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GIG HARBOR, WASH. – George F. Russell, Jr., who built a billion-dollar global investment services firm on a foundation of 10 personal principles, has written a book explaining the inside story of how these simple lessons guided him and others toward success. Success By Ten: George Russell’s Top Ten Elements to Building a Billion Dollar Business (Wiley; December 2009; $24.95), describes the origins, risks, and decision-making involved in development of Frank Russell Company, the pioneering pension consulting firm that created the Russell stock indices and a global array of investment products and services.

“These are the lessons I wish I’d been taught in business school. It would have saved me a lot of time and trouble,” said Mr. Russell. “I hope that these stories will help future generations of business leaders find the right path more quickly and easily than I did.”

The four-decade history of Frank Russell Company (known today as Russell Investments) is intertwined with Mr. Russell’s matter-of-fact storytelling and insights. His anecdotes about non-negotiable integrity, hiring smarter people, recognizing luck and having fun at work are treasured lore for those who worked alongside him during the past 40 years. Now Mr. Russell is sharing his favorite lessons at a time when many entrepreneurs, business leaders and civic-minded philanthropists are questioning what it takes to be successful during challenging times.

Mr. Russell is well known throughout the investment industry as the original pension consultant who led Frank Russell Company in a stream of investment industry innovations. While some of his ideas remained conceptual, many others gave way to enduring advancements in performance measurement, investment manager diversification, investment style analysis and international investing. Many of the core disciplines in today’s investment advisory and financial planning practices are outgrowths of the ideas that Mr. Russell introduced to institutional investors during the 1970s and 1980s. Together, these innovations helped create higher professional standards in the investment community and greater financial security for investors. In a time when financial security has become more important than ever, Mr. Russell’s 10 lessons provide timely and truthful reminders of personal business values that never go out of style.

George Russell’s Bio
Internationally known as an advocate for narrowing the gap between the “haves” and the “have nots,” George Russell focuses on a number of challenges: the promotion of globalization, the destruction of nuclear waste, strengthening U.S.-Russian relations, ground-level humanitarian projects and bridging the current divide between Muslims and non-Muslims in America.

Starting in 1958, George built Frank Russell Company from a small, regional mutual fund company into one of the world’s leading investment advisory firms. He served as chairman from 1958 until the firm was sold to Northwestern Mutual Life in 1999. Today, the company, Russell Investments, guides over 1,900 clients in 44 countries with assets exceeding more than $2.4 trillion, and manages $171 billion in funds. The company name is commonly recognized by the prominent stock market index The Russell 2000, which is one of a large number of Russell indexes around the world.

A native of Tacoma, Washington, George pioneered the business of pension fund consulting in the late 1960s. He is a well-known advocate of diversified global investing and, along with Warren Buffett, was named in 1993 by Pensions & Investments as one of the four most influential people in the world of institutional investing, in addition to numerous other awards. George received the Lillywhite Award from the Employee Benefits Research Council for outstanding lifetime contributions to enhancing Americans’ economic security in 1998, the CFA Institute’s Thomas L. Hansberger Leadership in Global Investing Award in 2008, and the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service in 2009.

Currently, George serves as Chairman of: The National Bureau of Asian Research; One Nation, a project working to change the perceptions of Islam and Muslims in America; Nuclear Fuel Cycle Technologies, Inc.; The Russell Family Foundation and Threshold Group. After many years of service, he has recently transitioned to an emeritus role at the EastWest Institute and the Pacific Health Summit. He is on the Leadership Council for the Initiative for Global Development and a member of the International Advisory Board for the University for Peace, which supports peace and security objectives of the United Nations. George is Honorary Co-Chairman of the Business Humanitarian Forum and a Board Member of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

About Threshold Group
Threshold Group, with offices in Gig Harbor, Wash., New York City and Portland, Ore., was created in 1999 when George F. Russell, Jr. and his wife Jane T. Russell sold Frank Russell Company (now Russell Investments) to Northwestern Mutual. Today, Threshold provides investment strategy, estate planning, and integrated advisory services for family clients representing more than $1.5 billion in private assets. For current information:
www.thresholdgroup.com

Publishers Information
Success by Ten: George Russell’s Top Ten Elements to Building a Billion-Dollar Business By George F. Russell Jr. and Michael Sheldon 978-0-470-53727-5 December 2009; $24.95; Hardcover www.amazon.com