ING most-awarded fund manager

Auckland, New Zealand • 07 March 2006

ING most-awarded fund manager

For the 12th time in 15 years, ING proudly accepted top honour at the annual Morningstar Fund Manager of the Year awards ceremony, held yesterday evening.

The Awards recognise New Zealand retail funds management excellence during the previous calendar year, based on a combination of quantitative research, as well as performance over one year to 31 December 2006 and risk-adjusted performance for three and five years.

In addition to being named 2006 Fund Manager of the Year, ING was a finalist in five of the six underlying sector Awards, winning the multisector, fixed interest and property categories.

CEO Marc Lieberman says ING’s dominance in the awards over the past decade and a half reflects the company’s capabilities across all asset classes and cements its position as an ‘expert’.

“Funds management was our core business when we started out in New Zealand back in 1989. Today, the company offers a much broader financial services spectrum, but the emphasis we place on the development and maintenance of our investment expertise remains as strong as ever.

“Our investment team, headed by Philip Houghton-Brown, is an incredibly talented group, and they are supported by a vast range of people and functions across the business. The consistency and quality of their work is the reason we have been able to deliver reliable quality, growth and performance for our clients."

Mr Lieberman commended Morningstar for its awards work, noting the awards continue to provide the investing public with an invaluable and credible means of identifying investment expertise.

ING currently holds both the major industry awards, after winning the 2006 FundSource Fund Manager of the Year title last October. The company has also recently been named as one of the six provisionally appointed default providers for KiwiSaver, the government workplace savings scheme launching in July.

ENDS

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