J.P. Morgan Selected by Eagle Asset Management to Provide Fund Administration and Custody for its Mutual Funds

New York, November 8, 2010 – J.P. Morgan Worldwide Securities Services announced today that it has been mandated for, and successfully transitioned, the fund administration, custody and related securities services for Eagle Mutual Funds, the mutual fund complex of Eagle Asset Management, Inc.  Eagle Asset Management, Inc. manages over $3^[1] billion in mutual fund assets with approximately 642,000^[2]  total shareholder accounts.

J.P. Morgan will provide a range of services including global custody, fund accounting, fund administration and transfer agency to provide a back-office solution for Eagle Funds.  The integrated services will allow Eagle to further its strategy of focusing efforts on value-added asset management, while allowing the fund shareholders to benefit from the scale, efficiency and risk management of an industry leader in the fund administration services arena.

“We selected J.P. Morgan as our partner because of their strong reputation, ability to deliver quality services and in-depth industry expertise,” said Richard Rossi, president and co-chief operating officer of Eagle Asset Management, Inc.  “We are excited about the opportunity to realize operational efficiencies that will allow us to better serve our shareholders.” 

Chris Lynch, head of sales and relationship management – Americas for J.P. Morgan Worldwide Securities Services said: “At J.P. Morgan, we provide securities services for nearly 25% of the 40 Act-governed mutual funds in the U.S., and are proud to add Eagle as a new client to our strong franchise.  We will be providing them with a superior set of transfer agency, fund accounting, administration, and custody services delivered by our experienced and seasoned team with our robust, award-winning technology.”

About Eagle Asset Management, Inc.
Eagle provides high quality, actively-managed equity and fixed income strategies that seek to generate top-quartile, risk-adjusted returns for institutional and individual clients over the long term both domestically and internationally.  Eagle currently has more than $16 billion under management in individual accounts, mutual funds and variable-annuity products.

About J.P. Morgan Worldwide Securities Services
J.P. Morgan Worldwide Securities Services (WSS) is a premier securities servicing provider that helps institutional investors, alternative asset managers, broker dealers and equity issuers optimize efficiency, mitigate risk and enhance revenue. A division of JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., WSS leverages the firm’s global scale, leading technology and deep industry expertise to service investments around the world. It has $15.9 trillion in assets under custody and $6.7 trillion in funds under administration. For more information, go to www.jpmorgan.com/visit/wss.

About JPMorgan Chase & Co.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $2.1 trillion and operations in more than 60 countries. The firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers, small business and commercial banking, financial transaction processing, asset management, and private equity. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase & Co. serves millions of consumers in the United States and many of the world’s most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients under its J.P. Morgan and Chase brands. Information about JPMorgan Chase & Co. is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.