AXA Rosenberg Wins Global Equity Mandate From NCSSF

AXA Rosenberg Wins Global Equity Mandate From NCSSF

December 01, 2006

    BEIJING, China, Dec. 1 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- AXA
Rosenberg, an AXA Investment Managers company specializing
in global, active equity asset management, announced today
that it has been chosen by the National Council for Social
Security Fund (NCSSF) to manage the Fund's first
international investments. 

    AXA Rosenberg will manage a Global ex-US equities
mandate with the goal of outperforming the MSCI World ex-US
index. AXA Rosenberg is one of a group of ten international
managers selected by the NCSSF to provide investment
services to the Fund. 

    "We are very pleased to have been chosen for this
mandate, which recognizes our expertise in managing global
equity portfolios, that represent 40 percent of our
assets," said Stephane Prunet, Global chief executive
officer of AXA Rosenberg. "As a specialist within AXA
Investment Managers' multi-expert organization, we have
particular expertise in working with large government
pension funds to help address their long-term funding
liabilities. We look forward to forging a long-term
relationship with the NCSSF," he added.

    Anthony Fasso, Asia Pacific chief executive officer at
AXA Rosenberg attended the public ceremony for the official
manager appointment, and commented, "We are honored to
have been selected for the first international allocation
by this important organization." He added, "The
award of this mandate recognizes AXA Rosenberg's unique
investment process, and continues the strong momentum we
have built as part of the Asian focused strategy of the AXA
Investment Managers group, where our combined assets have
increased by more than 250 percent over the past 5
years." 

    This is the first foray into international markets by
China's national pension fund, and marks a significant step
in the diversification of the Fund's investments.  Earlier
this year the Chinese Government announced that the NCSSF
could begin allocating funds to international fund
managers. Previously investments were limited to China, in
fixed income, domestic equity, and private equity,
including stakes in pre-IPO state-owned companies. 

    The NCSSF conducted a thorough review process to choose
the managers for this first foray into international
markets. 

    About NCSSF

    The National Council for Social Security Fund (NCSSF),
founded in November 2000, is a governmental agency on the
ministerial level directly under the State Council of the
People's Republic of China.  The total outlays were
appropriated by the central financial budget, and the NCSSF
is responsible for the management and operation of the NSSF,
including: to manage the fund allocated by the central
government, capital and equity assets derived from
reduction of state-owned shares and capital raised in other
manners; to formulate the operation schemes for investments
of SSF and to organize the operation; to select investment
managers and custodians of the NSSF, to mandate them with
and to monitor the investment operation and custody of the
NSSF assets, invest directly in prescriptive markets in
accordance with the related laws and regulations; to be
responsible for the financial management and accounting of
the NSSF, and to prepare periodical financial statements
and accounting reports; to regularly to publish the
financial condition such as NSSF's assets, proceeds and
cash flow to the public; to earmark fund for social
security purposes in a way instructed and designated
jointly by the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Labor
and Social Security; and to perform other duties as
assigned by the State Council. For more information on the
NCSSF please visit http://www.ssf.gov.cn/web/index.asp or
http://www.ssf.gov.cn/enweb/index.asp .  

    About AXA Rosenberg 

    AXA Rosenberg Group LLC, an AXA Investment Managers
Company, was founded in 1985 by Dr. Barr Rosenberg. AXA
Rosenberg models and predicts company fair value, future
earnings, and risk in building portfolios that aim to
produce higher future earnings per dollar than the markets.
This analysis is embedded in an expert system -- the
proprietary software built to embody the firm's collective
knowledge - so that it can be applied in a consistent and
repeatable fashion in markets worldwide. Today AXA
Rosenberg manages approximately $105 billion in individual
country, regional and global strategies for pension funds,
foundations and government entities in the Americas,
Europe, Asia and Japan. Headquartered in Orinda,
California, the firm has offices in Greenwich, Connecticut,
Toronto, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney. For
more information please visit http://www.axarosenberg.com .


    About AXA Investment Managers

    AXA IM is a multi-expert asset management company
within the AXA Group, a global leader in financial
protection and wealth management. AXA IM is one of the
largest European-based asset managers with approximately
euro 482 billion in assets under management as of the end
of October 2006. AXA IM employs over 2,500 people around
the world and serves customers in 18 countries.

    For more information, please contact:

    Asia Pacific: 

     Adrien Darde 
     AXA Rosenberg
     Tel:   [phone] 
     Email: [e-mail]

     Joshua Goldman-Brown
     Gavin Anderson & Company
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

    Global / North America: 

     Jennifer Morgan 
     AXA Rosenberg
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

     Greg Jawski 
     Fleishman Hillard
     Tel:   [phone] 
     Email: [e-mail]

    Europe: 

     Wendy Sayer
     AXA Rosenberg
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

     Ellen Gracey 
     GR Communications 
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

SOURCE  AXA Rosenberg Group LLC