Michelle Seitz
Chairman and CEO
Russell Investments

As Chairman and CEO of Russell Investments, Michelle Seitz leads a global investment solutions firm with $327 billion in assets under management and $2.8 trillion in assets under advisement for clients in 32 countries worldwide. Russell Investments is the world’s sixth largest investment adviser.

Seitz was recruited into her current role in 2017. She has since reset the vision and strategic direction of the company, strengthened the executive team and corporate culture, elevated diversity and inclusion programs, and modernized client offerings with enhanced private markets capabilities and leading ESG portfolio management. Seitz continues to lead the growth trajectory of Russell Investments while focusing associates and clients around the firm’s core purpose to provide for people’s financial security.

Before joining Russell Investments, Seitz spent 22 years at William Blair, serving 16 years on the firm’s corporate board and as CEO of William Blair Investment Management (WBIM). Driving continuous innovation, she expanded William Blair’s institutional, mutual fund, and private wealth management businesses five-fold over her CEO tenure, transforming the business from a regional operation into a $74 billion global asset management firm and five-time winner of the “Best Places to Work in Money Management.”

In 2021, Seitz appeared once again on Barron’s list of “The Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance,” and among American Banker’s “Most Powerful Women in Finance.” She is a frequent keynote speaker at leadership conferences and industry events, notably on global markets, financial security, ESG investing, inclusive capitalism, innovation, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Seitz is a member of Challenge Seattle, an alliance of CEOs of the region’s largest employers, and is on the boards of Sana Biotechnology (SANA) and the Washington Roundtable. She is also on the Dean’s Council at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, where she graduated in 1987 with a B.S. in Accounting. She became a Chartered Financial Analyst in 1990. She is a former director on the Financial Accounting Foundation board, which oversees FASB and GASB.