STATE STREET RESEARCH INVESTMENT ANALYST INDUCTED INTO SHINGO PRIZE ACADEMY

Utah State University's College of Business developed the award and annually recognizes individuals with the Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing. Business Week referred to the award as "The Nobel Prize of manufacturing." The prize honors Shigeo Shingo, a Japanese industrial engineer who has been called one of the world's leading experts on improving the manufacturing process. An author of several books, including A Study of the Toyota Production; Revolution in Manufacturing, Shingo has established himself as an "engineering genius." Utah State University created the Shingo Prize in 1988 to promote greater awareness of lean manufacturing concepts and to highlight companies that attain world-class manufacturing status. Lean manufacturing is defined as an approach to doing business that yields the highest productivity levels.

Mr. Ransom is an equity investment research analyst for State Street Research, conducting fundamental research on companies and industries in order to generate proprietary investment ideas for the firm's mutual funds and institutional clients. He covers many industries including aerospace and defense, diversified manufacturing, hand and power tools, engineering and construction, machinery and machine tools, and railroad equipment. He has over 29 years of investment experience and holds a BA from Princeton University, an MA from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and an MBA from Loyola College. Ransom has conducted kaizen (improvement sessions) with Shingijutsu, the premier Japanese lean consulting company, and with TBM, a U.S.-based lean consulting firm.

"We are extremely pleased that Cliff has been recognized for his expertise in this field," said Jim Weiss, Executive Vice President, Chief Investment Officer-Equities for State Street Research. "Cliff's dedication and hard work in the world class manufacturing area have resulted in solid decisions and advice and we are happy that he has received the credit he so richly deserves."

Rob E. Robson, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Shingo Prize, said Mr. Ransom was selected because he is an elite member of the lean manufacturing world. "Cliff was chosen because he has been a student of lean manufacturing for many years. He is one of the few people in the Wall Street community who truly understands the lean manufacturing system." State Street Research & Management Company, with a money management history dating back to 1924, is one of the nation's first investment management organizations. The Boston-based firm is a subsidiary of MetLife, one of the world's largest financial services companies. As of May 31, 2001, State Street Research managed $49 billion in assets, of which over $31 billion represented institutional clients and $18 billion represented mutual fund and variable annuity portfolios. The firm manages money for 10 of the 15 largest U.S. corporate pension plans (as reported in the 2001 Money Management Directory), union programs, public employee pension plans, mutual funds for over 576,000 shareholder accounts, as well as individually managed accounts for affluent investors. The firm's Web site address is www.ssrfunds.com.