STT State Street Corporation

Bank of America Investment Management Operations To Be Based in Boston BOSTON, March 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of America's Global Wealth & Investment Management division announced today the creation of a consolidated asset management and mutual fund operations platform in Boston. This represents a key step in the evolution of the company's newly combined investment management arm, Columbia Management Group. In total, the newly-centralized operations hub will include more than 450 positions within Columbia Management and two outside service providers, State Street and Boston Financial (BFDS), a joint venture of State Street and DST Systems, Inc. The consolidated operations units will provide transfer agency, custodial operations and fund accounting activities, which are responsible for approximately 2.5 million active accounts, representing more than $224 billion in mutual fund and other managed assets at Columbia Management, part of the Global Wealth & Investment Management division. This move, recently approved by the trustees of the Columbia Funds, the Nations Funds, and the Galaxy Funds, is consistent with Bank of America's recent creation and expansion of the Boston-based headquarters of Global Wealth & Investment Management, one of the company's four main businesses. It reflects Bank of America's ongoing commitment to build a strong and enduring presence in Boston and New England, while providing the highest quality of service to Columbia Management mutual fund shareholders. State Street, a recognized leader in providing investment operations services, has been selected as the custodian and fund accountant for the mutual fund complex. Columbia Funds Services, Inc. will be named transfer agent for the Columbia Funds, the Nations Funds, the Acorn Funds and the Galaxy Funds. Additionally, BFDS, a leading provider of automated shareholder recordkeeping for mutual fund management companies, has been chosen as the provider of certain transfer agency and recordkeeping services for the mutual funds. Both State Street and BFDS are headquartered in the Boston area. These partners, selected from a range of providers based across the country, were chosen on the basis of several factors including service quality and location. The selection of service providers is contingent upon completion of final contractual agreements. "Our partnership with these two leading providers will benefit our customers and benefit our region by attracting and retaining hundreds of local jobs," said Brian Moynihan, president of Global Wealth & Investment Management. "This decision is consistent with our commitments, both to our mutual fund shareholders and the Boston region." Columbia Management President Keith T. Banks noted, "Our organization is committed to providing investors with high performing investment products backed by world-class, cost-effective operational platforms. The selection of these nationally recognized providers helps fulfill that commitment." State Street and BFDS were selected on the basis of several critical factors, indicated Christopher L. Wilson, Columbia Management's head of mutual funds. "Columbia Management sought a fully integrated transfer agency, custodial services and fund accounting platform. State Street and BFDS are uniquely positioned to provide what we need," he explained. "Reducing the number of vendors will enable us to capitalize on efficiencies, build consistent internal controls and manage risk more effectively. Ultimately, this will improve the quality of service that we provide to our shareholders. "We will continue to rely upon internally-operated functions that are customer facing, such as our call center in Denver, to help ensure a strong customer experience for fund shareholders," Wilson said. "We are looking to our external providers to manage functions that are involved in the production or transaction processing of our daily work." Consolidation of outside vendors is one step in an integration process that, subject to approval of the mutual funds' boards and shareholders, will result in formation of a unified and rationalized mutual fund product line later in 2005. Planning for related conversions is underway, with a target completion date in the fourth quarter of 2005. About State Street State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) is the world's leading specialist in providing institutional investors with investment servicing, investment management and investment research and trading. With $9.5 trillion in assets under custody and $1.4 trillion in assets under management, as of December 31, 2004, State Street operates in 25 countries and more than 100 markets worldwide. For more information, visit State Street's website at http://www.statestreet.com/ . About DST DST Systems, Inc. provides sophisticated information processing and computer software services and products that help clients improve productivity, increase efficiencies, and provide higher levels of customer service. DST is organized domestically and internationally into three operating segments: Financial Services, Customer Management, and Output Solutions. DST operates one of the most advanced data centers in the world, which provides information-processing services to support the products within each operating segment. These products are further enhanced through the integration of DST's advanced technology and e-commerce solutions. About BFDS BFDS, a joint venture of State Street Corporation and DST Systems, Inc., is a leading provider of automated shareholder recordkeeping for mutual fund management companies. Over the past 30 years, BFDS has built its position as the largest mutual fund transfer agent in the United States, and today employs nearly 2,600 individuals and serves a client base of over 21 million shareholder accounts. About Columbia Management Columbia Management, based in Boston, MA, is the primary asset management organization of Bank of America. Columbia Management offers products in every major asset class and investment style to both individual and institutional investors. With over $330 billion in assets under management, Columbia Management is focused on delivering strong investment performance and superior client service. (Assets as of December 31, 2004). About Bank of America Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk-management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving 33 million consumer relationships with more than 5,800 retail banking offices, more than 16,700 ATMs and award-winning online banking with more than twelve million active users. Bank of America is the No. 1 overall Small Business Administration (SBA) lender in the United States and the No. 1 SBA lender to minority-owned small businesses. The company serves clients in 150 countries and has relationships with 98 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 85 percent of the Global Fortune 500. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE:BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. DATASOURCE: Bank of America CONTACT: Jon Goldstein of Bank of America, +1-617-346-1419, or Web site: http://www.bankofamerica.com/ http://www.statestreet.com/

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