BearXplorer(TM) Portfolio Analytics Tool Named Buy Side Innovation of the Year.

NEW YORK -- The Banker magazine, a Financial Times publication, named BearXplorer[TM] the Buy Side Innovation of the year. Judged by a panel of distinguished industry leaders, The Banker Technology Awards reviewed over 300 industry solutions and recognized the unique and powerful ability of BearXplorer

BearXplorer is a patented, innovative tool which arms our clients with a wealth of market insight to help them make the best investment decisions," said Kay Booth, president of BearXplorer. "We're extremely pleased that The Banker has recognized the unique contribution BearXplorer brings to our clients' investment strategy."

BearXplorer offers managers the ability to understand their portfolio's exposure to a set of over 60 macroeconomic factors, screen them against benchmarks, analyze potential scenarios, forecast performance based on standard or custom estimates, and identify divergence between expected short-term movements and long-term trends.

"This award honors BearXplorer for redefining how portfolio managers examine the impact of global economic shifts on their portfolio," said John Williamson, general manager of BearXplorer. "With the BearXplorer models, money managers now can intuitively understand and proactively manage their portfolio against movements in commodities, currencies, interest rates and macroeconomic factors."

The BearXplorer customizable tools include AlphaXplorer[TM], BetaXplorer[TM], DeltaXplorer[TM] and TrendsXplorer[TM]. AlphaXplorer uses a patented modeling engine to deliver tailored performance forecasts and highlight the top economic drivers at both a portfolio and individual security level. Through the use of a heat map, BetaXplorer offers a unique, one page view of a portfolio's exposure to a variety of macroeconomic inputs. DeltaXplorer further compares a portfolio to custom-made benchmarks or those of major market indices. Finally, TrendsXplorer helps investors look for stocks based on their relationship to economic events, commodity prices, exchange rates or interest rate changes.

In 2006, BearXplorer was also named Best Risk Analytics Initiative of the Year at the 2nd Annual Financial Technology Awards hosted by Waters magazine.