LSE to Sell Russell's Investment Management Business

The London Stock Exchange Group (LSE), the owner of Russell Investments, has announced it would look to sell Russell’s investment management business.

According to a joint message of LSE’s CEO Xavier Rolet and Russell’s President and CEO Len Brennan, the company came to the conclusion after conducting a comprehensive review over the last six months.

“The review focused principally on assessing the strategic fit of Russell’s investment management business with the Group’s long-term strategy,” they said. “After careful consideration, the conclusion of the comprehensive review is to explore a sale of the investment management business.”

LSE said it has already received much interest in the potential acquisition, “reflecting the high quality of its business and market leading positions.”

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The company will only sell Russell’s investment management business “in its entirety,” Rolet and Brennan said, and the sale process will begin immediately.

LSE said it would continue to be committed to maintaining Russell’s client service and products, but will also focus on “successfully integrating Russell Indexes with FTSE.”

In a November in-depth analysis of LSE’s $2.7 billion purchase, CIO wrote it was likely Russell’s asset management division would be sold separately.

Paul MouchakkaaThe California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) has hired Paul Mouchakkaa as senior investment officer for real assets.

The current managing director of Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing succeeds Ted Eliopoulos, who was promoted to CIO of the $293 billion pension plan in September 2014. Mouchakkaa will begin his post on March 2, CalPERS said.

“Paul is a talented and experienced real estate professional, and we’re thrilled to have him on our team,” Eliopoulos said in a statement. “He has a proven track record of success and I’m confident that will continue at CalPERS.”

As senior investment officer for the $29.6 billion real asset portfolio, Mouchakkaa will head up a team of 60 and be responsible for both implementing and managing investment strategy and policy. The pension fund also said he will contribute to the fund’s overall strategy as a member of the senior management team.

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The real asset portfolio consists of more than $25 billion of real estate investments as well as infrastructure and forestland.

Mouchakkaa is no stranger to the largest US pension plan. Prior to his position at Morgan Stanley, he was a portfolio manager in CalPERS’ real estate group. He also served as managing director at Pension Consulting Alliance.

The new hire received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and holds an MBA from the University of Oregon.