Russell Investments launches Focused Canadian Equity Pool

TORONTO, Dec. 13, 2012 /CNW/ - Russell Investments Canada Limited (Russell) has announced the launch of the Russell Focused Canadian Equity Pool and Class for Canadian investors who want to hold a core equity fund with a defensive and value tilt.

"Ongoing market turmoil has many investors searching for more stability," said David Feather, President and Chief Executive Officer, Russell Investments Canada. "We believe this new pool will be attractive to conservative investors who want a defensively oriented equity fund that is expected to be less volatile than the market as a whole. The new Russell Focused Canadian Equity Pool also gives investors the ability to strategically diversify their portfolios by investing in companies that offer different risk-reward characteristics than traditional Canadian equity funds."

The new Pool will invest in a concentrated selection of between 50-70 high-quality Canadian companies.

"The companies chosen for the Pool should have strong balance sheets, solid management and consistent earnings, and they should trade at reasonable valuations," said Greg Nott, chief investment officer for Russell Investments Canada. "We believe their defensive profile and robust free cash flows should stand them in good stead during difficult economic conditions."

The Russell Focused Canadian Equity Class offers investors tax efficiency in their non-registered investments.

The Pool will be sub-advised by three skilled Canadian equity managers, each bringing complementary investment strategies.

QV Investors Inc.

Based in Calgary, Alberta, QV Investors is a fundamental value-oriented manager that invests in companies with defensive qualities such as enduring business models and sensible capital allocation. Its goal is to build a diversified portfolio of some of Canada's best companies with proven track records, competent management teams, competitive products and services, and strong financial quality. These companies generally achieved higher returns on equity than the average Canadian corporation, with lower volatility than the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index.

Rondeau Capital Inc.   

Toronto-based Rondeau Capital Inc. emphasizes the preservation of capital with the potential for solid, steady growth of capital over time. Its portfolio is kept to between 20 and 40 names to help ensure each is of high quality and is expected to have a meaningful impact on the portfolio. At least 55% of the portfolio is in Canadian names at all times.

Rondeau's portfolio management team is guided by their belief in the importance of preserving capital. Its bottom-up research process aims to focus on a company's financial stability and its management team as well as identifying the sustainable competitive advantages of the business with an analysis of the potential risks it faces.

CGOV Asset Management Ltd. 

Toronto-based CGOV Asset Management Ltd. is a small, boutique firm that builds concentrated portfolios with a maximum of 25 names in which it has strong conviction.

It aims to provide an atypical approach to investment management by building portfolios that do not look or act like other managers' portfolios or the benchmark. It believes a high-conviction portfolio can be built by investing in a limited number of companies that have attractive long-term prospects in absolute and relative terms.

CGOV's portfolio attempts to be diversified across global industry sectors with companies that it believes have a sustainable competitive advantage, a reason for existence, a high degree of predictability, and ample free cash flow.

Investors can invest in the individual Pool or Class, or access them through a Russell multi-asset portfolio solution, in either the LifePoints or Sovereign Investment Programs. The Russell Focused Canadian Equity Pool will be included in the Russell LifePoints Conservative Income Portfolio and Class with a 3% allocation, and the Russell LifePoints Balanced Income Portfolio and Class with a 5% allocation.  It will be included in the Russell Income Essentials Portfolio and Class with a 5% allocation. It will also be added to some of the Russell model portfolios.

About Russell Investments

Russell Investments (Russell) is a global asset manager and one of only a few firms that offer actively managed, multi-asset portfolios and services that include advice, investments and implementation. Working with institutional investors, financial advisors and individuals, Russell's core capabilities extend across capital markets insights, manager research, Indices, portfolio implementation and portfolio construction.

Russell has about C$157 billion in assets under management (as of 9/30/12) and works with 2,400 institutional clients, more than 580 independent distribution partners and advisors, and individual investors globally. As a consultant to some of the largest pools of capital in the world, Russell has $2.4 trillion in assets under advisement (as of 12/31/11).  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 $1.5 trillion in 2011 through its implementation services business. Russell calculates more than 80,000 benchmarks daily covering 98 percent of the investable market globally, 85 countries and more than 10,000 securities. Approximately $3.9 trillion in assets are benchmarked to the Russell Indices. 

Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, USA, Russell and has associates located in offices around the world including Amsterdam, Auckland, Beijing, Chicago, Dubai, Frankfurt, London, Melbourne, Milan, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto. For more information about how Russell helps to improve financial security for people, visit www.russell.com or follow us @Russell_News.

Important Information:

Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual fund investments. Please read the prospectus before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated.

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 information 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 either trademarks or registered trademarks of Frank Russell Company, used under license by Russell Investments Canada Limited.

Copyright © Russell Investments Canada Limited [2012]. All rights reserved. This material is proprietary and may not be reproduced, transferred, or distributed in any form without prior written permission from Russell Investments.

SOURCE: Russell Investments Canada Limited

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