Fund Action and Fund Directions Announce Nominees for 13th Annual Mutual Fund Industry Awards; Lifetime Achievement Award Winners

New York (PRWEB) January 9, 2006 -- Fund Action and Fund Directions, publications of Institutional Investor News covering the U.S. mutual fund industry, have announced the nominees for the 13th Annual Mutual Fund Industry Awards. The awards recognize the fund leaders, marketers and trustees who have made significant impacts on the fund industry in the past year. Winners will be announced and awarded at an annual gala dinner on March 2, 2006 at The Ritz-Carlton New York, Battery Park.

Nominees in all categories were selected based on their accomplishments during the 2005 calendar year. The nominees are as follows:

FUND ACTION AWARDS NOMINEES

Fund Leader of the Year:

John DesPrez, President and CEO, Manulife’s John Hancock Financial Services

J.C. Massar, President, Capital International Asset Management and Chairman, Capital International Financial Services

George Gatch, President & CEO, JPMorgan Funds

Raymond “Chip” Mason, Chairman and CEO, Legg Mason and Mark Fetting, President, Legg Mason Asset Management, and Executive VP of Legg Mason

Fund Marketer of The Year:

Bruce Bond, President, PowerShares Capital Management

Jeff Carney, President of Personal Investments, Fidelity Investments

Hugh Kelly, Executive VP of Sales and Marketing, HCA Securities

Merillyn Kosier, Executive VP of Mutual Fund Marketing and Investor Services, Ariel Capital Management

Deal Of The Year:

Aberdeen Asset Management/Deutsche Bank AG

Legg Mason/Citigroup

Pioneer Investment Management/AmSouth Bancorp

Sales Success:

AllianceBernstein Investment Research and Management’s Wealth Strategies Funds

Evergreen Investments’ Evergreen Asset Allocation Fund

MFS Investments’ MFS International Diversification Fund

State Street Global Advisors’ streetTRACKS Gold Shares

Advertising Campaign of the Year:

Charles Schwab & Co.

Fidelity Investments

Janus Capital Group

Separately Managed Accounts Player of the Year:

Janet Mariconti, Chair of the CFA Institute Liaison Committee and SVP, Managed Accounts Consulting Group, Prudential Investments

John Morris, Senior VP of Managed Accounts, Charles Schwab & Co.

Glenn Regan, CIO, Smith Barney Consulting Group

Larry Sinsimer, Managing Director of Managed Accounts, Eaton Vance

Lifetime Achievement Award Winner

Michael Price, President, The Michael F. Price Foundation, Managing Partner of MFP Investors LLC and Director of Liquidnet Holdings.

FUND DIRECTIONS AWARDS NOMINEES

Trustee of the Year:

Clayton Yeutter, Independent Chairman, OppenheimerFunds

Virginia Stringer, Independent Chairman, First American Funds

Michael Scofield, Independent Chairman, Evergreen Funds

Samuel Hayes, Independent Chairman, Eaton Vance Funds

Small Board Trustee Of The Year Nominees

Clipper Fund Independent Directors- Norman Williamson, Independent Chairman, F. Otis Booth and Lawrence McNamee

Thomas Christopher, Independent Trustee, Aquila Family of Funds

Samuel Eisenstat, Independent Chairman, SunAmerica Funds

Leigh Wilson, Independent Chairman, Victory Funds, Old Mutual Advisor Funds II and Old Mutual Insurance Series Funds

Cynthia Hargadon, Independent Trustee, Allmerica Investment Trust and Wilshire Mutual Funds

Lifetime Achievement Award Winner

Alan Richards, Lead Independent Trustee, Pacific Select Funds and Pacific Funds

For more information about the awards, please visit:

http://www.iinews.com/site/MFA06/default.asp

About the publications:

Fund Action covers important news and trends in the U.S. mutual fund industry including the top fund firms, mergers & acquisitions, executive compensation, industry alliances, fund families at banks and full-service brokerage firms, top-level personnel moves, legislation and technology.

Please visit the website at: http://www.fundaction.com.

Fund Directions is the premiere independent publication covering issues of concern to mutual fund boards and reports on the key issues in mutual fund governance from an independent trustee's perspective. Please visit the website at: http://www.funddirections.com.

Contact:

Tracey Redmond

212-224-3239

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