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Business Editors

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Jan. 6, 2004

Investment firms that report their results to clients and prospects in accordance with Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS(R)) will soon be required to include fee disclosures using standardized guidelines for presentation, treatment and terminology.

The new fee provisions have been approved by the board of governors of the Association for Investment Management and Research, the worldwide sponsor of the GIPS standards. They will take effect Jan. 1, 2005, although firms are encouraged to adopt them earlier, if possible.

The GIPS (R) standards provide a standardized approach, based on the principles of fair representation and full disclosure, for firms to calculate and report their investment returns — thus allowing investors to compare results from GIPS-compliant firms throughout the world. The GIPS standards are followed by firms in more than 30 countries. GIPS are not mandatory for investment firms to adopt, although firms often find that doing so is a competitive necessity.

Within the global investment industry, fees are charged in many different ways and a variety of different terms are used when describing the fees and costs incurred during the management of an investor’s portfolio.

The new GIPS fee provisions will standardize the calculation and presentation of the impact of fees on investment returns. The consistent treatment of fees allows for greater comparability of returns and increased transparency to investors.

The fee provisions assert that the best point of comparison for all investors is the gross-of-fees return less the investment management fee that the prospective client expects to pay. Consequently, the new fee provisions recommend that firms show gross-of-fees performance results but require them to disclose in each presentation the fee schedule that is appropriate to the presentation, i.e. appropriate to both the product being sold and the type of prospective client being shown the results.

All returns (both gross and net) must be calculated after the deduction of the actual trading expenses incurred during the period.

Other highlights of the new GIPS provisions are:

— Treatment of Bundled Fees: A bundled fee is one that combines

multiple fees into one bundled fee. Bundled fees can include

any combination of management, transaction, custody and other

administrative fees. If a firm includes a bundled fee

portfolio in a composite, it must disclose that fact as well

as state the various types of fees that are included in the

bundled fee.

— Sub-Advisor, Pooled Funds and Fund-of-Funds: In some

situations, firms may invest a portion of a larger portfolio

in a pooled fund, utilize a sub-advisor or create a

fund-of-funds structure whereby additional fees are charged by

the underlying fund or paid to the sub-advisor. In these

situations, it is most appropriate to present the return net

of all fees since all investors must pay these fees.

— Non-Fee-Paying Portfolios: Firms are permitted to include

non-fee-paying portfolios in a composite in order to

represent a specific investment strategy or objective.

These new fee provisions, guidance statements and other resources, including ordering instructions for the GIPS Handbook, are available online at www.aimr.org/standards/pps/gips.html.