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Russell Tax Exempt Bond Fund
RUSSELL TAX EXEMPT BOND FUND
Investment Objective (Fundamental)
               The Fund seeks to provide federal tax-exempt current income consistent with the preservation of capital. The Fund will invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the value of its assets in investments the income from which is exempt from federal income tax.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
               The following tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold Shares of the Fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in Russell Funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and in the Front-End Sales Charges section and the More About Deferred Sales Charges section beginning on pages 216 and 219, respectively, of the Prospectus, and the Purchase, Exchange and Redemption of Fund Shares section, beginning on page 30 of the Fund's Statement of Additional Information. Please see the Expense Notes section of the Fund's Prospectus for further information regarding expenses of the Fund.
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
Shareholder Fees Russell Tax Exempt Bond Fund
Class A
Class C
Class E
Class S
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price) 3.75% none none none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) [1] 1.00% none none none
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends none none none none
[1] The Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) is charged on the lesser of the purchase price of the Shares being redeemed or the net asset value of those Shares at the time of redemption.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Annual Fund Operating Expenses Russell Tax Exempt Bond Fund
Class A Shares
Class C Shares
Class E Shares
Class S Shares
Advisory Fee [1] 0.30% 0.30% 0.30% 0.30%
Distribution (12b-1) Fees [1] 0.25% 0.75% none none
Other Expenses [1] 0.29% 0.54% 0.54% 0.29%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses [1] 0.84% 1.59% 0.84% 0.59%
Less Fee Waivers and Expense Reimbursements [1] none (0.04%) (0.04%) (0.04%)
Net Annual Fund Operating Expenses [1] 0.84% 1.55% 0.80% 0.55%
[1] Until February 28, 2014, Russell Fund Services Company ("RFSC") has contractually agreed to waive 0.04% of its transfer agency fees for Class C, E and S Shares. This waiver may not be terminated during the relevant period except with Board approval. "Other Expenses," "Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses" and "Net Annual Fund Operating Expenses" have been restated to reflect expenses expected to be incurred by the Fund during the current fiscal year.
Example
               This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.

               The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes your investment has a 5% return each year and that operating expenses remain the same. The calculation of costs for the one year period takes into account the effect of any current contractual fee waivers and/or reimbursements. The calculation of costs for the remaining periods takes such fee waivers and/or reimbursements into account only for the first year of the periods.

               Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, under these assumptions your costs would be:
Expense Example Russell Tax Exempt Bond Fund (USD $)
Class A Shares
Class C Shares
Class E Shares
Class S Shares
1 Year 457 158 82 56
3 Years 632 499 265 186
5 Years 822 864 464 326
10 Years 1,370 1,890 1,037 737
Portfolio Turnover
               The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund Shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 29% of the average value of its portfolio.
Investments, Risks and Performance

Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund
               The Fund has a fundamental policy to invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the value of its net assets plus borrowings for investment purposes in investments the income from which is exempt from federal income tax. The Fund invests principally in investment-grade municipal debt obligations providing federal tax-exempt interest income. The Fund employs multiple money managers, each with its own expertise in the municipal bond market. Fund assets not allocated to money managers are managed by Russell Investment Management Company ("RIMCo"). Assets not allocated to money managers include the Fund's liquidity reserves and assets which may be managed directly by RIMCo to modify the Fund's overall portfolio characteristics by investing in securities or other instruments that RIMCo believes will achieve the desired risk/return profile for the Fund. The Fund may invest in municipal debt securities that are rated below investment grade (commonly referred to as "high-yield" or "junk bonds"). The Fund may also invest in Eurodollar futures. A portion of the Fund's net assets may be "illiquid" securities. The Fund may invest in commercial paper. The Fund may enter into repurchase agreements. Please refer to the "Investment Objective and Investment Strategies" section in the Fund's Prospectus for further information.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
               An investment in the Fund, like any investment, has risks. The value of the Fund fluctuates and you could lose money. The principal risks of investing in the Fund are those associated with:
  • Active Management. Despite strategies designed to achieve the Fund's investment objective, the value of investments will change with market conditions, and so will the value of any investment in the Fund and you could lose money. The securities selected for the portfolio may not perform as RIMCo or the Fund's money managers expect. Additionally, securities selected may cause a Fund to underperform relative to other funds with similar investment objectives and strategies. There is no guarantee that RIMCo will effectively assess a Fund's characteristics or exposures and it is possible that its judgments regarding a Fund's risk/return profile may prove incorrect. In addition, actions taken to modify overall portfolio characteristics, including risk, may be ineffective and/or cause the Fund to underperform.
  • Multi-Manager Approach. While the investment styles employed by the money managers are intended to be complementary, they may not in fact be complementary. A multi-manager approach could result in more exposure to certain types of securities and higher portfolio turnover.
  • Fixed Income Securities. Prices of fixed income securities generally rise and fall in response to, among other things, interest rate changes. The Fund could lose money if the issuer or guarantor of a fixed income security or other issuer of credit support is unable or unwilling to make timely principal and/or interest payments, or to otherwise honor its obligations. In addition, fixed income securities may be downgraded in credit rating or go into default.
  • Non-Investment Grade Debt Securities ("High Yield" or "Junk Bonds"). Non-investment grade debt securities involve higher volatility and higher risk of default than investment grade bonds.
  • Government Issued or Guaranteed Securities, U.S. Government Securities. Bonds issued or guaranteed by a government are subject to inflation risk, price depreciation risk and default risk.
  • Municipal Obligations. Municipal obligations are subject to interest rate, credit and illiquidity risk and are affected by economic, business or political developments and may be subject to provisions of litigation, bankruptcy and other laws affecting the rights and remedies of creditors.
  • Money Market Securities (Including Commercial Paper). Prices of money market securities generally rise and fall in response to interest rate changes.
  • Repurchase Agreements. Repurchase agreements are subject to the risk that the sellers may not be able to pay the agreed-upon repurchase price on the repurchase date.
  • Derivatives. Investments in a derivative instrument could lose more than the principal amount invested. Compared to conventional securities, derivatives can be more sensitive to changes in interest rates or to sudden fluctuations in market prices and thus the Fund's losses may be greater if it invests in derivatives than if it invests only in conventional securities. The use of derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in equity or fixed income securities, currencies or other investments. Derivatives are subject to a number of risks such as liquidity risk, market risk, credit risk, default risk, counterparty risk (the risk that the other party in an agreement will fail to perform its obligations) and management risk. They also involve the risk of mispricing or improper valuation and the risk that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate exactly with the change in the value of the underlying asset, rate or index.
  • Counterparty Risk. Counterparty risk is the risk that the other party or parties to an agreement or a participant to a transaction, such as a broker, might default on a contract or fail to perform by failing to pay amounts due or failing to fulfill the obligations of the contract or transaction.
  • Liquidity Risk. The market for certain investments may become illiquid under adverse or volatile market or economic conditions, making those investments difficult to sell. The market price of certain investments may fall dramatically if there is no liquid trading market.
  • Illiquid Securities. An illiquid security may be difficult to sell quickly and at a fair price, which could cause the Fund to realize a loss on the security if it was sold at a lower price than that at which it had been valued.
  • Large Redemptions. The Fund is used as an investment in asset allocation programs and may have a large percentage of its Shares held in such programs. Large redemption activity could result in the Fund incurring additional costs and being forced to sell portfolio securities at a loss to meet redemptions.
  • Global Financial Markets Risk. Global economies and financial markets are becoming increasingly interconnected and conditions (including recent volatility and instability) and events (including natural disasters) in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. In addition, governmental and quasi-governmental organizations have taken a number of unprecedented actions designed to support the markets. Such events and conditions may adversely affect the value of the Fund's securities, result in greater market or liquidity risk or cause difficulty valuing the Fund' s portfolio instruments or achieving the Fund's objective.
               Please refer to the "Risks" section in the Fund's Prospectus for further information.

               An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Performance
               The following bar chart illustrates the risks of investing in the Fund by showing how the performance of the Fund's Class S Shares varies from year to year over a 10-year period. The returns (both before and after tax) for other Classes of Shares offered by this Prospectus may be lower than the returns shown in the bar chart, depending upon the fees and expenses of those Classes. The highest and lowest returns for a full quarter during the periods shown in the bar chart are set forth next to the bar chart.
               The table accompanying the bar chart further illustrates the risks of investing in the Fund by showing how the Fund's average annual returns for the periods shown compare with the returns of one or more indexes that measure broad market performance. After-tax returns are shown only for one class. The after-tax returns for other classes will vary. After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor's tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. If the Fund has realized capital losses, the total return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund Shares may be higher than the total return before taxes and the total return after taxes on distributions. For more information, see the Performance Notes section in the Fund's Prospectus.

               Past performance, both before-tax and after-tax, is no indication of future results. More current performance information is available at www.russell.com.
Class S Calendar Year Total Returns
Bar Chart
Highest Quarterly Return:
5.38% (3Q/09)

Lowest Quarterly Return:
(2.71)% (4Q/10)
Average annual total returns
for the periods ended December 31, 2012
Average Annual Total Returns Russell Tax Exempt Bond Fund
1 Year
5 Years
10 Years
Class A
(0.29%) 3.76% 3.17%
Class C
2.87% 3.80% 2.80%
Class E
3.66% 4.58% 3.58%
Class S
3.92% 4.85% 3.84%
Class S Return After Taxes on Distributions
3.92% 4.84% 3.20%
Class S Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares
3.45% 4.62% 3.13%
Barclays Municipal 1-10 Yr Blend (1-12) Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
3.56% 5.13% 4.30%