Russell Investments Canada Limited Strengthens Institutional Team

Athas Kouvaras joins global multi-asset manager; will work with institutional investors in Canada to provide fiduciary solutions.

TORONTO, April 22, 2014 /CNW/ - Joseph Gelly, Managing Director & Head of Institutional at Russell Investments Canada Limited (Russell Canada), is pleased to announce that Athas Kouvaras has joined the company as a Regional Director. In this new role, Kouvaras will be based in Russell's Toronto office and focus on providing Russell's multi-asset solutions to pension funds and non-profit investors across Canada.

There is growing demand, especially among mid-sized institutional investors, for investment outsourcing services, with an increasing number of institutions looking to partner with a third party to manage all or a portion of their investment strategy. Yet few providers offer the full range of services to meet this need. With its long history of providing consulting and multi-asset investment services, Russell Canada believes it offers a compelling service to this underserved market.  

"We are very excited to have Athas join our growing institutional team in Canada and believe his background and expertise will be vital as we continue to increase our level of support and resources for Canadian institutional investors in the nonprofit and defined benefit pension space," said Gelly. "Athas will work with our clients to find areas where a true multi-asset fiduciary solutions provider can add value in helping them reach their desired outcomes."

Mr. Kouvaras has 12 years of investment industry experience, with a strong background in manager due diligence, marketing and sales management. Before joining Russell, he spent nearly eight years at Man Investments as regional sales manager for eastern and western Canada. Prior to joining Man Investments, Kouvaras spent four years as head research analyst at BluMont Capital Corporation, where his primary responsibilities included initial and ongoing due diligence for hedge fund managers.

About Russell Investments

Russell Investments (Russell) is a global asset manager and one of only a few firms that offers actively managed multi-asset portfolios and services that include advice, investments and implementation. Russell stands with institutional investors, financial advisors and individuals working with their advisors – using the firm's core capabilities that extend across capital market insights, manager research, portfolio construction, portfolio implementation and indexes to help each achieve their desired outcomes.

Russell has more than $286.7 billion CAD * in assets under management (as of 3/31/2014) and works with over 2,500 institutional clients, independent distribution partners and individual investors globally. As a consultant to some of the largest pools of capital in the world, Russell has US$2.4 trillion in assets under advisement (as of 6/30/2013). It has four decades of experience researching and selecting investment managers and meets annually with more than 2,200 managers around the world. Russell traded more than US$1.4 trillion in 2012 through its implementation services business. Russell also calculates approximately 700,000 benchmarks daily covering 98% of the investable market globally, including more than 80 countries and more than 10,000 securities. Approximately US$5.2 trillion in assets are benchmarked to the Russell Indexes.

With Canadian headquarters in Toronto, Russell operates globally, including through its headquarters in Seattle, Washington and offices in New York, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Singapore, Seoul, Tokyo, Beijing, Toronto, Chicago, San Diego, Milwaukee and Edinburgh. For more information about how Russell helps to improve financial security for people, visit www.russell.com or follow @Russell_News.

*includes more than US$74 billion of derivative overlay assets under management not included prior to June 30, 2013

Important Information

Nothing in this publication 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. This is a publication of Russell Investments Canada Limited and has been prepared solely for information purposes. It is made available on an "as is" basis. Russell Investments Canada Limited does not make any warranty or representation regarding the information.

Russell Investments and the Russell Investments logo are registered trademarks of Frank Russell Company, used under license by Russell Investments Canada Limited.

Russell Investments Canada Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Frank Russell Company and was established in 1985. Russell Investments Canada Limited and its affiliates, including Frank Russell Company, are collectively known as Russell Investments.

Copyright © Russell Investments Canada Limited 2014. All rights reserved. This material is proprietary and may not be reproduced, transferred, or distributed in any form without prior written permission from Russell

SOURCE: Russell Investments Canada Limited

Catherine Winchell, 416.640.6899; Beja Rodeck Communications, 905.885.5945; For real-time news updates, follow @Russell_News on Twitter.