Scholars Offer Primer to Assess Fund Performance

New book details effective benchmark usage for managed asset portfolios
TACOMA, Wash.--(Business Wire)--
Two research fellows at Russell Investments and a prominent academic have
compiled a comprehensive guide to performance assessment and equity benchmark
construction. Portfolio Performance Measurement and Benchmarking features
thorough coverage of a wide variety of methodologies and evaluation techniques,
explanations of the mathematics underlying each method as well as specific,
real-world calculation and evaluation examples.

"In order to make sound investment choices, investors must consider return in
relation to the risk of the investments," said Jon Christopherson, Ph.D.,
research fellow emeritus at Russell Investments. "Benchmarks are excellent
evaluators, but the failure to choose the right investment performance benchmark
often leads to bad decisions or inaction, which inevitably results in lost
profits."

In one inclusive volume, readers get foundational coverage on benchmark
construction and expert insight into specific benchmarks for asset classes and
investment styles. Starting with the basics such as return calculations and
methods of dealing with cash flows, the book covers a wide variety of
performance measurement methodologies and evaluation techniques before moving
into more technical material that deconstructs both the creation of indexes and
the components of a desirable benchmark.

Portfolio Performance Measurement and Benchmarking, published by McGraw-Hill,
provides detailed coverage of benchmarks for U.S. equities, global and
international equities, fixed income and real estate.

The trio of authors also offers illuminating opinions on the philosophy and
development of equity indexes, while highlighting numerous mechanical problems
inherent in building benchmarks and the implications of each one. In addition to
Christopherson, who helped create the pioneering Russell style indexes for the
U.S. and Japan, the other two co-authors are David Cariño, Ph.D., a research
fellow at Russell who has received a prestigious Dietz award from The Journal of
Performance Measurement, and Wayne Ferson, Ph.D., who holds the Ivadelle and
Theodore Johnson Chair in Banking and Finance at the USC Marshall School of
Business. He also formerly held the John L. Collins Chair in Finance at the
Carroll School of Management at Boston College. All three scholars serve on
leading editorial or advisory boards in the industry.

"Jon and David are well known for their strong contributions to Russell's
heritage of innovation in asset management and with this book all three authors
have served the finance industry with some masterful thinking on critically
important issues related to benchmarking," said Andrew Doman, Russell`s
president and chief executive officer. "This book offers a compilation of
thought leadership from three top scholars, and its brilliantly crafted chapters
surely will advance the reader`s ability to make sound choices."

About Russell

Russell Investments is a global investment company with $151 billion in assets
under management as of June 30, 2009. Russell serves individual, institutional
and advisor clients in more than 40 countries and provides investment solutions
including mutual funds, retirement investments, institutional asset management,
implementation services and global stock market indexes. Russell is
world-renowned for its depth of manager research, quality of manager selection
and access to some of the world's leading investment managers. It helps
investors of all sizes 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 is a subsidiary of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance
Company. Headquartered in Tacoma, Russell operates principal offices in
Amsterdam, Auckland, Johannesburg, London, Melbourne, New York, Paris, San
Francisco, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto.

Russell Investments, a Washington, USA corporation, operates through
subsidiaries worldwide and is a subsidiary of The Northwestern Mutual Life
Insurance Company.

Russell Investments
Steve Claiborne, 253-439-1858
newsroom@russell.com
www.russell.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009