PARSIPPANY, N.J. New York Life Investment Management LLC (NYLIM) Retirement Plan Services announced today that the company recently added seven professionals in its defined benefit area, and has plans to hire an additional three. The staff increases are all part of NYLIM Retirement Plan Services' growing commitment to the bundled pension business.

The hirings are occurring across all areas of NYLIM Retirement Plan Services' bundled defined benefit group, including sales, conversions, actuarial services and administration.

NYLIM Retirement Plan Services has seen an increase of more than 180 percent in its active pipeline of defined benefit deals since the beginning of 2003. NYLIM Retirement Plan Services' bundled pension product, DB Complete, provides a turnkey approach to all the necessary pension services, such as actuarial work, investment management, recordkeeping, trust, participant communications, and investment consulting.

"We have seen huge growth in our bundled pension business over the last two years, and we recognize that having the right people in place is critical to maintaining our high service standards during this period of rapid growth," said Barry Schub, senior managing director of NYLIM Retirement Plan Services.

In October, NYLIM Retirement Plan Services and Morningstar Associates announced the introduction of Portfolio Complete for defined benefit plans, an enhancement to DB Complete. Portfolio Complete for defined benefit plans offers an integrated approach to pension management using NYLIM Retirement Plan Services' asset-liability modeling capabilities and bundled approach and Morningstar Associates' investment consulting expertise and ongoing investment monitoring. As part of this service, Morningstar Associates will act as a fiduciary to the pension plan if the plan sponsor accepts Morningstar's investment recommendations. Morningstar Associates, LLC, is a registered investment advisor and wholly owned subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc., a global investment research firm.

About NYLIM Retirement Plan Services

NYLIM Retirement Plan Services, a division of New York Life Investment Management LLC, oversees more than 1,500 comprehensive defined contribution, defined benefit and deferred compensation plans as of August 31, 2003. With offices in Norwood, Massachusetts, and Parsippany, New Jersey, NYLIM Retirement Plan Services administers retirement programs for small, medium and large companies, unions, and individuals throughout the United States, and is widely recognized for its leadership in bundled defined contribution and bundled defined benefit plans.

With more than $175 billion in assets under management as of October 31, 2003, New York Life Investment Management LLC and its affiliates provide investment management and related services to a wide range of individual, corporate, public, and Taft-Hartley clients. NYLIM offers institutional asset management, retail investments, retirement plan services, guaranteed products, real estate investments, and alternative investments.