Russell Puts Out Adds, Drops in Index Reconstitution

June 13, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Russell Investment Group has released its preliminary lists of companies that will join or leave the broad-market Russell 3000 Index when Russell's family of US equity indexes is reconstituted June 24.

The list indicates 208 companies will move into the Russell 3000 index – fewer than last year’s 323 companies and far less than the 10-year average of 455, according to a news release. Russell also posted a preliminary membership list for the new Russell Microcap Index.

“We see fewer additions in 2005 in large part because Russell enhanced the ability of our indexes to reflect the market by adding eligible IPOs each quarter since September,” Lori Richards, senior product manager for Russell indexes, said in the news release.

Among the 12 sectors that comprise the broad-market Russell 3000, the weighting of each will remain relatively consistent after the index is reconstituted, Russell said. The weighting of financial services-related stocks, for example, is expected to increase from 22% to 22.1%. The total market value of the Russell 3000 will likely increase to $14.3 trillion in total capitalization, indicating the broad market rose by $1 trillion from this point last year.

Among the additions slated for inclusion this year are 42 firms in the Financial Services sector, 37 in the Health Care sector, 34 in the Consumer Discretionary & Services sector and 31 in the Technology sector, according to the news release. The deletions list is dominated by firms in two sectors: Health Care (56) and Technology (48).

Stocks ranking smaller than the largest 3,000 US-based firms will settle into the new Russell Microcap Index.

According to the company, the Russell indices currently have $2.5 trillion in assets benchmarked to them. More information is at  http://www.russell.com/US/Indexes/US/reconstitution/default.asp .

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