Russell transition mgmt pro moves Down Under

Gemma Dooley, manager of institutional investor services at Russell Investment Group, has moved from Singapore to Sydney. She will continue to be responsible for services such as transition management and commission recapture for Asia but is also adding Australia and New Zealand to her brief.

Dooley has spent over four years in Singapore, first marketing operations for Russell's retail multi-manager product, which it distributes through DBS, and then taking on institutional services.

The move is partly to return to her native Australia but also reflects the growing demand for transition management services in Oz and New Zealand. Demand among Asian institutions ex-Japan remains low, enabling her to continue to keep in touch with existing clients.

"We're doing a transition now," she says of an Asian client. "And it's fine, the clients know me."

Moreover, Russell's transition management operation is run out the United States, and Dooley's role is marketing and client service, which she can do effectively from Australia.

She says Asian institutions have been slow to embrace transition management because it's not well understood, and getting new ideas past boards of trustees is hard work. "But it will go ahead - it's about where Australia was five to eight years ago," she says.