Top Performing Funds and Fund Managers acknowledged at the South China Morning Post Fund Manager of the Year Awards 2004

Hong Kong, February 21, 2005 – The South China Morning Post Fund Manager of the Year Awards 2004 today acknowledged the top performing funds and their respective fund managers, covering different global markets and all asset classes.

The investment funds award was organised by the South China Morning Post in association with Standard & Poor’s Fund Services and sponsored by American International Assurance.

In the leading group awards, which evaluate the overall performance of fund management groups, Fidelity Investments Management (Hong Kong) Limited took the honour for the 3-year and 10-year categories, while the 5-year group award was won by UBS Global Asset Management.

Among the other awards, from a pool of more than 1,900 retail market-oriented funds registered for sales, 72 winners were recognised from a total of 31 sectors.

Chairman of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited Mr. Charles Lee was the guest of honour at the Awards presentation ceremony and presented the award certificates to the major winners.

South China Morning Post Business Editor Mr. Simon Pritchard said, "We are very pleased to take this opportunity to recognise the outstanding fund managers for their hard work last year. Our Business section will continue to provide the latest market news and offer in-depth analysis and insights on key issues affecting fund managers and their investors."

"Since we introduced the event 12 years ago, the SCMP/S&P annual fund awards have become widely regarded as the industry standard for recognising excellence in Hong Kong’s expanding investment fund industry," said Mr. Surinder Kathpalia, Managing Director and Head of Standard & Poor’s in Asia. "For the 2004 award, approximately 3,000 funds authorised by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission vied for the honours. On a global scale, the Standard & Poor’s Fund Awards have come to be accepted as the performance standard by which fund managers and investment management groups around the world are measured."

The South China Morning Post Fund Manager of the Year 2004 was assessed using a methodology known as Relative Risk-Adjusted Ratio as was the case last year. This calculation evaluates the performance of a fund and the consistency of that performance relative to other funds in its peer group sector, and is used for all investment funds awards S&P conducts around the globe.

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About South China Morning Post Publishers Limited

The company publishes the South China Morning Post and the Sunday Morning Post, Asia’s premier English language daily and Sunday newspapers with the highest circulation of any English language newspaper in Hong Kong. The South China Morning Post, with 100 years of history, is a leading commentator on Greater China and is widely read by government officials, business people, professionals and academics. According to the AC Nielsen Media Index 2004 Mid-Year Report, the South China Morning Post has 96% of the English language newspaper readership in Hong Kong. It is also the market leader for display and recruitment advertising in Hong Kong. Its Internet edition, SCMP.com, is an award-winning subscription-based Website which offers global access to the editorial content of the print edition, breaking news updates throughout the day, e-newsletters and news via PDA and SMS. The South China Morning Post receives constant recognition for its editorial and technical capability. Awards won include three excellence design awards from 25th Best of Newspaper Design Competition and Hong Kong News Awards 2003 for Best News Writing, Best Business Writing, Best Headline and Best Sports Photography.

South China Morning Post Publishers Limited is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SCMP Group Limited. Through other subsidiaries, SCMP Group Limited is also involved in the publication of magazines, commercial and business video production and property investments. SCMP Group’s shares are listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited.


Media contact:

Prudence Lai
Marketing and Communications Manager
South China Morning Post
Tel: (852) 2565 2415
Fax: (852) 2565 2429
Email: communications@scmp.com