Russell Investments' Canadian institutional assets grow to over $5 billion

    
    Growth in Canada expected to continue as Russell set to increase
    resources to meet institutional clients' needs
    

TORONTO , Oct. 20 /CNW/ - Russell Investments' (Russell) institutional business in Canada has grown to over $5.37 billion (all figures in Canadian dollars, as of October 1, 2009 ) in assets under management - an 88% increase over the past 12 months. Russell also reported over $200 million in new defined benefit mandates that further add to its institutional business.

Russell Investments Canada Limited ( Russell Canada ) has grown to over $12 billion in total AUM and recently celebrated its 25th anniversary in Canada .

    
    Local leaders/Global experts strategy gives clients access to more
    resources
    

"These results spring from what Russell has to offer institutional investors in Canada - innovative investment strategies, award-winning implementation expertise and a firm dedicated to consulting services that are proving especially valuable in this market environment," said Andrew Doman , Russell's President and Chief Executive Officer, who made his initial visit to Russell Canada earlier this year.

"Russell is one of the few firms in Canada that can provide clients with a diversified suite of institutional and consulting services on both a local and global scale. This 'local leaders/global experts' approach gives clients access to our best thinkers worldwide, including proven experts who can help with consulting, investment management, transition management, alternatives, commission recapture, and many other value added services."

Strong commitment to Canadian institutional business

According to Doman, Russell is set to ramp-up its resources in the coming months as the company finalizes its extensive search for Russell Canada's next president. Irshaad Ahmad is Russell Canada's interim president while starting his new role as managing director of Russell's U.K. business. In addition, Russell plans to appoint a senior executive to lead the Canadian institutional business and a senior consultant to further strengthen strategic client relationships.

"Russell has an extraordinary pool of talent in Canada , and we are building out the organization because Canada remains an extremely important market for Russell. We are adding more institutional resources and investment innovations, including our newly launched Enhanced Asset Allocation suite of services and broader and deeper manager research in order to attend to our clients' needs. We see growth opportunities for increased consulting and multi-manager relationships in the near future and opportunities to add value to the relationships we already have."

About Russell

Russell Investments provides strategic advice, world-class implementation, state-of-the-art performance benchmarks and a range of institutional-quality investment products. With approximately $187.2 billion CDN in assets under management (as of 9/30/09), Russell Investments serves individual, institutional and advisor clients in more than 40 countries. Russell Investments provides access to some of the world's best money managers. It helps investors put this access to work in corporate defined benefit and defined contribution plans, and in the life savings of individual investors.

Founded in 1936, Russell Investments is a subsidiary of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company and headquartered in Tacoma, Wash. Russell has principal offices in Amsterdam , Auckland , Johannesburg , London , Melbourne , New York, Paris , San Francisco , Singapore , Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto .

Russell Investments Canada Limited is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Frank Russell Company. For more information, please go to www.russell.com/ca.

For further information: Thien Huynh, [phone]; Katita Stark, [phone]