We are delighted to announce that RS Asset Management Japan Co., Ltd. (RSAM), which is headed by Mr. Ken Yagi, the President and CEO, will change its corporate name to Bayview Asset Management Co., Ltd. effective January 1st, 2007.

In September 2006, RSAM's former parent company, RS Investments, entered into an agreement with The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian) in New York, in which Guardian took a majority stake in RS Investments. There are no impacts by the agreement on RSAM's operations including the management of its Japanese equity products. The business of RSAM, as an independent Japanese entity, retains its current form. However, to avoid any confusion that RSAM also became part of Guardian, we have decided to change our company name.

Looking through our history, RSAM was originally established as a 100% subsidiary of Robertson Stephens Investment Management (now renamed to RS Investments) in January 1998. However, in pursuit of laying the foundation as an independent Japanese company and presenting our long-term commitment to Japanese equity products, we acquired 90% of RSAM's shares from RS Investments through an amicable management buyout in April 2002. Today, RSAM boasts an established position as one of the few fully-licensed and employee-owned independent asset management boutiques based in Tokyo, with assets under management of approximately $2.5 billion (as of September 2006). The name change that will take place in January 2007 commemorates another milestone in RSAM's evolution that has been geared towards the ever-present goal of prominent asset management services.