IXIS Asset Management Advisors, L.P. Selects Vestmark Managed Account Platform

BOSTON, MA - January 17, 2006 - IXIS Asset Management Advisors, L.P. announced today that it has selected Vestmark, Inc.'s Managed Accounts Platform to manage more than $11 billion(*1) in separate account assets. Vestmark's web based software solution, which enables program sponsors, asset managers and service providers to efficiently deliver managed account products and services, will be implemented by IXIS to help streamline overlay management services it provides for more than 25,0001 accounts.

"The transition to Vestmark's Managed Accounts Platform represents a significant technological advance for our separate account business," said John T. Hailer, president and CEO of IXIS Asset Management Advisors. "It allows us to automate separate account administration, and enhance our overlay management capabilities. It helps position our firm to offer multiple-discipline portfolios (MDPs) in a number of new distribution channels including high-net-worth, institutional and global clients."

IXIS Asset Management Advisors ranks among the industry's top 10 separate account consultants according to Cerulli Associates(*2) and is widely recognized for innovative multi-manager, multi-discipline asset allocation solutions that integrate investment strategies in a single, diversified portfolio from a line-up of 14 IXIS-affiliated money managers, as well as other, non-affiliated firms. The firm currently manages more than $8.3 billion in MDP assets and has a reputation as one of the separate account industry's leading overlay management specialists.

"We are very pleased to be working with IXIS. It's a firm that has truly been an innovator in the managed accounts business with multiple discipline portfolios," said Vestmark President Rob Klapprodt. "We look forward to providing them with a comprehensive managed account platform that can support their continued innovation, spur growth, and drive their expansion into new markets."

About IXIS:
IXIS Asset Management Advisors, L.P. is part of IXIS Asset Management Group, a $507 billion(*3) global investment management firm that ranks among the top 20 money managers in the world and is marketed by IXIS Asset Management Advisors Group an organization that connects financial advisors and their clients to a broad line-up of specialized money managers through separate accounts and mutual funds, as well as subadvised and institutional investments. Firms affiliated with IXIS Asset Management Advisors Group include Active Investment Advisors(*4); AEW Capital Management; Capital Growth Management; Caspian Capital Management; Delafield Asset Management(*5); Hansberger Global Investors; Harris Alternatives; Harris Associates; Loomis, Sayles ∓ Company; Managed Portfolio Advisors4; Reich & Tang Asset Management; Snyder Capital Management; Vaughan Nelson Investment Management; and Westpeak Global Advisors.

IXIS Asset Management Advisors Group includes IXIS Asset Management Distributors, L.P. (member NASD), a broker-dealer that serves as distributor of the IXIS Advisor Funds, Loomis Sayles Funds, Hansberger Institutional Series and The Delafield Fund, as well as IXIS Asset Management Advisors, L.P., a registered investment advisor.

*1 Assets and accounts under management as of 12/31/05
*2 Cerulli Edge Managed Accounts Edition, Fourth Quarter, 2005
*3 As of 9/30/05
*4 A division of IXIS Asset Management Advisors, L.P.
*5 A division of Reich and Tang Asset Management

About Vestmark

Headquartered in Wakefield, Mass. and founded in 2001, Vestmark is a leading provider of portfolio management solutions and outsourced services for financial institutions and their advisors, enabling them to efficiently manage customized client portfolios through an innovative technology platform. Supporting over $1.5 trillion in assets and 5.5 million accounts, Vestmark is a partner to some of the largest and most respected wealth management firms. For more information about Vestmark’s solutions, call (781) 224-3640 or visit www.vestmark.com.

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