Products May 14, 2009

Russell Launches New Global Business Lines

Russell Investments created five new global service lines: Consulting and Advisory Services, DB/DC Outsourcing, OpenWorld, Retail, and Russell Investment Services (RIS).
Reported by

A Russell news release said the new service lines will complement existing global offerings, including multi-manager, Pantheon (private equity), and Indexes. The five new global service lines work with the regional business units.

Johan Cras, head of Russell’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, will assume the additional role of chairman of the global service line leadership committee.

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Each of the five service lines will have a global head(s), as outlined below, charged with identifying opportunities for growth at the intersection between business lines and geographies, developing consistent practices on a global scale, and advocating innovations that can be executed within and across individual business units and geographic regions, according to Russell.

These individuals will continue to hold their existing operational leadership roles within their respective business units:

  • Global head of Consulting and Advisory Services: Janine Baldridge; co-chairs: John Stannard and Don Ezra;
  • Global heads of DB/DC Outsourcing: Colette Taylor and Mark Blair
  • Global head of OpenWorld: Pascal Duval; co-chair Ian Barnes;
  • Global heads of Retail: Greg Stark and Irshaad Ahmad;
  • Global head of RIS: Greg Gilbert.
Data & Research May 14, 2009

Americans More Worried about Covering Medical Bills in Retirement

Americans feel less confident about paying for health-related expenses in retirement.
Reported by

Data from the 2009 Retirement Confidence Survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute found 25% of respondents are very confident of their ability to pay their retirement health bills—the lowest since the 26% seen in 1992. However, close to half (46%) of Americans are “somewhat confident.”

In 2008, 36% of Americans were “very confident” and 34% were “somewhat confident.”

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Meanwhile, retirees’ confidence in their ability to pay for long-term care (15%) is the lowest ever measured by the annual survey, down significantly from a high in 2007 (27%).

 
Percentage of Retirees Very or Somewhat Confident about Health-Related Expenses in Retirement
1992 1994 1999 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

You will have enough money to take care of medical expenses during retirement

 Very confident 26% 30% 34% 36% 34% 42% 41% 36% 25%

 

 

 Somewhat confident 32 31 34 36 39 32 36 34 46

You have enough money to pay for long-term care during retirement

Very confident — — — 30 23 22 27 24 15

 

Somewhat confident — — — 23 30 33 33 24 29

Source: Employee Benefit Research Institute and Mathew Greenwald & Associates, Inc., 1992–2009 Retirement Confidence Surveys.

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