Russell Index Lists to be Formalized June 24th
Tampa, FL - June 14, 2005 - Odyssey Marine Exploration (AMEX: OMR), a leader in the field of deep-ocean shipwreck exploration, has been added to the preliminary lists of companies scheduled to become part of the Russell 3000, the Russell 2000, and the new Russell Microcap Indexes.
The lists will be finalized when the Russell Investment Group formally reconstitutes its equity indexes on June 24, 2005. Russell has posted the annual list of preliminary index additions, which include Odyssey Marine Exploration, on www.russell.com.
"Being added to the Russell equity indexes is an important milestone for the Company. Russell's unbiased, market-driven analyses for determining eligible stocks for these well-known indexes will enhance the profile of Odyssey Marine in the investment community, allowing us to tell our story to a larger group of investors and broaden our shareholder base. This is an important achievement for Odyssey as we continually strive to increase shareholder value," said John Morris, President and CEO of Odyssey Marine Exploration.
Russell indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for both passive and active investment strategies. More than $2.5 trillion in assets currently are benchmarked to them. Investment managers who oversee these funds purchase shares of member stocks according to that company's weighting in the particular index. Annual reconstitution of Russell indexes captures the 3,000 largest U.S. stocks as of the end of May, ranking them by total market capitalization to create the Russell 3000.
About Russell Investment Group
Russell, a global leader in multi-manager investment services, provides investment products and services in more than 39 countries. Russell manages more than $135 billion in assets and advises clients worldwide representing $2.3 trillion. Founded in 1936, Russell is a subsidiary of Northwestern Mutual and is headquartered in Tacoma, Wash., with additional offices in New York, Toronto, London, Paris, Singapore, Sydney, Auckland and Tokyo. For more information, go to www.russell.com.
About Odyssey Marine Exploration
Odyssey Marine Exploration is an American Stock Exchange Company with several shipwreck projects in various stages of development throughout the world. Additional information about Odyssey, its projects and methodologies, is available at shipwreck.net. For additional information, please contact John McNeilly, Odyssey's Manager of Corporate Communications, at 813-876-1776.