STATE STREET RESEARCH AWARDED NEW INSTITUTIONAL BUSINESS FROM NEW ENGLAND FINANCIAL
BOSTON, MA, August 22, 2001 - State Street Research & Management Company
announced today that the firm has partnered with New England Financial to
provide subadvisory investment management for several investment funds
available in New England Financial's variable insurance products.
New England Zenith Fund is the mutual fund vehicle that provides investment
options to the variable life and variable annuity products of New England
Financial and its affiliates. State Street Research will be responsible for
managing approximately $565 million in fixed income assets-$315 million in
bonds and $250 million in money markets. Through New England Zenith Fund,
New England Financial and its affiliates offer a diversified selection of
investment options managed by a variety of money managers in its line of
variable products, which are distributed through a national network of
registered representatives. New England Zenith Fund had $5.3 billion in
assets as of July 31, 2001.
"New England Zenith Fund represents an enormous opportunity to
partner with our affiliated firms to penetrate the variable annuity and
variable life markets," said Chris Abbott, Executive Vice President, Head of
Institutional Marketing and Client Service Group for State Street Research.
"We are excited to capitalize on this opportunity and further reinforce our
presence in the subadvisory marketplace."
"State Street Research represents the kind of quality money management
expertise we want to offer to our clients," added John Guthrie, Vice
President of Investment Management at New England Financial.
MetLife owns both New England Financial and State Street Research. New
England Financial is a national provider of insurance and investment
products and services. The 165-year-old company is headquartered in Boston
and operates out of most major cities across the country.
State Street Research & Management Company, with a money management history
dating back to 1924, is one of the nation's first investment management
organizations. The Boston-based firm is a subsidiary of MetLife, one of the
world's largest financial services companies. As of July 31, 2001, State
Street Research managed $50 billion in assets, of which over $31 billion
represented institutional clients and $19 billion represented mutual fund
and variable annuity portfolios. The firm manages money for 10 of the 15
largest U.S. corporate pension plans (as reported in the 2001 Money
Management Directory), union programs, public employee pension plans, mutual
funds for over 576,000 shareholder accounts, as well as individually managed
accounts for affluent investors. The firm's Institutional Web site address
is www.ssrinstitutional.com.
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