Russell Funds Russell Strategic Bond Fund Money Manager Overview March 2015

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1 Money Manager Overview March 2015 Russell s investment approach Russell uses a multi-asset approach to investing, combining asset allocation, manager selection and dynamic portfolio management in its investment portfolios. Using this approach as a backdrop to mutual fund construction, Russell researches, monitors, hires and terminates (subject to Fund Board approval) money managers from around the world and strategically allocates fund assets to them. Russell oversees all investment advisory services to the funds and manages assets not allocated to money managers. The fund The provides access to a broad range of fixed income strategies, processes and securities. The money managers in the fund may evaluate investment opportunities based on a macro-economic framework (top-down) or a security specific framework (bottom-up). Managers may use a quantitative process based security selection methodology, or a fundamental based security selection methodology. Managers also focus on fixed income risk management activities such as interest rate risk and yield curve management. In addition to the money managers, Russell manages a currency overlay strategy designed to provide additional diversification and another potential source of return, with corresponding risk. As a result of this diversity of strategies and processes, the fund holds a broad range of securities, including mortgage related securities (such as mortgage-backed securities and collateralized mortgage obligations), non-u.s. developed and emerging markets debt, corporate debt, consumer credit debt (asset-backed securities), credit default swaps, high yield debt, and currency futures and forwards. The fund may have a significant exposure to mortgage-backed securities. The fund s benchmark is the Barclay s U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. Money manager skill set (as of October 2014) See skill set definitions on page 10 The table below provides an overview of the primary focus the money managers take in this fund. This is not intended to be a comprehensive list of the managers capabilities. Manager Page 1 of 10 Interest rate timing (duration/ yield) Mortgagebacked Securities Corporate Bonds High Yield Bonds // Russell Investments // Emerging Market Debt Currency Brookfield Colchester Logan Circle Macro Currency Group MetWest Scout Wellington Russell co-portfolio managers Keith Brakebill, CFA and Gerard Fitzpatrick, CFA The Russell portfolio managers role The Russell portfolio managers are responsible for identifying and selecting the strategies and money managers included in the fund and determining the weight for each assignment. The portfolio managers manage the fund on a daily basis to help keep it on track, constantly monitoring risk and return expectations at the total fund level and making changes when deemed appropriate and/or necessary. Multiple resources from across Russell are used to help determine what is believed to be the best combination of managers and strategies. Manager research and capital markets research are just some of the tools at the portfolio managers disposal to help identify opportunities and manage risk. The portfolio managers and analysts track the effectiveness of every money manager and strategy in the fund. Occasionally, adjustments may be necessary due to reasons such as a change in control at a money manager, the opportunity to select another manager or strategy Russell believes offers an investment proposition that would help improve the fund, or changes in market dynamics. While the portfolio managers make the decisions about the fund s money manager and strategy line-up, any significant changes must be validated through an internal Russell governance process to ensure all key considerations were addressed. Money manager changes are also subject to approval by the fund s Board of Trustees. Target allocation of fund assets: The percentages below represent the target allocation of the fund s assets to each money manager s strategy and Russell Investment Management Company (Russell). This does not include liquidity reserves managed directly by Russell, which may constitute 5% or more of fund assets at any given time. Generalist: 22% Logan Circle Partners, L.P 17% Metropolitan West Asset Management, LLC 8% Russell Investment Management Co.* 15% Scout Investments, Inc Specialist: 5% Brookfield Investment Management Inc. 6% Colchester Global Investors Limited 9% Macro Currency Group - an investment group within Principal Global Investors LLC 18% Wellington Management Company LLP *Russell manages this portion of the fund s assets to effect the fund s investment strategies and/or to actively manage the fund s overall exposures to seek to achieve the desired risk/return profile for the fund. Not FDIC Insured - May Lose Value - No Bank Guarantee

2 Logan Circle Partners, L.P. March 2015 Logan Circle Partners, L.P. was founded in 2007 as a privately held partnership; in 2010 the firm was acquired by Fortress Investment Group. Logan Circle offers actively managed investment solutions across a broad spectrum of fixed income strategies that can be customized to meet clients specific and unique objectives. Headquarters: Philadelphia, PA Founded: 2007 Lead manager: Andrew Kronschnabel Focus*: Corporate bonds and high yield bonds Range of holdings: While Logan Circle Partners, L.P. (Logan Circle) is a relatively new firm (founded in 2007) many of the investment professionals have worked as a team for several years, first at Conseco and then at Delaware Investments. This investment team has been responsible for managing assets of the since 2002 (when the investment professionals were with another firm). This small, nimble manager employs a decision making structure that allows it to add value via security selection. Russell views this manager as one of the most aggressive risk taking managers in the fund. Logan Circle believes the fixed income markets are efficient with respect to interest rate risk, but regularly misprice securities that are exposed to credit, prepayment and liquidity risks. To make use of these inefficiencies and provide investors with an opportunity for excess return, Logan Circle focuses on optimal security selection, emphasizes spread sectors, targets duration neutral portfolios and constructs portfolios with attractive risk/reward characteristics. Typically, this manager tends to focus on credit (both investment and non-investment grade) and mortgagebacked securities. Interest rate and yield curve management investments are not significantly different than the benchmark. While derivative usage and global investment are less important in its process, those strategies are not completely absent. Logan Circle brings to the fund a bottom-up, issuer specific evaluation approach, which is intended to complement the top-down, macro-economic processes of other managers in the fund. It finds value in out-offavor sectors and securities. Russell expects this manager will do well when idiosyncratic risk is rewarded, while weaker performance should be expected of this manager when macro-economic themes drive market performance. Given the aggressiveness of this manager, it will also likely underperform when risk is not rewarded. Page 2 of 10 // Russell Investments // Logan Circle Partners, L.P.

3 Metropolitan West Asset Management, LLC March 2015 Metropolitan West Asset Management, LLC was founded in 1996 in Los Angeles and was acquired by TCW in MetWest is an investment management firm focused exclusively on fixed income portfolio management. Headquarters: Los Angeles, CA Founded: 1996 Lead manager: Laird Landmann Focus*: Corporate bonds, high yield bonds Range of holdings: *See skill set definitions on page 10 Metropolitan West Asset Management, LLC (MetWest) was added to the in Recently, the founding partners of the firm entered into a management buyout and now own the entire firm. Russell has been following this manager for more than 10 years. This small manager has a decision making structure that allows it to make quick decisions that are focused on security selection across multiple sectors. While smaller than other managers in the fund, the experienced senior investment professionals and flexible process ensure MetWest complements the skills of the fund s other managers. MetWest tends to focus on credit (both investment and non-investment grade) and mortgage-backed securities. Metwest will also express strong macroeconomic views through active duration and yield curve positioning. Derivative usage and global investing are less important to its investment process, but certainly not absent. This manager attempts to achieve returns through active management via sector emphasis and issue selection. MetWest blends both macro-economic and bottom-up issue selection. MetWest is active with their risk taking at times taking more risk than other managers in the fund and at other times taking less risk. As a result, they provide additional risk management to the fund. Russell expects this manager will do well when idiosyncratic risk is rewarded, while weaker performance should be expected of this manager when macro-economic themes drive market performance. Page 3 of 10 // Russell Investments // Metropolitan West Asset Management, LLC

4 Russell Investment Management Company March 2015 Russell Investment Management Company is the advisor to Russell Investment Company (RIC) Funds. It is a subsidiary of Russell Investments. Russell Investments provides asset management and investment services to institutional and individual investors around the world. Headquarters: Seattle, WA Founded: Parent company, Russell Investments, founded in 1936 Focus*: Currency Range of holdings: Overview: Russell Investment Management Company (Russell) manages a portion of the fund s assets internally to seek to further enhance and diversify the existing investment strategies offered by the third-party money managers. Use of these internally managed strategies can provide the Russell Portfolio Manager with the ability to seek additional returns, respond to changing market dynamics, and adjust portfolio risk. Russell believes that combining these strategies with the money manager positioning may allow for better outcomes than could be achieved by money managers alone. Investment strategies: Russell employs a three-pronged strategy to strive to generate active returns through currency positioning. This approach incorporates a currency overlay, an index replication and an enhanced cash strategy. The currency overlay utilizes currency forward contracts to take long and short positions in global foreign exchange markets, which may result in gains or losses for the fund based on the movements of relative exchange rates. Because the currency overlay is an out-ofbenchmark position, Russell manages an index replication strategy in connection with the currency overlay to provide benchmark-like exposure to its overall strategy. The enhanced cash strategy is designed to provide for modest returns on the cash held in connection with the currency overlay and index replication strategies. Russell s three part strategy includes: 1. Currency overlay: A set of strategies that aim to capture distinct return factors within currency markets: value, trend and carry. 1 This is implemented with a custom mix of the Russell Conscious Currency Index (RCCI) series Index replication: A replication of a Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index-like exposure, using fixed income futures and credit derivatives. 3. Cash: An enhanced cash strategy for cash held in connection with both the currency forwards and fixed income futures, whereby such cash is invested in fixed income securities that may include U.S. and non-u.s. corporate debt securities, asset-backed securities and money market securities. Russell believes that a currency overlay serves as a diversifier and another potential source of return in fixed income portfolios, especially in periods where the medium-term return outlook is more challenging for credit than it has been in the past. Historically, currency strategies have had low correlations to duration and credit strategies, offering the potential to help the fund diversify away from traditional fixed income risks without taking on additional equity-like risk. This strategy strives to take advantage of distinct, diversifying return sources among developed market currencies in a systematic way, compared to existing overlay strategies in the fund that can be more discretionary in nature. It is expected to be valuable during tight and widening spread environments, when the excess return potential from credit strategies is limited. This strategy is less cyclical in nature than other money manager strategies, but may still experience volatility. 1 Value is a fundamental economics-based strategy that aims to capture long exposure to undervalued currencies and short positions in overvalued currencies. Trend is a price-based strategy that aims to capture long exposure to positive trend currencies and short positions in negative trend currencies. Carry is an interest rate based strategy that aims to capture long exposure to high-yielding currencies and short positions in low-yielding currencies. 2 Russell Conscious Currency Index (RCCI) series is designed to reflect the performance of common foreign currency market factors Carry, Value and Trend. These indexes are built based on transparent and objective rules and provide investors nondiscretionary benchmarks when investing in the foreign exchange market. Page 4 of 10 // Russell Investments // Russell Investment Management Company

5 Scout Investments, Inc. March 2015 Scout Investments, Inc., a global asset manager headquartered in Kansas City, MO, manages equity and fixed income investment strategies for institutions and individual investors. Scout is the investment subsidiary of UMB Financial Corporation. Headquarters: Kansas City, MO Founded: 1982 Lead manager: Mark Egan, CFA Focus*: Sector rotation, duration and yield curve positioning. Range of holdings: Scout Investments, Inc. (Scout) was added to the in Scout s fixed income strategies are managed by Reams Asset Management (Reams), a division of Scout based in Columbus, IN, which was acquired by Scout in Reams has managed fixed income portfolios for institutional clients since its founding in Russell has been researching Reams fixed income capabilities since Scout takes a top-down, macro-economic approach to investing in the fixed income market. The firm s investment strategy seeks to maximize total return, minimize risk, and preserve capital utilizing all sectors of the fixed income market. The firm is willing to take large U.S. interest rate positions relative to the fund s benchmark, and is able to actively sector rotate in an aggressive fashion. Scout is willing to be aggressive on both sides of the market cycle, a trait that Russell rarely finds in a fixed income manager. Scout is a small and nimble firm, which Russell believes contributes to its ability to execute this strategy effectively. The firm s defensive approach to underlying security selection also leads to a bias toward running a more liquid portfolio, allowing the firm to actively move investments around according to their macro views even in stressed market environments. Scout s investment process is lead by Mark Egan who has been with this team since Mark touches on all the key portfolio decisions, but is primarily responsible for macro positioning on interest rates and sectors. Scout has a team of 12 additional investment professionals. Robert Crider and Thomas Fink, each with more than 25 years of investment experience, act as a sounding board and co-idea generators with Mr. Egan on top-down positioning. Scout has a long history of successfully managing market turns, and the firm tends to identify and make its decisions early in the market cycle. Russell believes Scout s strategy is valuable in multi-manager portfolios. The firm fills a strong sector rotator role in the fund as well as providing more tactical duration input. Russell expects Scout to perform well when its macro view is correct in anticipating market turns. Scout is expected to face the strongest headwinds just before the turn of a cycle when they ve moved early in anticipation of the market cycle. Page 5 of 10 // Russell Investments // Scout Investments, Inc.

6 Wellington Management Company LLP March 2015 Wellington Management Company LLP is a Bostonbased institutional asset manager. It is a global firm with 12 offices around the world. With its roots tracing back to 1928, Wellington was incorporated in 1933 and has been operating under a private partnership structure since Headquarters: Boston, MA Founded: 1933 Lead manager: Bob Evans Focus*: markets. Macro, quant, credit and emerging Range of holdings: Wellington Management Company LLP (Wellington) was added to the in Russell has been researching Wellington since Wellington utilizes a diversified and risk-managed strategy that is designed to generate excess returns primarily from exposure to risks (e.g. interest rate risk, currency risk) that are expected to have low correlations to U.S. credit risk. The firm uses diversified quantitative and qualitative approaches to finding value through its assessments of global bond and currency markets including developed sovereign and credit markets (both long and short positions) along with emerging economies. Russell believes that Wellington maintains a disciplined approach to risk governance. In contrast to the fund s other money managers, Wellington brings less credit risk to the fund through their multistrategy approach that primarily focuses on developed government bond and currency markets. Russell expects that Wellington s portfolio construction process, utilizing four independent teams focused on different risk drivers, should complement the existing money managers by having a lower correlation to the other money managers through a more diverse set of strategies. Russell considers Wellington a high confidence manager. The firm follows a risk-controlled investment process that focuses on seeking diversification and risk-adjusted returns among the various teams, strategies, and individuals who contribute to the process. Russell expects Wellington to perform well in strong credit market selloffs. The firm s risk controls are designed to help limit losses on losing credit strategies while its interest rate and currency strategies are expected to have low correlation with its credit strategies. Wellington is expected to struggle in strong credit rallies given its lower exposure to credit risk and the low correlation of its other strategies to the credit markets. Page 6 of 10 // Russell Investments // Wellington Management Company, LLP

7 Brookfield Investment Management Inc. March 2015 Brookfield Investment Management Inc. was founded in 1989 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management. Headquarters: New York, NY Founded: 1989 Lead manager: Michelle Russell-Dowe Russell has been following Brookfield Investment Management Inc. (Brookfield) (formerly named Hyperion Brookfield Asset Management, Inc.) for more than 10 years. Brookfield was added to the Russell Strategic Bond Fund in December Brookfield is a small, mortgage-backed and asset-backed investment specialist. Its process tends to be credit intensive, rather than technical in nature. The investment team at Brookfield is very experienced, focusing on researching and buying securities that other managers avoid, such as subprime mortgages, with the goal of capitalizing on opportunities that other managers may not seize. Focus*: Mortgage-backed securities Range of holdings: Brookfield specializes in structured products (asset-backed securities and mortgage-backed securities) with an investment philosophy that is predicated on relative value. The firm believes that with experienced investment professionals, a comprehensive analytical platform and a dedicated investment process that emphasizes security selection, it can successfully identify and capture relative value opportunities. Brookfield s investment approach begins with the identification of fundamental and technical factors that are responsible for performance in each asset class or sub-sector. Once areas of opportunity are identified, the firm performs an in-depth security analysis to build portfolios. Investments will be made across the credit spectrum with an emphasis on securities that it believes present high yields and total return opportunities. Typically, Brookfield s portfolio is comprised of a mix of asset-backed, mortgage-backed and commercial mortgage-backed securities. Russell expects the firm to capitalize on its investment expertise and analytics to find value in out-of-favor sectors and securities. Because Brookfield will include many out-of-favor sectors and securities in its portfolio, Russell expects its portfolio to experience higher volatility and higher risk than other managers in the fund. Brookfield will do well when structured product markets are responding to fundamentals. It will not do as well when these markets are driven by fear. Page 7 of 10 // Russell Investments // Brookfield Investment Management Inc.

8 Colchester Global Investors Limited March 2015 Colchester Global Investors Limited is an independent boutique investment management firm with a product range focusing on global government bonds and currencies. Colchester is majority-owned by its employees. Headquarters: London, U.K. Founded: 1999 Lead managers: Ian Sims and Keith Lloyd Focus*: Currency and global government bonds Range of holdings: Colchester Global Investors Limited (Colchester) was added to the in Colchester is a boutique investment firm. Ian Sims (Chairman and Chief Investment Officer) and Keith Lloyd (Senior Investment Manager) are the key investment managers. Keith Lloyd previously worked for the World Bank's Investment Department as a lead fixed income portfolio manager, senior investment strategist and proprietary trader. Colchester is a top-down macro money manager that focuses on country selection and currencies. Bonds of countries that exhibit high prospective real yields while maintaining financial stability are favored by Colchester, as are currencies that appear inexpensive on a purchasing power parity basis with relatively high short term real interest rates. Sector and issue selection play a minor role in this strategy. In assessing which government bond markets to go long and which to go short, Colchester s real yield approach involves looking at interest rate levels after expected inflation and investing in those with expected high real yields and shorting those with expected low real yields. An inflation forecast is derived from predominantly lagging money and credit growth indicators. Outside of inflation forecasts, further work is done on understanding the stability of the sovereign in terms of debt levels and revenue. Compared to the other managers in the fund, Colchester emphasizes various currency and country risk. The existing managers tend to be more focused on U.S. bonds and tend to seek to extract value through issue selection and use of riskier spread sectors such as corporate, high yield and mortgage strategies to add value to portfolios. In contrast, Colchester primarily selects sovereign bonds and currencies. Therefore, Colchester s approach is expected to improve diversification within the fund. Russell considers Colchester to be a high confidence manager. It is the only manager in the fund that will focus exclusively on global government bonds and currencies. Furthermore, their investment process is differentiated by being more long-term compared to other managers. Russell expects Colchester to do well when higher yielding government bonds rally and credit declines. Conversely, Colchester is expected to underperform when both low yielding government bonds and credit rallies. Page 8 of 10 // Russell Investments // Colchester Global Investors Limited

9 Macro Currency Group An investment group within Principal Global Investors LLC March 2015 The Macro Currency Group is the specialist currency investment group within Principal Global Investors LLC. Principal manages assets for investors around the world. Their multi-boutique structure enables them to provide an expanded range of diverse investment capabilities, including equity, fixed income and real estate investments. They also have experience in currency management, asset allocation, stable value management and other structured investment strategies through their network of specialized investment groups and affiliates. Headquarters: Des Moines, IA Founded: 1879 Lead manager: Mark Farrington Macro Currency Group (MCG), a specialist currency investment group within Principal Global Investors LLC (Principal), was added to the in MCG has been managing currency mandates on behalf of clients for more than 17 years, first as a part of BT Funds Management and then since 1999 when the firm was acquired by Principal. MCG has a fundamental thematic approach to forecasting changes in currency values. It has developed a structure that provides a strong framework to incorporate its thoughts on the larger macro environment to specific currency positions. The global growth cycle, a proprietary Global Risk Appetite Barometer and cross border capital flows drive its macro view. It also analyzes policy maker statements and actions, allowing the central bank experience within the team to be utilized. MCG s investment philosophy is based on the belief that currency markets are driven by cross border capital flows, and the firm believes the best way to gain from these flows is to focus on predicting major themes that drive them. The top down global macro approach looks for what trends are unique and different in each market cycle. Investment and portfolio construction decisions are chiefly made at the weekly Portfolio Construction and Review meeting where discussion and overview of market developments take place. The small size of the team and members hands-on approach means that positions can be changed quickly. Focus*: Currency Range of holdings: 3-10 Russell has high confidence in Principal s Macro Currency Group. MCG s thematic investment style is a unique feature of their process and provides a strong framework for forwardthinking analysis based on macro-economics framework. Other managers that take active currency positions in this fund tend to have strong cyclical biases in their positioning. MCG s historically low correlation to existing managers is their distinguishing feature within this fund. Russell believes MCG s approach to risk management has proven to be effective over time. The firm consistently, even during time of crisis, delivers a volatility level that is within the portfolio s overall target for a given mandate. The consistency of its portfolio volatility is in contrast to credit-focused managers that are considerably more volatile in times of crisis and less volatile during calmer markets. MCG is expected to perform well in moderately volatile environments. The firm s strategy is expected to lag peers in strong bull markets. Page 9 of 10 // Russell Investments // Macro Currency Group

10 Fund objectives, risks, charges and expenses should be carefully considered before investing. A summary prospectus, if available, or a prospectus containing this and other important information can be obtained by calling or by visiting Please read a prospectus carefully before investing. *Manager skill sets definitions: Interest rate timing (duration/yield) Interest rate timing anticipates the magnitude and direction of interest rates in both the U.S. and/or internationally. Mortgage-backed securities Mortgage-backed securities are bonds backed by a pool of mortgages. Investors receive payments out of the interest and principal of the underlying mortgages. Corporate Bonds Corporate bonds are debt obligations issued by a corporation. High yield Bonds that are ranked lower by ratings agencies because they have a relatively higher chance of default and therefore generally offer a higher yield in return for the higher risk, higher volatility and higher risk of default than investment grade bonds. Emerging Market Debt Emerging market debt (EMD) may include obligations of governments and corporations in countries with emerging markets. Currency Currency involves investing in foreign currencies with an expectation that the value of the currency will either rise or fall vs. the U.S. dollar. Money managers listed are current as of 10/16/2014. Subject to the fund's Board approval, Russell has the right to engage or terminate a money manager at any time and without a shareholder vote, based on an exemptive order from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Investments in the Funds are not deposits with or other liabilities of any of the money managers and are subject to investment risk, including loss of income and principal invested and possible delays in payment of redemption proceeds. The money managers do not guarantee the performance of any Fund or any particular rate of return. This document will be updated annually. If a manager change is made during a year, a manager specific page will be added or removed. The investment styles employed by a Fund's money managers may not be complementary. This concentration may be beneficial or detrimental to a Fund's performance depending upon the performance of those securities and the overall economic environment. The multi-manager approach could increase a Fund's portfolio turnover rates which may result in higher levels of realized capital gains or losses with respect to a Fund's portfolio securities, higher brokerage commissions and other transaction costs. Bond investors should carefully consider risks such as interest rate, credit, default and duration risks. Greater risk, such as increased volatility, limited liquidity, prepayment, non-payment and increased default risk, is inherent in portfolios that invest in high yield ("junk") bonds or mortgage-backed securities, especially mortgage-backed securities with exposure to sub-prime mortgages. Generally, when interest rates rise, prices of fixed income securities fall. Interest rates in the United States are at, or near, historic lows, which may increase a Fund's exposure to risks associated with rising rates. Investment in non-u.s. and emerging market securities is subject to the risk of currency fluctuations and to economic and political risks associated with such foreign countries. The Fund may invest in derivatives, including futures, options, forwards and swaps. Investments in derivatives may cause the Fund s losses to be greater than if it invests only in conventional securities and can cause the Fund to be more volatile. Derivatives involve risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with other investments. The Fund s use of derivatives may cause the Fund s investment returns to be impacted by the performance of securities the Fund does not own and result in the Fund s total investment exposure exceeding the value of its portfolio. Non-U.S. markets and emerging or developing markets entail different risks than those typically associated with U.S. markets, including currency fluctuations, political and economic instability, accounting changes and foreign taxation. Non-U.S. securities may be less liquid and more volatile than the U.S., and emerging markets securities may be less liquid and more volatile than U.S. and longerestablished non-u.s. markets. Use of currency trading strategies may adversely impact a Fund s ability to meet its investment objective of seeking to provide current income. Please remember that all investments carry some level of risk, including the potential loss of principal invested. They do not typically grow at an even rate of return and may experience negative growth. As with any type of portfolio structuring, attempting to reduce risk and increase return could, at certain times, unintentionally reduce returns. Diversification and strategic asset allocation do not assure profit or protect against loss in declining markets. For more information on Russell Funds, contact your investment professional or plan administrator for assistance. Russell Investments is a trade name and registered trademark of Frank Russell Company, a Washington USA corporation, which operates through subsidiaries worldwide and is part of London Stock Exchange Group. Securities products and services offered through Russell Financial Services, Inc. member FINRA, part of Russell Investments. Copyright Russell Investments All rights reserved. Date of first use: April 2009 Revised: March 2015 RFS Page 10 of 10 // Russell Investments //