Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys
and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not
reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 74% of the average value of its portfolio.
Investments, Risks and Performance
Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund
The Fund has a non-fundamental policy to invest, under normal
circumstances, at least 80% of the value of its net assets plus borrowings for investment purposes in real estate securities. The Fund seeks to achieve its objective
by concentrating its investments in equity securities of real estate companies (“real estate securities”) economically tied to a number of countries around the world, including the U.S., in a globally diversified manner. The Fund considers a company to be a real estate company if at least 50% of its assets, gross income or net profits are attributable to the ownership, construction, development, financing, management or sale of residential, commercial or industrial real estate. The Fund invests principally in securities of companies, known as real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) and other REIT-like entities that own interests in real estate or real estate-related loans. The Fund may also invest in equity securities of other types of real estate-related companies. A portion of the Fund’s securities are denominated in foreign currencies and are typically held outside the U.S. The Fund may invest a portion of its assets in equity securities of companies that are located in emerging markets. The Fund considers emerging market countries to include every country in the world except Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Russell Investment Management, LLC (“RIM”) provides or oversees the provision of all investment advisory and portfolio management services for
the Fund. The Fund is advised by RIM and multiple money managers unaffiliated with RIM pursuant to a multi-manager approach. RIM may change the Fund’s asset
allocation at any time. The Fund’s money managers have non-discretionary asset management assignments pursuant to which they provide a model portfolio to RIM
representing their investment recommendations, based upon which RIM purchases and sells securities for the Fund.
For Fund assets not allocated to money manager strategies, RIM utilizes quantitative and/or rules-based processes and qualitative analysis to assess Fund characteristics and invest in securities and instruments which provide the desired exposures. RIM may use strategies based on indexes. RIM also manages the Fund’s cash balances.
The Fund usually, but not always, pursues a strategy to be fully invested by exposing all or a portion of its cash to the performance of certain real estate securities or, in certain circumstances, broad global equity markets by purchasing equity securities and/or derivatives, which typically include index futures contracts and swaps. The Fund may invest in derivative instruments and may use derivatives to take both long and short positions. The Fund may enter into spot or forward currency contracts to facilitate settlement of securities transactions. The Fund may invest in large, medium or small capitalization companies. The Fund may lend its portfolio securities to earn income. Please refer to the “Investment
Objective and Investment Strategies” section in the Fund's Prospectus for further information.
Principal Risks of Investing in the
Fund
An investment in the Fund, like any
investment, has risks. The value of the Fund fluctuates and you could lose money. The principal risks of investing in the Fund are those associated with:
●
Real Estate Securities. Just as real estate values go up and down, the value of the securities of real estate companies also
fluctuates. Real estate securities, including real estate investment trusts (“REITs”), may be affected by changes in the value of the underlying properties
owned by the companies and by the quality of tenants’ credit.
●
Industry Concentration Risk. By concentrating in certain industries, the Fund carries much greater risk of adverse developments in
those industries than a fund that invests in a wide variety of industries.
●
Equity Securities. The value of equity securities will rise and fall in response to the activities of the company that
issued them, general market conditions and/or economic conditions. Investments in small and medium capitalization companies may involve greater risks because these companies generally have narrower markets,