News Details

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT), the world's leading provider of financial services to institutional investors, and Boston Financial Data Services, a joint venture of State Street and DST Systems, Inc. and a leading provider of transfer agency services to the mutual fund industry, today announced that they have been selected by Fifth Third Funds, the mutual fund arm of Fifth Third Asset Management, Inc. (FTAM) to provide a full range of investment services.

State Street will provide fund accounting, fund administration, custody and securities lending services for $13 billion in assets, and Boston Financial will provide transfer agency and shareholder recordkeeping for FTAM's family of 31 mutual funds.

"State Street and Boston Financial offered an integrated solution that will help us yield administrative and operational advantages," said Richard Ille, managing director of products and marketing at FTAM. "Both companies' reputation for reliability, knowledgeable client service teams, as well as the scalability of their services delivery, will help us manage our growth."

"Our customers continue to benefit from our ability to assume a wide range of services for their business," said Alan Greene, executive vice president of State Street's US mutual fund servicing business. "As our customers continue to seek trusted providers they can partner with for a variety of solutions, we remain committed to providing excellent service for their growing needs. We are excited to establish this new relationship with FTAM as they continue to build their business."

Boston Financial's appointment reflects FTAM's plans to market its Fifth Third mutual funds through external distribution channels, expanding beyond its current branch-office distribution network. Boston Financial will provide services including access to a suite of intermediary applications such as DST Vision(R) a leading web-based account management tool for financial intermediaries.

"The combination of people, systems and technology that we provide positions us to meet changing business needs in the mutual fund industry," said Terry Metzger, chief operating officer of Boston Financial. "We look forward to helping Fifth Third to successfully expand its distribution network."

State Street is the leading provider of fund accounting in the United States, servicing more than 40 percent of the mutual fund industry, and is the largest contributor of mutual fund NAVs to NASDAQ.

About Fifth Third Asset Management, Inc. (FTAM)

FTAM is an investment adviser registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. FTAM is a diversified asset management firm providing investment advisory services to institutional investors, private accounts, and mutual funds offering value, growth, core, and quantitative equity strategies as well as short-term, intermediate, and core fixed income and specialty income strategies.

FTAM is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio with offices in Grand Rapids, Michigan; Cleveland, Ohio; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and New York, New York. As of September 30, 2007 FTAM had over $22 billion in assets under management.

About State Street

State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) is the world's leading provider of financial services to institutional investors including investment servicing, investment management and investment research and trading. With $15.3 trillion in assets under custody and $2 trillion in assets under management at December 31, 2007, State Street operates in 26 countries and more than 100 geographic markets worldwide. For more information, visit State Street's web site at www.statestreet.com.

About Boston Financial

For more than 30 years, Boston Financial Data Services has provided third-party transfer agency and intermediary services to the mutual fund industry. Boston Financial was founded in 1973 as a unique partnership between two of the leading forces in the mutual fund business -- DST Systems, Inc. of Kansas City and State Street Bank and Trust Company of Boston. For more information please visit the Boston Financial website at www.bostonfinancial.com.

An investor should consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses carefully before investing or sending money. This and other important information about the investment company can be found in the fund's prospectus. To obtain a prospectus, please call 1-800-282-5706 or visit www.fifththirdfunds.com. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing.

Fifth Third Funds are distributed by FTAM Funds Distributor, Inc.Fifth Third Asset Management, Inc. serves as Investment Adviser to Fifth Third Funds and receives a fee for its services. Richard Ille is a registered representative of FTAM Funds Distributor, Inc.FTAM Funds Distributor, Inc. is not affiliated with State Street or Boston Financial.

Source: State Street Corporation