Endowments the top performing plan type for the quarter 2007 year-end performance remains positive for fifth straight year

BOSTON, February 11, 2008 — The median plan for the 583 corporate, foundation, endowment, public, Taft-Hartley and healthcare funds that make up the BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe posted a combined - 0.55% return for the fourth quarter of 2007, the first negative quarterly return since the second quarter of 2006. Despite the volatility, year-end performance for the median plan was 8.28%, marking the fifth consecutive year of positive returns.

The BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe represents a combined market value of $1.8 trillion, with an average plan size of $3.0 billion.

"In contrast to the third quarter of 2007, the majority of plans posted negative returns in the fourth quarter, with the best performing plan posting nearly a 4.2% gain and the least returning -4.2%," said Greg Stewart, first vice president and regional product manager of BNY Mellon Asset Servicing. "For the full year, though, all plan members were in the black, albeit with a dispersion of 21.8 percentage points between the lowest and highest performers."

  Highlights:
  -- Of the plans in the universe 65% posted negative results with only 54%
     matching or outperforming the universe's composite benchmark (Russell
     3000®Index* 50%, Lehman Brothers® Aggregate 40%, MSCI® All
     Country World Index ex US 10%), which returned -0.62% for the quarter.
  -- U.S. Fixed Income led all asset classes for the quarter with a median
     return of 2.65%, lagging the Lehman Brothers® Aggregate return of
     3.00%.  Non-U.S. Fixed Income generated a median result of 1.99%,
     versus the Citigroup® Non-US Dollar World Government Bond Index
     return of 3.91%.  U.S. Equities returned -3.30%, compared to the
     Russell 3000® Index return of -3.34%.  Non-U.S. Equities -0.80%
     result underperformed the MSCI® All Country World Index ex US return
     of -0.62%.
  -- Endowments were the top performing plan-type for the fourth quarter
     with a 0.06% median return, followed by healthcare, foundations, Taft-
     Hartley, corporate and public plans.

"Endowments and healthcare plans were able to post positive returns for the quarter, and for the year-end period ending December 31, 2007, endowments remain the strongest performing segment with the median plan posting a return of 12.10%, over 350 basis points ahead of foundations, the next best performing segment," said Stewart. "Endowments' lower allocation to the U.S. equity market is one of the reasons for the relative performance, along with their higher allocation to alternatives. Over the extended periods, underweighting fixed income and greater allocations to international equity and alternatives have helped endowments outperform other plan types."

The average asset allocation in the U.S. Master Trust Universe for the fourth quarter was: U.S. Equity 35%, U.S. Fixed Income 25%, Non-U.S. Equity 19%, Non-U.S. Fixed Income 1%, Alternative Investments 8%, Real Estate 3%, Cash 1%, and Other (Private Equity, Oil, Gas, etc.) 8%.

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 (NYSE: BK) 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 December 31, 2007

                              Number of       4Q       One-    Five-   Ten-
  Universe                    Participants    2007     Year    Years   Years
  Master Trust Total Fund     583             -0.55    8.28    12.87   7.80
    Corporate Plans           257             -0.68    8.04    12.79   7.73
    Foundations                86             -0.42    8.59    13.14   8.44
    Endowments                 94              0.06   12.10    14.75   8.65
    Public Plans               65             -0.78    8.29    13.42   8.06
    Taft-Hartley Plans         35             -0.54    6.78    10.20   7.21
    Healthcare Plans           23              0.01    7.34     9.47   6.52
  Universe Benchmark:
   Russell 3000® Index 50%,
   Lehman Brothers®
   Aggregate 40%, MSCI® All
   Country World Index ex
   US, 10%)                                   -0.62    6.79    10.85   6.78

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