STATE STREET RESEARCH NAMES HEALTH CARE TEAM TO MANAGE HEALTH SCIENCES FUND

The firm's experienced Healthcare Team of equity analysts have research coverage responsibilities for the various subsectors of healthcare including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, specialty drugs, medical supplies, medical devices, HMOs and hospitals. They will be replacing John Borzilleri who is leaving the firm to join a local venture capital group.

"The team approach to managing the fund coupled with the Team's research expertise, should continue to provide investors with consistent investment return potential," said Jim Weiss, Chief Investment Officer-Equities for State Street Research. "Funds focused on healthcare have been performing exceptionally well - in a world where healthcare is a top priority and medical breakthroughs continue to drive medical, health and pharmaceutical products and services."

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 Web site address is www.ssrfunds.com.

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