Press Releases

Mellon Equity Portfolio Team Managing New Ethical Index Tracker Fund in Europe
—Supports growing client demand for socially responsible investments—

PITTSBURGH, February 7, 2002—Mellon Financial Corporation announced that portfolio managers of Mellon Equity Associates LLP are managing an innovative new fund linked to Europe's first ethical index. The Mellon European Ethical Index Tracker is a sub-fund of Mellon Global Funds Plc., a unit of Mellon Global Investments.

The new fund aims to provide long-term capital growth that matches the performance of the E.Capital Ethical Index Euro®, a European ethical index launched in May 2000 by independent financial adviser E.Capital Partners SpA. The Ethical Index Euro uses a rigorous, highly qualitative screening process designed through a joint venture between the Vatican University and a leading Italian business school to measure corporations' ethical and financial performance.

"We've seen growing interest in socially responsible investment, both with actively managed and index tracker funds," said William Rydell, vice president of Mellon Bank, N.A. and president and CEO of Mellon Equity. "The Mellon European Ethical Index Tracker fund capitalizes on the inherent flexibility of our process and our long track record with socially responsible investing to meet increasing market demand. The fund allows institutional and individual investors to gain solid exposure to large cap European equity markets, while investing in securities of organizations deemed to follow the highest ethical, financial and environmental standards."

Offering multiple share classes, the Mellon European Ethical Index Tracker product is currently available in the United Kingdom and will be opened to European investors in the near future.

The Mellon European Ethical Index Tracker Fund is managed by Mellon Bank, N.A., using Mellon Equity portfolio managers. Mellon Equity has more than $1.6 billion in socially responsible/ethical investment assets under management. Based in Pittsburgh, Mellon Equity is a leading provider of specialized equity and balanced investment management services to pension plans, non-profit organizations, and to mutual and commingled funds through sub-advisory relationships.

Mellon Financial Corporation is a global financial services company. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Mellon is one of the world's leading providers of financial services for institutions, corporations and affluent individuals, providing institutional asset management, mutual funds, private wealth management, trust and custody, human resources consulting and outsourcing services, investor services and cash management. Mellon has more than $2.6 trillion in assets under management, administration or custody, including more than $590 billion under management. Its asset management companies include The Dreyfus Corporation and U.K.-based Newton Investment Management Limited. News and other information about Mellon is available at www.mellon.com.