U.S. Investors Focused on Quality, Lower Risk & Value in 2014

Combined style indexes provides a more nuanced picture

SEATTLE, WA–(Marketwired – Oct 16, 2014) – Value- and defensive-oriented stocks have outperformed their growth- and dynamic-oriented counterparts year-to-date and month-to-date as of October 13 across U.S. large- and small-cap stocks as reflected by the Russell 1000® and Russell 2000® Value-Defensive Indexes®.

In 2012, Russell integrated its Stability (Defensive/Dynamic) Index series with its Growth and Value Indexes, introducing the combined style indexes: Growth-Defensive, Value-Defensive, Growth-Dynamic and Value-Dynamic. Stability combines quality and volatility measures, with Defensive representing high quality low risk stocks. The combined style indexes provide investors with a more nuanced picture of how investment styles are performing in the current market environment. It enables investors to see whether growth investors are favoring stocks with Dynamic or Defensive characteristics or, alternatively, whether value investors are favoring stocks with Dynamic or Defensive characteristics.

"The Russell combined style indexes have clearly been led by value and defensive year-to-date and month-to-date, indicating that investors are gravitating more toward higher quality stocks with reasonable valuations across both large- and small-caps. This is not surprising in a more volatile market environment," said Tom Goodwin, senior indexes research director with Russell Investments. "In more challenging market environments like we have seen in 2014, it is even more important for investors to have access to a robust set of index tools to better understand market dynamics."

2014 Year-to-Date Russell Combined Style Index Performance

Russell Index                                    October MTD as of 10/13                     YTD 2014 as of 10/13
U.S. Large Cap Stocks
Russell 1000® Index                                           -5.2%                                                 2.4%
Russell 1000® Growth-Defensive Index®           -4.1%                                                 3.1%
Russell 1000® Value-Defensive Index®              -3.5%                                                 5.0%
Russell 1000® Growth-Dynamic Index®             -6.9%                                                 0.9%
Russell 1000® Value-Dynamic Index®                -6.1%                                                 0.9%

U.S. Small Cap Stocks
Russell 2000® Index                                            -4.7%                                                -8.9%
Russell 2000® Growth-Defensive Index®            -3.4%                                                -8.5%
Russell 2000® Growth-Dynamic Index®              -8.3%                                                -10.9%
Russell 2000® Value-Defensive Index®               -1.1%                                                -4.8%
Russell 2000® Value-Dynamic Index®                 -6.3%                                               -12.2%

Source: Russell Investments. Returns are total returns (reflect reinvestment of dividends and distributions) and are denominated in U.S. dollars.

For more information on the Russell combined style indexes including a new paper on the subject entitled Russell Stability Indexes®: Performance of Russell 1000® combined style indexes in various market conditions, go to the Russell Indexes website.

The Russell 1000® Index measures the performance of the large-cap segment of the U.S. equity universe. It is a subset of the Russell 3000® Index and includes approximately 1000 of the largest securities based on a combination of their market cap and current index membership. The Russell 1000 represents approximately 92% of the U.S. market.