Institutional Investor Announces Top 300 U.S. Money Managers

NEW YORK, NY, Jul 14 (MARKET WIRE) --
Total assets in the II 300, Institutional Investor's annual ranking of
the 300 largest money managers in the U.S., tumbled 23.4 percent last
year, to $26.7 trillion. The hardest hit asset classes were the riskiest
-- equities, which fell 41.3 percent, and alternative investments, which
fell 26.1 percent. Bonds, normally the darling of investors when stocks
are in a tailspin, also fell, but only by 9.3 percent.

The only asset class that actually grew last year was cash equivalents,
which inched up 3.9 percent, to $5.47 trillion.

The industry's misery speaks to recent trends that are sapping firms of
revenue as wary investors plow money into investments that carry the
lowest risk -- and for which money managers charge the lowest fees. One
firm that has benefited from the shift in overall composition of assets
is Barclays Global Investors (BGI), which finishes first in the II 300
for a fifth straight year, with $1.53 trillion in assets as of December
31.

State Street Global Advisors maintains its second-place position, with
$1.44 trillion. BlackRock, the New York-based institutional quant shop,
jumps to No. 3 from No. 5, even though its assets remained nearly flat, at
$1.31 trillion. In June, BlackRock announced its $13.5 billion acquisition
of BGI, which it plans to complete in the fourth quarter of this year.

The entire II 300 ranking of the 300 biggest U.S. money managers can be
found on our web site, www.iimagazine.com.

For more information about these rankings, please contact Jane Kenney at
jkenney@iiresearchgroup.com or (212) 224-3122.

Contact:
Jane Kenney
jkenney@iiresearchgroup.com
(212) 224-3122

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