Russell Investments launches Russell Focused Global Equity Pool (and Russell Focused Global Equity Class) for conservative investors

TORONTO, Dec. 5, 2013 /CNW/ - Russell Investments Canada Limited has launched the Russell Focused Global Equity Pool (and Russell Focused Global Equity Class), expanding its range of high-conviction, concentrated solutions with a selection of global stocks emphasizing defensive and value-oriented names.  Russell's focused fund lineup includes the Russell Focused Canadian Equity Pool launched last year, and the Russell Focused US Equity Pool launched in 2011.

With the potential for lower volatility and greater stability in returns than traditional global equity funds, the new Russell Focused Global Equity Pool will be included in Russell's conservative multi-asset solutions - the Russell Income Essentials Portfolio, the Russell LifePoints Conservative Income Portfolio and the Russell LifePoints Balanced Income Portfolio and their respective corporate class versions.

The new Pool will be sub-advised by three experienced global managers, each bringing complementary investment strategies.

"The proven global stock specialists we have selected to manage the Russell Focused Global Equity Pool all have extensive expertise in finding high-quality companies in diverse areas of the world," said David Feather, President and Chief Executive Officer of Russell Investments Canada Limited. "We believe this Pool will offer investors the opportunity to participate in an actively managed global portfolio that exhibits a defensive bias."

Perkins Investment Management

Chicago-based Perkins is a defensive value manager focused on buying companies that are undervalued relative to Perkins' estimate of intrinsic value and have low downside price risk.

Russell believes this strategy is suitable for risk-averse markets in which investors prefer shares of companies that offer yield, low debt to capital, and low volatility.

Fiera Capital

Montreal-based Fiera Capital is a publicly traded asset management firm with operations in Toronto and Montréal, where the global equity investment team is located. Fiera intends to pursue a long-term investment approach focused on identifying high quality, well-run businesses. 

Russell believes the investment process features many "best-practice" traits. There is an expected focus on attempting to identify quality companies with sustainable growth, strong balance sheets, and high free cash flow generation at attractive valuations.

Harris Associates

Chicago-based Harris Associates runs a  large cap value strategy that Russell expects will complement the other sub-advisers selected for the Pool. Harris, an asset management firm founded in 1975, has a relatively focused business concentrating on U.S., International and Global equities.

Harris pursues a concentrated value style that intends to emphasize quality large cap companies at deep discounts to intrinsic value. Harris has a strong preference for management teams who think and act like owners and have demonstrated good track records.

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 market insights, manager research, portfolio construction, portfolio implementation and indexes.

Russell has more than C$253.7 billion* in assets under management (as of 9/30/2013) 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, which includes more than 80 countries and more than 10,000 securities. Approximately US$4.1 trillion in assets are benchmarked to the Russell Indexes.

Russell is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, USA, and has offices around the world including Amsterdam, Auckland, Beijing, Chicago, Frankfurt, London, Melbourne, Milan, New York, Paris, 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 @Russell_News.

*includes more than US$70 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 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.

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 2013. 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

Rob Baird   
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