STATE STREET RESEARCH NAMES ELEANOR MARSH INTERNATIONAL EQUITY PORTFOLIO MANAGER

A 13-year veteran of the investment industry, Ms.Marsh has served as a member of the International Equity portfolio management team for nearly two years as an associate portfolio manager. "Eleanor has been a highly valued member of the international equity team and I am confident that her experience and expertise will provide superior investment results for our clients and shareholders," said Jim Weiss, chief investment officer-equities, State Street Research & Management Company.

Ms. Marsh joined State Street Research from Evergreen Investment Managementwhere she served as a co-portfolio manager for 2 international growth fundsand as an international equity analyst. Previously, she was a SeniorAnalyst at S.G. Warburg Securities in Tokyo.Ms. Marsh holds as M.A. from Stanford University and a B.A from Yale University.

State Street Research & Management Company offers institutional, mutual fundand private client markets a range of international equity products.State Street Research & Management Company, with a money management historydating back to 1924, is one of the nation's first investment managementorganizations. The Boston-based firm is a subsidiary of MetLife, one of theworld's largest financial services companies. As of November 30, 2001, StateStreet Research managed $46.0 billion in assets, of which $28.5 billionrepresented institutional clients and $17.5 billion represented mutual fundand variable annuity portfolios. The firm has managed money for many of thelargest U.S. corporate pension plans for over 30 years. State StreetResearch also manages individually managed accounts for affluent investors,and mutual funds for over 576,000 shareholder accounts. The firm's Web siteaddress is www.ssrfunds.com.