NEW YORK, Jan 7 (Reuters) – Northwestern Mutual Life
Insurance is exploring a possible sale of its Russell
Investments asset management business, which has $247 billion in
assets under management, according to four people familiar with
the situation
The Milwaukee-based insurer is discussing selling the
Russell subsidiary because it has decided it is not a core part
of its business, the people said.
All of the sources wished to remain anonymous because they
are not permitted to speak to the media.
A Northwestern Mutual spokeswoman declined to comment.
Seattle-based Russell provides pension consulting,
investment management, transition management services and
indexes. If the firm does decide to run a sales process, it is
unclear if it will sell the entire business at once or break it
up, two of the sources said.
It could not be determined how much Northwestern would
receive if it decides to sell the firm. Northwestern bought
Russell, which was then called Frank Russell Company, in 1999
for $1.2 billion.
(Reporting by Jessica Toonkel; editing by Matthew Lewis)
