New Zealand Superannuation Fund Appoints Sterling Johnston To Us Small-Cap Growth Mandate

The Board of the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation today announced the appointment of Sterling Johnston Capital Management LP (Sterling Johnston) to manage a second US small-cap growth mandate.

With an initial allocation of NZ$45 million, the appointment of Sterling Johnston complements that of Numeric Investors, announced in May 2004, which presently manages NZ$103 million.

As a small-cap growth manager, Sterling Johnston invests in under-followed companies experiencing a dramatic acceleration in earnings and revenue growth. The chosen benchmark for the portfolio is the Russell 2000 Growth Index.

Based in San Francisco, Sterling Johnston has US$1.3 billion under management, of which US$750 million is currently in US small-cap growth stocks.

The appointment of Sterling Johnston brings the total number of external investment managers to 16. The value of the Fund at 30 September 2004 was NZ$4.5 billion.

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Notes for Editors:

About the New Zealand Superannuation Fund:

The New Zealand Superannuation Fund, which commenced investing at the end of September 2003, is designed to partially provide for the future cost of New Zealand superannuation. An ageing population means the cost of providing New Zealand superannuation is expected to double over the next 50 years. To prepare for this, the Government is allocating on average $2.2 billion a year to the Fund over the next 20 years while the cost of superannuation is relatively low. In the meantime, the Fund will invest the money on a prudent but commercial basis.

As the cost of superannuation escalates, the Government will progressively draw on the Fund to help smooth the impact on its finances. As at 30 September 2004 the value of the Fund was $4.5 billion. The Fund is expected to grow to around $100 billion by 2020.

> http://www.nzsuperfund.co.nz

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