Seattle-headquartered Russell Investments has named Michelle Seitz as chief executive officer and a director on the firm’s board. She will become chairman of the board effective 1 January 2018.
Seitz succeeds Len Brennan, who will remain chairman of Russell Investments until the end of 2017. Thereafter, he will become a strategic advisor to the company.
30 years’ experienced Seitz joins Russell Investments after a tenure of 16 years at William Blair Investment Management she led. She was also sitting into William Blair’s executive committee.
Seitz has driven the growth of WBIM. Under her management, WBIM’s institutional business’ assets under management have risen to $65bn (€54.4bn) from $2.3bn (€1.93bn).
Before joining William Blair Investment Management in 2001, Seitz led the firm’s private wealth management businesses.
She also held senior portfolio management roles with WBIM, Concord Investment Company and Nationsbank.
“For more than three decades, Russell Investments has been at the forefront of asset management capabilities that are critical for success in today’s investing environment—from cutting-edge asset allocation and unparalleled money manager insights, to some of the earliest forays into factor exposures and a competitively recognized implementation capability,” said Todd Crockett, managing director, TA Associates, which, along with Reverence Capital Partners, acquired Russell Investments in 2016.
“We are excited to welcome Michelle as Russell Investments’ new CEO, and believe that her forward-looking leadership will help propel the firm into a new phase of evolution and growth that will benefit clients and associates alike,” he added.
As at 30 June 2017, Russell Investments managed over $277bn (€232bn) in assets, including more than $123bn (€103bn) in multi-assets strategies.
