STT State Street Corporation

State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), the investment management arm of State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT), announced today that it has reached $100 billion in assets under management (AUM) for its currency strategies. SSgA�s currency assets have more than doubled over the last three years, reflecting the increasing importance of currency strategies in the management of pension fund assets. Collin Crownover, head of currency management at SSgA, commented, �The substantial increase in international investments by pension schemes, coupled with the alpha generating opportunities in active currency management , have resulted in a significant increase in the importance of currency management strategies for pension schemes worldwide. Demand for currency management has come from our clients across the globe, reflecting the increased global importance of both passive and active currency capabilities.� Currency risks can be managed passively or actively in an effort to enhance risk-adjusted returns. Passive management of these risks can reduce volatility, allowing the risk savings to be allocated elsewhere in the portfolio. Alternatively, currency exposures can be managed actively to generate pure alpha. A third option is to combine these approaches in an alpha/beta framework. SSgA�s passive currency strategies focus on neutralizing currency risk resulting from the ownership of international assets by using an offsetting basket of currency exposures identified by a particular benchmark. By hedging currency exposure to a defined benchmark, schemes can incorporate a currency policy into their pension plan. To hedge the exposure, a hedge ratio is selected that is consistent with the plan's risk/reward assumptions, diversification expectations and volatility comfort level. At the heart of SSgA's active currency management strategies lies the tenet that currencies as an asset class behave very differently compared to bonds and equities. SSgA believes that the composition of foreign-exchange market participants is strikingly different to those of bonds and equities, however many currency market participants are not seeking profit from currency but are rather consummating some other underlying transaction or attempting to eliminate risk by hedging. Collin Crownover explains: �The limited participation by true profit maximizers in these markets leads to many market inefficiencies. An active manager can capitalize on the inefficiencies inherent in these markets and add value. Indeed, we believe that an active approach to managing currency risk is more efficient than a dynamic hedging or option-based approach.� In analyzing the forces driving currency markets, SSgA research has identified two broad trends. The first is that a thorough analysis of the characteristics of currency price movements reveals distinct repetitive and predictable price patterns in foreign exchange. The second is a fundamental, macroeconomic analysis which examines the historic relationship between economic data and currency prices to forecast future price movements. �Our experience and research has led us to believe that both of these approaches are valuable in evaluating currency markets. Therefore we have designed our processes to incorporate both technical and fundamental components,� said Crownover. About State Street Global Advisors: State Street Global Advisors, the investment management arm of State Street Corporation, delivers investment strategies and integrated solutions to clients worldwide across every asset class, investment approach and style. With $1.8 trillion in assets under management as of March 31, 2007, State Street Global Advisors has investment centers in Boston, Hong Kong, London, Milan, Montreal, Munich, Paris, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Zurich, and offices in 25 cities worldwide. For more information, visit State Street Global Advisors at www.ssga.com. Past performance is no guarantee of future results .Please read the prospectus carefully before investing.