Russell Investment Group and Nomura Securities will introduce Japanese equity small-cap core and microcap indexes in June, according to Ron Bundy, president and representative director of Russell Indexes Asia, a new company.
The Russell/Nomura Small-Cap core index comprises 497 stocks representing the top two-thirds of the total market cap of the Russell/Nomura small-cap index. The new microcap index, with 892 stocks as of March 31, represents the bottom one-third of the Russell/Nomura Small Cap index.
Mr. Bundy said the new company, which opened for business today, was created to provide Russell clients in Asia with data and customer service for Russell's U.S. equity indexes and Russell/Nomura Japan equity indexes.
"As we gain momentum in Asia and Japan specifically, it's important to have direct contacts," he said. He said that although Russell has had an office in Tokyo, a separate entity was created for regulatory reasons.
"There are a lot of changes going on from the plan sponsor standpoint in Japan and our new entity there is designed to support that activity," Mr. Bundy said. "Japan is really our beachhead. It's a logical place for us to establish our business unit to support the entire (Asian) region."
