Russell Investments - 1792 Exchange

Rating Overview

Russell Investments is Medium Risk.

Russell Investments is Medium Risk. The company often yields to political activism in shaping corporate governance, potentially alienating consumers, dividing employees, and harming shareholders. The company implements race and identity-based policies that replace merit, excellence, and integrity with preferential treatment and outcomes. Russell Investments occasionally embraces corporate initiatives that redirect its central focus from business goals to partisan policies and divisive issues at times. This approach fails to safeguard free exercise, free speech, and free enterprise.

Rating Criteria

Corporate Weaponization Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Cancellations	Medium Risk
Discriminatory Philanthropy	High Risk
Employment Protection	High Risk

Corporate Weaponization ⓘ

Corporate Governance and Public Policy Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Advocacy Bias	High Risk
Funding	High Risk
Political Actions	Lower Risk

Corporate Governance and Public Policy ⓘ

Rating Criteria Detail

Criteria Risk Level Rationale

Corporate Weaponization

Criteria:

Has canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors due to their political views or religious beliefs OR corporately boycotts, divests, or sanctions regions, people groups, or industries.

Risk Level:

Medium

Rationale:

Russell Investments is a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment, incorporating ESG issues into investment analysis, decision-making, and other business practices (1)(2). Russell Investments integrates ESG into its business practices by making climate change an “integral part” of its investment strategy and proxy voting guidelines (3). However, Russell Investments has not canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors based on political views or religious beliefs (4)(5).

Criteria:

Charitable giving (including employee matching programs) policies or practices discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or religious beliefs.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Russell Investment Associates likely uses Benevity as its charitable giving platform. Benevity vets charities according to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Hate List, which includes mainstream libertarian, conservative, family, and religious advocacy organizations (1)(2)(3).

Criteria:

Employment policies fail to protect against viewpoint or other discrimination and/or are ideological in nature.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Russell Investments offers a diversity mentorship program to its employees. Russell Investments appears to prioritize diversity over merit in its recruitment. From its 2022 Corporate Sustainability Report: “The TAA programme aims… [t]o provide practical ways to increase diversity and make the hiring experience more inclusive for candidates” (1). Russell Investments appears to prioritize diversity over merit in its hiring. The firm “has been following DEI trends for years” and has made it “an integral component of [its] manager research and selection process” (2). Russell Investments does not provide viewpoint protections for its employees (3).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy

Criteria:

Uses corporate reputation to support causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Russell Investments supports DEI within its business practices, employing a DEI Council. The Council monitors diversity metrics to identify “patterns and growth areas in order to establish recommendations for the firm’s Management Committee”. Russell Investments offers DEI training workshops to its employees. Russell Investments supports DEI within its business practices. From its 2022 Corporate Sustainability Report: “we at Russell Investments consider DEI a critical component of our overall strategy and objectives” (1). Russell Investments is committed to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 (2). Russell Investments is aligned with the Paris Agreement, which entails a commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 (3). Russell Investments was part of the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative prior to NZAM’s suspension in 2025. Its membership indicated a commitment to carbon neutrality with its investments by 2050 (4)(5)(6). Russell Investments was a member of Climate Action 100+, committed to carbon neutrality by 2050. However, it withdrew its membership likely over growing concerns of potential antitrust violations (7). Russell Investments published multiple articles and whitepapers encouraging ESG and DEI integration (8). In August 2022, Russell Investments published an article encouraging companies to publish their DEI data so that firms can meaningfully incorporate diversity and equity principles into their investment process (9). In July 2023, Russell Investments included a book on unconscious bias on its summer reading list (10). Russell Investments 2025 Proxy Voting policy “strongly support companies incorporating material ESG risks and opportunities into their long-term strategic planning.” However, it does acknowledge that “the inclusion of ESG metrics in compensation programs should be based on each company’s unique circumstances.” Glass Lewis currently serves as the proxy advisor for Russell Investments, responsible for aggregating the firms custodians’ proxy ballots and applying its custom guidelines when executing proxy votes (11). The company is a member of the Institutional Investing Diversity Cooperative (12)(13).

Criteria:

Uses corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Russell Investments is a partner of Washington Employers for Racial Equality (1)(2). Russell Investments is a partner of the Diversity Project, which includes a commitment to setting ethnicity goals in the business (3)(4). Russell Investments is a member of the Institutional Investments Diversity Cooperative, advocating for racial equity in corporate policy (5)(6). Russell Investments is a member of the GSBA, “Washington State’s LGBTQ+ and allied chamber of commerce” (7)(8). Otherwise, the company has not used corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies (9).