Russell Investments [see profile] just named a new CEO because its current one, Andrew Doman, resigned his position yesterday, The News Tribune reports.

According to an internal memo obtained by the pub, Doman announced his resignation from the post yesterday and said that he is taking the position of chairman of the board, paving the way for Len Brennan to become Russell’s new president and chief executive officer. Current chairman Ed Zore will continue to serve on the board.

Doman said his new role, which is a non-executive position, will allow him to "move to a more consultative role."

"This is a good time to make this important management change, not only because we’re entering our annual planning cycle, but for other reasons as well," Doman wrote in the memo. "Over the past two and a half years, Russell has returned to a position of industry leadership, and is now poised to take the next step in its growth. I am proud of what we have accomplished together, and am grateful for the extraordinary efforts you made during what was one of the most challenging periods in our industry’s history."

In parting, Doman told Russell's employees that the news of the transition will draw the interest of clients and media alike and that Russell’s corporate communications group "is implementing a global press strategy and is immediately equipping client teams with messaging and other information they will need to discuss this transition."

For its part, Russell today formally ushered in Brennan as president and chief executive officer of the company. The firm said Brennan, who recently re-joined Russell as chief executive of the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) business, will be based out of Russell’s headquarters in Seattle but will spend a significant portion of his time in the firm’s London office as well.

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Company Press Release

Seattle, WA -- July 12, 2011 -- Russell Investments announced today the appointment of Len Brennan as president and chief executive officer of the company. He succeeds Andrew Doman, who will become chairman of the board. Ed Zore who has chaired Russell's board since 2008 will remain on the board as a director.

Brennan recently re-joined Russell as chief executive of the EMEA business, a position he will continue to hold in addition to his new global responsibilities as president and CEO. He will also be a director on Russell's board. His office will be based out of Russell's headquarters in Seattle, and he will spend a significant portion of his time in the firm's London office as well.

Brennan has spent most of his career at Russell, dating back to 1985. Over two decades with the company, he held a number of senior management positions, including most recently as managing director of Individual Investor Services. In this role, he had oversight for Russell's global operations, including responsibility for the firm's global third-party funds distribution business and individual investor services in the United States, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, South Africa, Canada and Australia. Previously, Brennan managed Russell's Toronto and London offices and, notably, launched the firm's first multi-manager investment funds outside the United States. In 2005, Brennan joined Rainier Investment Management, Inc., where he served as president and CEO for six years.

"Russell has held an important place in my life for more than 25 years, so I am deeply honored to accept the position of president and CEO, and I am fortunate to have such a strong global leadership team to work side-by-side with me," said Brennan. "I want to thank Andrew Doman for his many contributions to the company. Russell is clearly a stronger and better positioned firm than it was when Andrew joined us. Looking forward, my priorities for Russell are to constantly evolve our business in order to meet the changing needs of our clients globally, while preserving the DNA that has made this company exceptional for 75 years. I am committed to ensuring that our core values and purpose as an organization remain unchanging guideposts for everything that we do."

Doman leaves an important legacy at Russell. During his two and a half years as president and CEO, he led the firm through one of the most challenging periods that the financial services industry has ever faced. He was able to expand the firm's global footprint, grow its product and service offerings, and help re-ignite the passion for innovation that has long defined Russell. In his new role, Russell will continue to benefit from Doman's experience, knowledge and strategic points of view.

"I believe we have found in Len the right successor to take Russell to the next stage of the firm's growth," said Doman. "Len is one of the architects of what Russell is today. The rest of the board and I are confident that he possesses the right mix of visionary leadership and ties to Russell's rich legacy to effectively lead the organization forward."

About Russell Investments

Russell Investments is an independent, global financial services firm that provides strategic advice, investment solutions, implementation services and global performance benchmarks that are customized to meet the unique needs of institutional investors, financial advisors and individuals.

Celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2011, and 25 years in Sydney and Tokyo and 15 years in the Netherlands, Russell has pioneered innovations that have come to define many of the practices that are standard in the investment world today, and has four decades of experience researching and selecting money managers globally.

Russell has about $161 billion in assets under management (as of 3/31/11) and works with 2,300 institutional clients, 530 independent distribution partners and millions of individual investors globally. As a consultant to some of the largest pools of capital in the world, Russell has $2 trillion in assets under advisement (as of 12/31/2010) and traded $1.4 trillion last year through its implementation services business. The Russell Global Indexes calculate over 50,000 benchmarks daily covering 63 countries and more than 10,000 securities.

Founded in 1936, Russell is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, USA and has offices in Amsterdam, Auckland, Chicago, 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. 

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