Russell mounts wholesale push to wealth managers

Thomas Coyle

28 February 2005

The multi-manager names three new regional directors, with more hires in the offing. Russell Investment Group is ramping up its wholesaling efforts to registered investment advisors in hopes of getting a bigger piece of the private wealth pie.

Tacoma, Wash.-based Russell just made Matthew Day, Timothy Highland and Russell Romberger regional directors in charge of RIA outreach. They join a team of six other wholesalers who represent Russell's multi-manager mutual funds, separately managed accounts , mutual fund wraps, wealth management tools and research capabilities to independent wealth managers.

Right now Russell works with about 250 intermediaries in the U.S., including RIAs and advisors at A.G. Edwards, Raymond James and its corporate parent Northwestern Mutual. That business has grown more than 80 percent in the past two years or so, to $21 billion in assets under management at the end of 2004.

But Russell is eager "to expand its network of relationships with additional partners who wish to improve the financial security of their clients," the company says in a press release - and, adds Greg Stark, head of Russell's U.S. Individual Investor Services business, the firm plans to hire more wholesalers to support that effort.

"We've seen great progress and record business growth from organizations and individuals who already partner with Russell," says Stark. "We plan to continue the momentum by adding key positions to the strong national team already in place."

But it takes a special breed of wholesaler to meet the needs of independent advisors, says Mark Elzweig of Mark Elzweig Company, a New York-based executive search firm. "The nature of wholesaling to RIAs is different from wholesaling to the wirehouses," he says. " business owners, and they think like business owners, so the wholesaler who can offer advice on ways RIAs can build their businesses and run them more effectively are likely to have more success."

For example, a wholesaler might be able to help RIAs upgrade its referral capabilities by helping them network with accountants and attorneys. Or a wholesaler might have the ability to communicate valuable insights into a particular investing style or vehicle - as Elzweig says Russell's new hire Highland can with regard to SMAs. "If you can position yourself as a sales trainer and a business consultant, you can build long-lasting relationships," says Elzweig.

Highland was head of U.S. new-product development at Sun Life Financial. But before that he ran Strategic Asset Advisors, a consultancy in the SMA space. Day comes to Russell from Schwab Institutional, where he was a v.p. of sales. Romberger was a wholesaler with SEI Investments, first in the Midwest, then in the eastern U.S.

"We're excited about the industry knowledge and experience , and bring to the team," says Stark.

Russell Investment Group managed more than $131 billion in assets at the end of 2004. -FWR