Russell Investments has made several changes to bolster its member administration business, aiming to offer a more cost-effective platform and technology to Australia-based superannuation funds.

Steve Wright has been appointed to head Russell's Advice Centre, which was established to provide an upgraded advice offering through the new model. Wright, previously a senior financial planner at Sunsuper, will be responsible for providing on-the-spot advice to members on investment choice, contribution strategies, and transition to retirement strategies.

Furthermore the firm launched the AvSuper fund on 25 March, following on from the partnership established in December 2010 which had Russell provide services to its 6,000 members.

Also new to the firm is Prime Super, the Australian industry fund for rural and regional areas, which chose Russell to deliver administration support to its 150,000 members. This is the second win for the firm's new administration model and is set to begin on 1 January 2012. To date, Russell's super business provides support to over 230,000 individuals. With Prime Super, this is expected to increase to 370,000.

The company said it expects to hire more than 60 new staff over the next months.