IDC Interactive Data Corp.

FT Interactive Data Europe, part of Interactive Data (NYSE: IDC) and a leading supplier of financial information and analytical software to global markets, today announced the general availability of its Fair Value Information Service to European domiciled funds. Three clients are already using the service in Europe. FT Interactive Data's Fair Value Information Service is designed to provide subscribers with information that can be used to estimate a price that would likely prevail in a liquid market for an issue traded on exchanges that have closed prior to the fund's net asset value (NAV) calculation time. The evaluation provided takes into consideration the latest market information available. Market timing and time zone arbitrage are not just US phenomena - European domiciled funds could also be at risk if they contain equities traded on exchanges which close prior to their order cut-off time or NAV calculation point. Fair valuation is one technique adopted by fund managers to reduce the susceptibility of funds to arbitrage. Roger Sargeant, FT Interactive Data Europe's managing director, said: "For several years FT Interactive Data has been working with the European funds industry to understand the impact of time zone arbitrage on European domiciled funds and how a fund is able to address this issue. During this time we have seen increasing interest in our Fair Value Information Service by European domiciled funds. "This service is the result of many years of research and development, and we are continually making enhancements to help meet the changing needs of our clients. The service builds on more than 30 years of FT Interactive Data's experience of evaluating securities in the marketplace." FT Interactive Data first introduced its groundbreaking Fair Value Information Service to the North American marketplace in July 2002 and has since built up a client list of 120 US mutual fund and mutual fund processing subscribers. FT Interactive Data's Fair Value Information Service is a multifactor, security specific model. Backed by the company's vast experience in collecting and analysing equity data, it provides extensive global financial data coverage and offers a proven methodology, flexible delivery and a range of detailed reporting tools. Note to editors Market timing and time zone arbitrage Events occurring after an exchange closes but prior to a fund's NAV calculation time can affect the value of a fund's holdings traded on those exchanges. Post-closing government actions, open market fluctuations and natural disasters are some of the events that can cause the value of an equity to deviate from the local closing price. This situation opens the door to arbitrage, in which investors buy investment fund shares at a 'stale' NAV and then cash out, reaping a virtually risk free profit. This form of market timing is often referred to as time zone arbitrage. For the majority of long-term fund investors, such arbitrage creates asset dilution. For example, FT Interactive Data has estimated that approximately 50 billion euros of assets domiciled in the UK, Luxembourg and Ireland, but invested in North America and Asia, are potentially under threat from arbitrageurs. Where no measures have been put in place FT Interactive Data has estimated that annual dilution of up to 250 basis points could be occurring. About Interactive Data Interactive Data Corporation (NYSE: IDC) is a leading global provider of securities pricing, financial information and analytic tools to institutional and individual investors. The company supplies time-sensitive pricing (including evaluated pricing), dividend, corporate action and descriptive information for more than 3.5 million securities traded around the world, including hard-to-value instruments. Many of the world's best-known financial service and software companies subscribe to the company's services in support of their trading, analysis, portfolio management and valuation activities. Interactive Data is headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts. Through its branded businesses, FT Interactive Data, ComStock, CMS BondEdge and eSignal, Interactive Data has approximately 1,800 employees in offices located throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Pearson plc (LSE: PSON; NYSE: PSO), an international media company whose businesses include the Financial Times Group, Pearson Education and the Penguin Group, owns approximately 60 per cent of the outstanding common stock of Interactive Data Corporation. FT Interactive Data Europe, part of Interactive Data, is a leading provider of financial information and analytical software to global markets. FT Interactive Data supplies global securities pricing, evaluations, dividend, corporate action and descriptive information designed to support mutual funds' pricing activities, securities operations, research and portfolio management. FT Interactive Data collects, edits, maintains and delivers data on more than 3.5 million securities, including daily evaluations for approximately 2.5 million fixed income and international equity issues. FT Interactive Data specialises in 'hard-to-value' instruments and 'hard-to-get' information from emerging markets. FT Interactive Data Europe is a division of Interactive Data (Europe) Ltd. For further information please see: www.interactivedata.com