already includes the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand — expands to Singapore.
Northwestern Mutual, the largest provider of individual life insurance in the US, acquires Russell. The company retains its name, management, office locations, and investment approach.
Russell receives honors as number 15 on the Fortune Magazine "Best Companies to Work for in America" list.
2000 — Russell launches a new web technology platform, RussellLINK, for its institutional investment clients.
George and Jane Russell are awarded with Honorary Doctorates from Pacific Lutheran University.
2001 — Russell receives honors as number 13 on Fortune Magazine's "Best Companies to Work for in America" list for the second consecutive year.
The inaugural Heart and Soul Award for Service to Community, given annually to a Russell associate who emulates commitment, dedication and support in the lives of others, is presented to Jane T. Russell in November.
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, ranking in the top 15 for four consecutive years. Russell also received the National Family Business of the Year award (1997), and the Best Company to Work For — Hall of Fame award (1999, 2000) from Washington CEO magazine.
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 — Russell hits $100 billion (USD) in assets under management (AUM). By the end of 2004, AUM would rise to $134 billion (USD).
In March, Russell acquires Pantheon, the global private equity fund-of-funds specialist headquartered in London.
Russell acquires the Australian HR services operation of Towers Perrin in August — a strategic move that adds more than 270 Russell associates and enables Russell to offer an unmatched array of investment and administrative services.
Russell's manager research capability rated highest by money managers surveyed by Global Pensions magazine in 2004, and the 2004 Cerulli™ Report which found that Russell is the Global Leader in Multi-Manager Investing in terms of market share.
2005 — Russell earns the 2005 "Multi-Manager of The Year" award from Financial News, citing Russell's growing European business and the depth and quality of Russell's EMEA funds.
Russell's AUM hits $155 billion by year end and its consulting business tops $2.3 trillion in represented assets.
Toronto office is named in "Canada's Top 100 Employers" for the fourth straight year.
Chairman emeritus, George Russell, composes two books honoring the memory of his late wife Jane Thompson Russell, who passed away in May 2002 - one entitled "Jane Russell's Way" and the other a collection of letters and tributes many of which are written by Russell associates.
Russell establishes the launch of its Focused Giving Initiative. Through this initiative, the company will be committing new philanthropic dollars to support projects that meet pressing needs in two focus areas: Financial Literacy and Children.
2006 — Russell and IBM join forces in Australia to create a superannuation administration alliance.
For the fifth time since 1999, Russell is ranked among the top 100 of Fortune Magazine's "Best Companies to Work For in America."
Russell indexes surpass $3.8 trillion (USD) in benchmarked assets.
The Russell SuperSolution master trust was awarded the 5 Apples rating in both the Large Plans and Medium Plans categories as a result of Chant West's 2006 review of wholesale funds in Australia.