Russell Investments Notifies 400

Downtown Tacoma, Washington’s biggest employer, Russell Investments, has distributed layoff notices to 400 of its 2,000 workers.

It is unknown how many of the Tacoma headquarters staff of 1,100 have been affected.

Russell Investments is a subsidiary of Northwestern Mutual. The firm provides investment products and services to individuals and institutions in 47 countries. Founded in 1936, Russell is the creator of Russell Indexes. Russell managed more than US$180 billion in assets as of September 2008.