ING Named Top Fund Manager For A Record 10th year

Auckland, New Zealand
12 March 2005

ING Named Top Fund Manager For A Record 10th year

Consistent performance across a range of investment sectors has resulted in ING winning the prestigious 2004 Morningstar Fund Manager of the Year Award, announced today.

Since the Awards began thirteen years ago, ING has won the overall major Award a remarkable ten times, consecutively from 1993 to 2001*, and now in 2004. ING was also a finalist in 1992 and 2002, and was named Fund Manager of the Decade in 1998.

The Awards recognise retail funds management excellence during calendar 2004. There are eight Awards in all – the overall Award and seven underlying sector Awards.

As well as wining the overall Award for 2004, ING was a finalist in five of the seven sector Awards, winning Fund Manager of the Year in both the Property and Multisector categories. The sector Awards are based on a combination of a quantitative rating (an average based on three and five-year performance) as well as one-year performance to 31 December 2004.

Managing Director of ING New Zealand, Paul Fyfe, says he is extremely proud the company has been able to sustain such a consistently high standard of investment expertise over so many years.

“The funds management industry has changed considerably over the past decade, becoming a lot more competitive against a background of increased investor and adviser expectation in terms of service and product,” he says.

“ING has met that challenge, always maintaining our quality standards. In addition, we have broadened our product range beyond investment and superannuation to include insurance and listed properties. Mr Fyfe also says while ING has won the Morningstar Awards, it is the company’s investors who ultimately benefited.

“Most of our investors experienced very strong growth in their investment portfolios, many receiving double-digit returns.”

ING began operating in New Zealand in 1989 with 12 people, managing just $100 million. Today, the staff numbers 200, and funds under management total more than $5.7 billion.

ENDS

ING is a global financial institution of Dutch origin offering banking, insurance and asset management to over 60 million private, corporate and institutional clients in 50 countries. With a diverse workforce of over 112,000 people, ING comprises a broad spectrum of prominent companies that increasingly serve their clients under the ING brand. In New Zealand, ING employs 200 staff and has offices in Auckland, Albany, Wellington and Christchurch.

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