Nikko Asset Management Taps Tremont

Date: Wednesday, January 14, 2004

TO ADVISE ON NEW HEDGE FUND INVESTMENT PROGRAM TARGETING JAPANESE INVESTORS

Rye, January 5, 2004 – Nikko Asset Management has tapped Tremont Capital Management, Inc. to help it design a new fund of hedge funds program that Nikko will make exclusively available in Japan to its Japanese institutional investor clientele.

As one of Japan’s largest investment managers, Nikko Asset Management has partnered with Tremont to provide it with advice on strategic allocations and manager selection in connection with Nikko’s management of its hedge fund of funds initiative. In addition, Tremont will actively monitor risk in the program using tools developed by it and RiskMetrics. “Our new partnership with Nikko Asset Management marks an important point in the development of our global hedge fund business,” said Barry Colvin, President of Tremont. “As one of the leading asset managers in Japan and globally, Nikko is well positioned to target the Japanese investment community with alternative investment products. We look forward to being part of this growing new business with Nikko.”

The Nikko fund of funds program, which initially will be geared towards Japanese pension plans, will seek to take advantage of Tremont’s nearly 20 years of expertise in advising on alternative investment portfolios, employing a top-down allocation strategy that involves comprehensive hedge fund manager research and due diligence. Risk transparency will be employed with respect to managers in the program via RiskMetrics Group’s Hedge Platform. RiskMetrics Group’s Hedge Platform enables Tremont to measure, evaluate and aggregate risk at the manager and fund of funds level while maintaining the confidentiality of the managers’ position level detail.

“We are extremely pleased to have been chosen by Nikko to assist them in developing their new hedge fund program,” said John Hock, Executive Vice President and Global Head of Sales of Tremont. “Pension funds, globally, are increasingly looking to make hedge funds a part of their portfolios and Japanese investors have voiced increased interest.”

While Nikko already provides a range of alternative investments for its Japanese clients, they are all onshore, yen-based strategies. Now, the firm is looking to broaden its horizons and provide Japanese pension funds with a global hedge fund exposure, says Masafumi Hikima, President and CEO at Nikko Asset Management in Tokyo. "Many Japanese plan sponsors aren't prepared to have a strong opinion about asset allocation mixes in alternative investments," Hikima says. "They just provide gatekeepers with their target risk and target return. But they appreciate that a fund of hedge funds program involves more than just doing the due diligence on managers. They want to understand the industry trends and money flows within alternative investments. Tremont is well respected in these areas".

Tremont has been emphasizing pension plan and similar institutional business as one of its key growth areas. In the past year, the firm has been hired for its advisory expertise by a number of institutional investors in the US and Europe which are either making their first forays into hedge funds or are interested in growing their existing portfolios.

Tremont Capital Management, Inc. is a global alternative investment management firm serving the institutional and high net worth market place. In addition to its investment management services, through its London subsidiary, Tremont Capital Management, Ltd., Tremont provides data on the performance of more than 2,200 alternative investment managers and funds, which supports Tremont’s services worldwide. Tremont, headquartered in Rye, New York, with offices in London, Toronto and Bermuda, advises on more than $9 billion in alternative investments.

Tremont Capital Management, Inc. is wholly-owned by Oppenheimer Acquisition Corp. and is an affiliate of OppenheimerFunds, Inc., which, in turn, is an affiliate of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company and its affiliated entities, including MassMutual International, which has operations in Japan. Established in 1907, MassMutual Life of Japan manages nearly $4 billion (U.S.) in assets. The company has more than 1,800 sales representatives in 56 sales offices across Japan.

Notes: Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. The foregoing is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be, nor should it be construed as, investment or financial advice or an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to acquire, any security, investment product or service.