Tokyo-based boutique asset manager, Bayview Asset Management Co., Ltd. (BVAM), announced today the stock buyback of 10% of its outstanding shares from RS Investments (RSIM) based in San Francisco, USA, as of the end of March 2007. The shares represented RSIM's entire holding in BVAM, thus Bayview Holdings Co., Ltd. (Bayview Holdings), BVAM's holding company, now owns 100% of BVAM's outstanding shares as a sole shareholder. Bayview Holdings is a pure holding company owned by the officers and employees of BVAM. BVAM has hereby become a fully independent Japanese asset management boutique, which is a rare existence in the industry in Japan. Meanwhile, there is no change in BVAM's stated capital of JPY 100 million.

BVAM, originally established in January 1998 as a 100% subsidiary of RSIM, had gone independent in April 2002 in a management buyout, led by Mr. Ken Yagi, CEO, and other management and employees. In this management buyout, Bayview Holdings acquired 90% of BVAM's outstanding shares, while RSIM continuously owned the remaining 10%.

However, in September 2006, RSIM entered into an agreement with The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian) in New York, in which Guardian took a majority ownership position in RSIM. RSIM's becoming a part of Guardian's group to reinforce its foundation as an US equity asset management firm diluted the meaning to have RSIM as its single minority shareholder for BVAM, which was steadily fostering its Japanese equity business.

It is our honor that institutional investors including Japanese pension funds have valued BVAM as a provider of superior performance and unrivaled disclosure reporting in its asset management services. Ranking 1st in the "Hedge Fund Investments" category and 3rd in the "Client Service" category in the 2006 Japanese Investment Management Report published by a major global consultant indeed reflected our commitments to the missions. As of March 31st, 2007, BVAM's asset under management reached JPY 270 billion (USD 2.3 billion). BVAM, as a pioneer independent boutique in Japan, will continue endeavoring to meet all investors' expectations with its quality services.