The Board of the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation today announced the appointment of Sterling Johnston Capital Management LP (Sterling Johnston) to manage a second US small-cap growth mandate.

With an initial allocation of NZ$45 million, the appointment of Sterling Johnston complements that of Numeric Investors, announced in May 2004, which presently manages NZ$103 million.

As a small-cap growth manager, Sterling Johnston invests in under-followed companies experiencing a dramatic acceleration in earnings and revenue growth. The chosen benchmark for the portfolio is the Russell 2000 Growth Index.

Based in San Francisco, Sterling Johnston has US$1.3 billion under management, of which US$750 million is currently in US small-cap growth stocks.

The appointment of Sterling Johnston brings the total number of external investment managers to 16. The value of the Fund at 30 September 2004 was NZ$4.5 billion.

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For more information please contact: Paul Costello, CEO, New Zealand Superannuation Fund, + 64 9 300 6980 Daniel Riordan, Media Relations, New Zealand Superannuation Fund, + 64 274 921 221 Scott S. Johnston, CEO, Sterling Johnston, + 1 415 477 2300

Notes for Editors:
For further information on Sterling Johnston, click here.