Russell Indexes to Reflect Growth of Bio-tech Firms; California-Based Firms Also See Gains in Reconstitution Process.

TACOMA, Wash. -- About three dozen biotechnology firms across the country are set to join the broad-market Russell 3000(R) Index this month, replacing a wide range of firms from other sectors that didn't fare as well during a positive year on Wall Street. The 324 companies on this year's list of preliminary additions, which is available on www.russell.com, include 34 biotechnology firms and 20 medical specialties companies.

Likewise, 12 real estate investment trusts are slated to join the index.

By contrast, 56 regional, savings and major banks are slated for deletion from the index this year.

"Russell's index reconstitution process each year objectively captures the changing fortunes of companies and industries in the U.S. equity market," said Dennis Jensen, senior research analyst. "We don't see as much change this year as we did a few years ago during the Internet bubble, but they're important to reflect in order to achieve a better representation of the market and its various segments."

Russell posted on its website June 18 updated lists of companies set for addition to -- or deletion from -- the ranking of stocks that make up its 21 U.S. equity indexes. Final index membership goes into effect June 25 and remains in place for one year.

Among the 50 states, California again leads the way on the list of preliminary additions as 70 companies, about 22% of the total, are based in the Golden State. The next nine states represented on the additions list are: Texas (33 companies), New York (27), Florida (18), Pennsylvania (14), New Jersey (13), Massachusetts (13), Minnesota (13), Illinois (9) and Virginia (9).

California also is home to 35 stocks set for deletion from Russell indexes, but the net gain of 35 companies still ranks it above all other states in terms of total additions or net gains. The next nine states with the most companies on the preliminary deletions list are New York (18), Pennsylvania (16), New Jersey (12), Virginia (11), Minnesota (10), Ohio (10), Massachusetts (9), Texas (9) and Florida (8).

Looking at net gain -- number of companies on the additions list minus those on the deletions list -- the index reconstitution process shows Texas (net gain of 25) and Florida (net gain of 10) follow California's lead.

By contrast, Ohio will likely realize a net loss of six companies in the Russell 3000, while Pennsylvania and Virginia will each likely see a net decrease of two firms in the index.

"The rotation of who's in and who's out of Russell indexes shows the changing nature of U.S. equity markets," said Jensen. "We see pockets of success across the country, but by and large it was a relatively dull year in relation to the dramatic change our process captured during the Internet frenzy and subsequent crash."

These preliminary lists of additions and deletions to the Russell 3000 represent the first steps in Russell's annual index reconstitution process -- a procedure that adjusts Russell's stock indexes to reflect current market capitalization and style attributes. The final reconstituted lists will be available July 6 on www.russell.com.

Annual reconstitution of the Russell indexes captures the 3,000 largest U.S. stocks as of the end of May, ranking them by total market capitalization to create the Russell 3000. The largest 1,000 companies in the ranking comprise the Russell 1000(R) Index while the remaining 2,000 companies become the Russell 2000(R) Index.

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 $107 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.

Russell Investment Group is a registered trade name of Frank Russell Company, a Washington, USA corporation, which operates through subsidiaries worldwide. Frank Russell Company is a subsidiary of The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company.

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Indexes are unmanaged and cannot be invested in directly.