The board of the Russell Funds has added fund industry veteran Ellen Needham as its fifth new independent trustee in three years.
Needham, a former top executive at State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), was appointed to the board on July 1, according to an SEC filing dated July 8. Her hiring comes six months before the expected mandatory retirement of 19-year veteran Jack Thompson, who has reached the board’s retirement age of 75 and must retire on Dec. 31, barring a waiver from the board.
Thompson joined the board as an independent trustee in 2005. He previously served as president and CEO of Berger Financial Group, LLC, from 1999 to 2003.
If he does not request a waiver, Thompson’s departure will cap a period of heavy turnover for the Russell Funds board that began with the death of independent trustee Thaddas Alston in 2021.
During that four-year period, the nine-member board saw the retirement of three other independent trustees — Cheryl Burgermeister, Kristianne Blake, and Katherine Krysty — and the addition of four new ones, including Michelle Cahoon, Michael Day, Jeremy May, and Jeannie Shanahan.
Needham, 57, retired last year as senior managing director at SSGA, where she had worked since 1989. Prior to her retirement, she had served as CEO, president, and chairman of SSGA Funds Management, Inc.
She is also an independent director of the 2023 ETF Series Trust, a multiple-series trust launched last July by ACA Group.
Besides Needham and Thompson, the Russell Funds’ independent trustees include Cahoon, 58; Day, 66; May, 54; Shanahan, 60; Julie Dien Ledoux, 54; and chair Raymond Tennison, Jr., 68.
Barback, Cahoon, Day, May, and Shanahan all joined the board as part of a 2021 hiring spree that expanded the board from six to 10 members.
The funds’ only interested trustee is Vernon Barback, COO of Russell Investments.
Cheryl Wichers is the funds’ CCO.
The board, which oversees 39 funds, maintains a standing audit committee, regulatory and investment compliance committee, and nominating and governance committee.
Compensation for the independent trustee ranged from $229,500 to $336,500 during the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2023.
Russell Investments is an institutional and retail investment management firm based in Seattle, Wash. It managed $302.7bn globally as of March 31.
• Independent trustee, 2023 ETF Series Trust, 2023 – Present
• Senior managing director, State Street Global Advisors, 1989 – Present
