Standard and Poor's and BusinessWeek to Award Best

Feb. 13, 2003 — Standard & Poor’s and BusinessWeek will jointly launch the first annual “Excellence in Fund Management Awards” in the U.S. by recognizing best-in-class equity and bond fund managers.

Portfolio managers that meet essential criteria, including setting themselves apart from their peers and leading their funds through various market conditions while keeping expenses down and staying within their objectives, will be selected.

The “Excellence in Fund Management Awards” program should also become “an important evaluation tool” for the financial community, the parties noted, since fund managers that have shown exceptional levels of leadership over the past five years, while consistently producing strong results, will be recognized.