Russell Investments - Opinions on this company?

Any opinions on this company? How do they stack up compared to other similar companies? Are they respectable, at least for a first job? I am curious because I go to the University of Washington, majoring in finance. Russell Investments is the largest financial firm in Seattle (headquarters located in Seattle), and I think I could pull off a job there. I have good grades (3.7ish- slightly better), good extracurriculars, good recommendations, etc. I would eventually like to go to a top 10 b-school. How would a top b-school look upon my work experience if I worked at Russell? Thanks very much for your time.

 

The firm has a great reputation and most buyside folks will know the name since Russell does a lot of due diligence/consulting for institutional money. People tend to stay a long time, so that says something and there are plenty of UW folks running around. There has been some turnover due to the recent move from Tacoma to Seattle. Seems like moving to Seattle will only be good though and Russell is likely your best option in the area.

B-schools look at all kinds of factors and where you worked is only one small part of the equation - what you did there and what you learned are more important. You will probably get some good experience depending on the group you work in.

Hope that helps.

 

Since you live in the Seattle area, Russell is a great option for you (especially that they are out of Tacoma). I wouldn't put to much emphasis on your extracurricular activities, and recommendations. Yes, they are important, but you most likely will go through 20 + interviews depending on what division you try and get in with. I think that Russell will have a higher number of applicants now being that they have more access to talent.

As a whole Russell is a great company, very respectable for a first year job, or a long career. As a whole the only downside to Russell is that they are owned by Northwestern Mutual. Sometimes that can be seen as a negative depending on what side of the business you are in. Obviously I think it's clear that I work for Russell. I have no plans on leaving anytime soon! Amazing benefits and they take care of their people!

Hope that gives you some insight

 

I can't entirely answer your question, but their HR department is a mess. I talked to them a few times and they are very disorganized. Also, a friend of mine actually did a first round with them, was invited to an office visit, and then they called a 1-2 days before the visit and cancelled on him for no reason w/o any offer to reschedule. He has since signed with a VERY respectable Asset Management firm, so the problem definitely wasn't him.

Can't speak to the actual internship though, perhaps others can fill you in.

 

when i interviewed.. hr had to reschedule a few times before getting the right time the internship is supposedly legit for asset managemnet they help with housing, transportation, and pay well

someone who did it his soph year ended up interviewing with a few alternative asset management firms the following year.

 

If you are considering working at their headquarters consider this...Russell is a great company with a nice office (nice views of the ocean and mountains), but they are headquartered in Tacoma, WA. Lots of people make the mistake of thinking that is really close to the wonderful city of Seattle. It is not. Tacoma is a dump, with little to do, it is about 1hr out of Seattle and can take much longer when there is heavy traffic. There is very bad public transportation between the two cities. I am not sure if Russell puts interns up in Seattle and runs a bus or something, but just note that their might not be too much "fun" to be had outside of work.

Now, that being said it is a pretty good internship program. The best part about it is the name recognition you will get. There isn't anyone in finance who won't know about Russell, and they are a well respected company. As far as what you will learn, it will depend a lot on what you are tasked to do, but I have heard very mixed reviews on this front. As far as your peers, Russell takes A LOT of interns, so there will be kids from all types of schools and a lot might not be the sharpest tools in the shed. Its probably similar to interning at Pepsi Co. or some like that.

As far as how applicable it would be to other jobs. It is a good internship if you want to go into Asset Management, work for a mutual fund company, work as some sort of investment adviser, manage institutional funds, etc. It might not be the best choice if you want to go into ibanking, management consulting or pe/hf/vc.

just my 2cents, and no i did not intern there, but have some good sources on this topic

 

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