Cogent ResearchJohn Meunier Copyright Business Wire 2009

Today, perceptions of the financialstability of a mutual fund company and its breadth of offerings are now theprimary driver of investor loyalty. In a newly released Investor Brandscape 2009 report on the attitudes andbehaviors of affluent and high net-worth investors, Cogent Research synthesizesinvestor experience on 15 areas of company performance that ultimately driveloyalty toward individual mutual fund companies. The results show that in thecurrent environment combined perceptions of a firms financial stability andrange of products is a more significant driver of customer loyalty thanperceptions about short- and mid- term, as well as consistency of investmentperformance. "Everyone understands investors want and expect to see strong investmentperformance. Thats a given," said Antonio Ferreira, Managing Director ofCogents Wealth Management Group.

"But in a broad market decline and in suchuncertain times, investors are obviously looking for a safe harbor. Frankly,they want assurance that companies they invest with today will still be heretomorrow. Corroborating Cogents earlieranalysis, firms that receive the highest ratings from investors on perceivedfinancial stability and product offerings also have the highest Net PromoterScores (NPS). "Its rather stunning to see that nine out of ten fund companies have morecustomers at risk of defecting than remaining loyal. In times like these, wherepositive investment performance is difficult, firms must provide or promoteother offerings that address the existing mood of the market - thus, smaller orboutique firms with limited options will have a tough time maintaining loyaltydue to lack of product or service breadth," said Ferreira.

The top performers across all 38 firms in terms of customer loyalty - firmsCogent designates as "Stars" - are Vanguard, Fidelity Advisor Funds, andFidelity Investments (with NPS Scores of 21, 7, and 6 respectively). These threefirms are the only mutual fund companies to garner positive NPS scores. Thebottom performers across all firms - those Cogent designates as "Drifters" - areCalamos Funds, DWS Investments, and MFS Investment Management (with NPS Scoresof -63, -62, and -59 respectively) Mutual Fund Company Investor Loyalty RankingsStars1 Vanguard Group 2 Fidelity Advisor Funds 3 Fidelity Investments Leaders4 T Rowe Price 5 American Funds 6 Franklin Templeton Funds 7 Schwab/Laudus Funds 8 Dodge & Cox Funds 9 RiverSource (formerly American Express Funds) 10 ING Funds 11 Morgan Stanley Investment Advisors Funds 12 JPMorgan Funds 13 Davis Funds 14 American Century Funds 15 Principal Financial 16 Wells Fargo Funds 17 Lord Abbett Funds 18 Janus Funds 19 Columbia Management Funds Players20 Evergreen Investments 21 Dreyfus Funds 22 Oakmark Funds 23 PIMCO Funds 24 OppenheimerFunds 25 AllianceBernstein Funds 26 John Hancock Funds 27 The Hartford 28 Van Kampen 29 Legg Mason Funds 30 Neuberger Berman Drifters31 BlackRock Funds 32 Goldman Sachs Funds 33 Eaton Vance Funds 34 Invesco Aim Funds 35 Putnam Investments 36 MFS Investment Management 37 DWS Investments (formerly DWS Scudder Funds) 38. Calamos Funds About Cogent ResearchCogent Research helps clients gain clarity, obtain perspective, and formulatedirection on critical business issues.

Founded in 1996, Cogent provides customresearch, syndicated research products, and evidence-based consulting to leadingorganizations in the financial services, life sciences, and consumer goodsindustries. Through quality research, advanced analytics, and deep industryknowledge, Cogent Research delivers data-driven solutions and strategies thatenable clients to better understand customers, define products, and shape marketopportunities in order to increase revenues and grow the value of their productsand brands 1 Reichheld, Fred. The Ultimate Question, Driving Good Profits and True Growth,Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2006. Cogent ResearchJohn Meunier, Copyright Business Wire 2009.