Russell Investment Group’s U.S. stock indexes now have a record $3.8 trillion in assets benchmarked to them. This milestone accounts for actively and passively managed institutional and retail funds, including exchange traded funds.
Russell indexes for the first time account for more than $1 trillion in retail funds benchmarked to them, an increase of $400 billion since last year, as well as more than $500 billion in passively indexed funds. The amount of passively indexed funds has more than doubled in the past three years, increasing from $224 billion at the end of 2002 to $530 billion.
The $3.8 trillion, which includes assets benchmarked against the broad-market Russell 3000* Index, the large-cap Russell 1000 Index and the small-cap Russell 2000 Index, was determined by Russell’s examination of data from Morningstar, a client survey and Nelson Information. Last year at this time the total amount stood at $2.5 trillion.
“This eye-popping milestone definitely reaffirms our core belief that Russell indexes provide investors with the clearest picture of the U.S. market,” said Kelly Haughton, strategic director of Russell indexes. “More investment managers are determining that Russell’s index construction and methodology offers them objective, transparent tools that truly reflect the various market segments.”
Russell employs its indexes to evaluate investment managers for multi-manager funds and other investment services.