-Recognized for Excellence in Service to Mutual Fund Shareholders & Financial Advisors-

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - New York Life Investment Management LLC (NYLIM) today announced that NYLIM Service Company LLC received the 2002 Dalbar Mutual Fund Service Award and the 2002 Dalbar Financial Intermediary Service Award.  NYLIM Service Company LLC, an affiliate of NYLIM, is the transfer, dividend disbursing and shareholder servicing agent for MainStay Funds, Eclipse Funds, McMorgan Funds, and New York Life Investment Management Institutional Funds. 

DALBAR, Inc. is a financial services research firm that measures the performance of customer service programs in the financial services industry.  To be recognized among the industry's elite service providers, companies are evaluated over a 12-month period in which DALBAR initiates a series of rigorous evaluations examining each company’s servicing capabilities both over the telephone and in written communications.

This marks the fifth year since 1997 that NYLIM Service Company LLC has received a Dalbar Award in recognition of its outstanding level of customer service to shareholders. NYLIM Service Company LLC was one of only 12 service organizations to qualify for Dalbar‘s Mutual Fund Service top-tier honor out of forty-nine mutual fund service providers.  DALBAR evaluates the core elements of mutual fund shareholder service, such as the competence of telephone representatives. 

NYLIM Service Company LLC also received the 2002 Dalbar Financial Intermediary Service Award in recognition of its exemplary service to financial intermediaries and was one of only 12 service organizations to qualify for their top-tier honor.  Forty-five product providers were monitored by DALBAR to evaluate the core elements of financial intermediary service.  The award places NYLIM Service Company LLC among the top service providers to financial intermediaries, and demonstrates NYLIM’s commitment to helping financial professionals build their business. 

Robert E. Brady, president of the NYLIM Service Company LLC, said: "We are pleased to be recognized by Dalbar for the fifth time since 1997.   We take tremendous pride in our ability to deliver the highest level of service to our customers and the Dalbar award recognizes that we are continuing to exceed shareholder expectations." 

"We seek excellence in everything we do, whether serving investors or their financial advisors," noted Steve Roussin, president and chief operating officer of New York Life Investment Management LLC.  “I’m delighted that we continue to be recognized by Dalbar for our excellence in service.”

With more than $148 billion in assets under management as of September 30, 2002, New York Life Investment Management LLC and its affiliates provide a wide range of investment services to institutional, individual, corporate, public, and Taft-Hartley clients, including institutional asset management, retail investments, retirement services, guaranteed products, real estate investments, and alternative investments. For more information, visit the New York Life Investment Management LLC site at www.nylim.com.

DALBAR, Inc. is committed to raising the standards of excellence in the financial-services industry. Headquartered in Boston, with additional offices in Toronto, DALBAR develops standards for, and provides research, ratings, and rankings of intangible factors to the mutual fund, broker/dealer, discount brokerage, life insurance, and banking industries. They include investor behavior, customer satisfaction, service quality, communications, Internet services, and financial-professional ratings. 

For more information on the DALBAR survey, visit www.dalbarinc.com.

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