KLD to Assist Northern Trust in Helping Institutional Clients Comply with Sudan Divestment Mandates

         In its December 6, 2005 press release, Northern Trust Global Investments (NTGI) announced the creation of seven new index funds to help state pensions in Illinois meet their investment objectives while complying with recent Sudan divestment mandates. Northern trust has enlisted the help of KLD to screen companies for these indexes.

         Northern Trust stated, “Utilizing its proprietary quantitative investment process and extensive experience in customized benchmarks, Northern Trust will construct portfolios that will minimize the tracking variance caused by the elimination of the divested stocks in ‘Sudan-free’ versions of the following indexes:

• Standard & Poor's 500 Index
• Standard & Poor's Growth Index
• Standard & Poor's Midcap 400 Index
• Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Index
• Dow Jones Wilshire 4500 Index
• MSCI EAFE (Europe Australasia and Far East) Index
• Lehman Aggregate Bond Index”

         KLD's Sudan Compliance Service identifies publicly traded companies worldwide -more than 130 companies- doing business in the Sudan and explains specifically why they are on the list. While KLD is presently focusing on adherence to the Illinois Public Act 0094-0079, we are also gathering and analyzing enough data to customize the list to meet future mandates and investor needs.