Len Brennan on Tuesday was named president and CEO at Russell Investments.
He replaced Andrew Doman, who resigned at a morning meeting of the company's board of directors. Mr. Doman will stay on as chairman of the board.
“Andrew and the board both felt the timing was right for a new CEO to carry the company forward,” Kate Stouffer, Russell spokeswoman, said in a telephone interview. “They believe Len Brennan was the right leader for the job.”
Mr. Brennan had been manager of individual investor services at Russell before leaving the firm in 2005 to become president and CEO of Rainier Investment Management.
As chairman, Mr. Doman succeeds Ed Zore, retired CEO and president of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance, which owns Russell. Mr. Zore will stay on the Russell board.
Russell has faced some tough times over the past several years, including the departure of almost all of its senior management team in 2008 as well as layoffs. Industry observers have said the company may have been too ambitious in expanding beyond its core competency of consulting and running traditional multimanager investing strategies for institutional investors.
Russell, like other financial companies, had aspired to be a global player in a wide variety of investment products, Mr. Brennan said in an interview with Pensions & Investments in March 2010 while he was at Rainier.
“For any investment organization, that's a difficult challenge,” he said. “My observation is most players are very substantial in a core competency or are a leader in a geographical area. It's hard for a company to dominate in a wide range of products and services.”
Neither Mr. Brennan nor Mr. Doman could be reached on Tuesday.
Mr. Brennan returned to Russell on Monday and also will be CEO of Europe, Middle East and Africa. Ms. Stouffer said. She said he will be based in Seattle but will spend considerable time in London.
