Russell Investments architect recognized for service to investment industry. George Russell Jr., chairman emeritus of Russell Investments and founder of the multifamily office Threshold Group, was given the Thomas L. Hansberger Award at the CFA Institute's Fixed Income Management 2008 conference recently. The Hansberger award recognizes those who have made outstanding contributions to the investment profession.

Russell joined a small broker-dealer owned by his grandfather Frank Russell in the late 1950s. Over the next fifty years he helped make that firm -- originally Frank Russell Company, subsequently renamed Russell Investments -- into one of the biggest investment companies in the world with more than 1,900 clients in 44 countries and assets north of $2.4 trillion.

Sunshine

Russell and his wife Jane Russell founded Threshold, originally called Sunshine Investment Management, at about the time they sold Tacoma, Wash.-based Russell Investments to Northwestern Mutual. Sunshine became a commercial family office in 2003 and changed its name to Threshold in 2004.

In addition to having an award conferred on its founder, Threshold has appointed Luther Ragin Jr., v.p. for investments at the F.B. Heron Foundation, to its board of directors.

Ragin "is uniquely qualified with wide-ranging experiences in financial services and family business," says Tim Cavanaugh, vice-chairman of Threshold's board and managing director at the Seattle-based private-equity firm Star Equity Management. "He will be a tremendous resource for our board, our client
families and our associates."

The F.B. Heron Foundation is a New York-based grant-making institution that supports homeownership and enterprise development in underprivileged communities. It has assets of about $300 million.

Threshold provides family-office services and investment-advisory on approximately $2 billion to 14 families across about 50 households. In addition to its headquarters in Gig Harbor, Wash., it has offices in New York and Portland, Ore. -FWR

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