THE PHILADELPHIA STOCK EXCHANGE TO BEGIN TRADING OPTIONS ON THE RUSSELL FAMILY OF INDEXES
“ TRADING TO BEGIN IN FIRST QUARTER 2005”

For more information, contact Barbara Sorid at 215-496-5200 or by e-mail

PHILADELPHIA – Dec. 15, 2004 - The Philadelphia Stock Exchange (PHLX) announced today that it will begin trading options on the Russell family of benchmark stock indexes which includes the Russell 1000® Index, Russell 2000® Index and Russell 3000® Index. Cash options on the Russell indexes will trade on PHLX XL, the Exchange’s electronic trading platform, along with 18 other PHLX proprietary indexes.

“ PHLX is pleased to list options on the Russell family of indexes in early 2005 to meet extensive customer demand,” said PHLX Vice President of New Products, Daniel Carrigan. “Russell recently exceeded $2 trillion in benchmark assets. Investment managers will now be able to manage their Russell positions via the liquidity and transparency on PHLX XL,” Carrigan said.
We are delivering to traders the ability to electronically position Russell index strategies against PHLX sector indexes, added Carrigan.

“ We look forward to working with the Philadelphia Stock Exchange to offer their users innovative products,” said Kelly Haughton, strategic director of Russell indexes. “Through this partnership, products based on Russell’s leading benchmark stock indexes will be available to a new group of highly-sophisticated option market participants. By having Russell options products listed on multiple exchanges, we expect to see an increase in both volume and liquidity.”

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Russell indexes. Russell employs its indexes to objectively evaluate investment managers for multi-manager funds and other investment services. More than $2 trillion in institutional and retail assets are benchmarked to Russell indexes, of which more than $449 billion is invested in passive index funds that use them as the benchmark; a 100% increase since 1999.

Additional details on Russell's indexes are available at www.russell.com/US/Indexes/US/

About Russell
Russell Investment Group, a global leader in multi-manager investment services, provides investment products and services in more than 35 countries. Russell manages more than $114 billion in assets and advises clients worldwide representing more than $1.8 trillion. Founded in 1936, Russell is a subsidiary of Northwestern Mutual and is headquartered in Tacoma, Wash., with additional offices in New York, Toronto, London, Paris, Singapore, Sydney, Auckland and Tokyo.

About the PHLX
The Philadelphia Stock Exchange was founded in 1790. The PHLX trades 2,000 stocks, 1,500 equity options, 18 sectors index options and currency options and futures. For more information about the PHLX and its products, visit www.phlx.com.

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