BOSTON, November 13, 2007 — The median plan for the 443 corporate, foundation, endowment, public, Taft-Hartley and healthcare funds that make up BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe posted a combined 2.24% return for the third quarter. This represents six consecutive quarters of positive returns with the median fund up over 9% year-to-date and over 15.5% on an annual basis. Of the plans in the universe, 98% showed positive results, however, only 51% matched or outperformed the universe's composite benchmark (Russell 3000® Index* 50%, Lehman Brothers® Aggregate 40%, MSCI® All Country World Index ex US 10%) which returned 2.23% for the quarter. The U.S. Master Trust Universe represents a market value of $1.2 trillion, with an average plan size of $2.6 billion.

Endowments were the top performing plan type for the third quarter with a 2.40% median return, followed by foundations, public, corporate, healthcare, and Taft-Hartley plans. Non-U.S. Fixed Income led all asset classes for the quarter with a median return of 4.02%, lagging the Citigroup® Non-US Dollar World Government Bond Index return of 8.10%. U.S. Fixed Income generated a median result of 2.87%, versus the Lehman Brothers® Aggregate return of 2.84%. Non-U.S. Equities 3.19% result, underperformed the MSCI® All Country World Index ex US return of 4.69%. U.S. Equities returned 1.23%, compared to the Russell 3000® Index return of 1.55%.

"The third quarter saw little divergence between the respective performance of the different plan types with just 48 basis points separating the highest and lowest performing segments. Despite significant turmoil due to the sub-prime crisis, housing market downturn, and credit crunch, fund sponsors weathered the storm and all market segments posted a positive return for the quarter," said Greg Stewart, regional product manager of BNY Mellon Asset Servicing. "In contrast to previous quarters, fixed income markets outperformed other asset classes. Since endowments typically under-weight this asset class they did not benefit, helping to explain the reduced divergence. However, over the extended periods, fixed income remains the lower returning asset class, with Endowments profiting from their greater exposure to equity and alternatives. Endowments are consistently the leading plan type returning 11.7% for the 9-month period ending September and 18.8% on a one-year basis."

The average asset allocation in the U.S. Master Trust Universe for the third quarter was: U.S. Equity 36%, U.S. Fixed Income 23%, Non-U.S. Equity 20%, Non-U.S. Fixed Income 1%, Alternative Investments 7%, Real Estate 2%, Cash 1%, and Other (Private Equity, Oil, Gas, etc.) 10%.

BNY Mellon Asset Servicing offers clients worldwide a broad spectrum of specialized asset servicing capabilities, including custody and fund services, securities lending, performance and analytics, and execution services. BNY Mellon Asset Servicing provides services through The Bank of New York, Mellon Bank, N.A. and other related companies.

The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation is a global financial services company focused on helping clients manage and service their financial assets, operating in 34 countries and serving more than 100 markets. The company is a leading provider of financial services for institutions, corporations and high-net-worth individuals, providing superior asset management and wealth management, asset servicing, issuer services, clearing services and treasury services through a worldwide client-focused team. It has more than $20 trillion in assets under custody and administration, more than $1.1 trillion in assets under management and services $11 trillion in outstanding debt. Additional information is available at bnymellon.com.

  BNY Mellon Trust Universe Median Plan Returns
  Period Ending September 30, 2007

                             Number of      3Q      One-    Five-    Ten-
  Universe                   Participants   2007    Year    Years    Years
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Master Trust Total Fund    443            2.24    15.51   14.29    7.87
    Corporate Plans          216            2.20    14.92   14.13    7.78
    Foundations              69             2.35    16.27   14.16    8.77
    Endowments               64             2.40    18.81   15.56    8.69
    Public Plans             50             2.29    15.96   14.91    8.32
    Taft-Hartley Plans       28             1.92    12.87   12.47    7.56
    Healthcare Plans         13             1.95    11.94   10.27    NA
  Universe Benchmark:
   Russell 3000® Index 50%,
   Lehman Brothers®Aggregate 40%,
   MSCI® All Country World Index
   ex US, 10%)                              2.23    12.87   12.17    7.02

*Russell Investment Group is the owner of the trademarks, service marks, and copyrights related to its indexes.