Committee on Investment of Employee Benefit Assets (CIEBA) Appoints Kimberly G. Walker of Qwest Asset Management as New Chair

Bethesda, Md - November 18, 2004 – The Committee on Investment of Employee Benefit Assets (CIEBA) today announced that Kimberly G. Walker, president, Qwest Asset Management Company, will become chair of CIEBA on January 1, 2005 succeeding Gary A. Glynn, president, U.S. Steel & Carnegie Pension Fund. Walker will serve as CIEBA chairman for a two-year term. CIEBA is the voice of the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) on employee benefit plan asset management and investment issues.

In announcing the appointment, Glynn said, "Kim has long been an active and forward thinking member of the leadership of CIEBA, most recently serving as vice chairman. Under Kim's leadership, CIEBA will continue to serve as the voice of plan sponsors on important pension investment issues."

William F. Quinn, president, AMR Investment Service, Inc. and Sharon Kinsman, assistant treasurer, Pfizer, Inc. were appointed vice chairs. T. Britton Harris, president of Verizon Investment Management Corporation had been appointed as incoming chair of CIEBA, but. Harris has accepted a position at Bridgewater Associates and is no longer eligible for CIEBA membership.

Glynn continued by saying, "Britt's greatest contribution to CIEBA was his leadership in creating the CIEBA report 'Pensions in Crisis: Evaluation and Analysis of Emerging Defined Pension Issues.' This report, based on a survey of 64 large plan sponsors, showed that proposed changes in either accounting or funding rules that eliminate smoothing or force the use of a yield curve in calculating funding requirements would undermine support for defined benefit plans and badly hurt American workers. The report highlights the damage that could be done to retirement security if accounting or funding changes are adopted without considering their consequences.”

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The Committee on Investment of Employee Benefit Assets of the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) is a nationally recognized forum for ERISA-governed corporate pension plan sponsors on fiduciary and investment matters. CIEBA represents more than 110 of the nation’s largest retirement funds. Its members manage more than $1 trillion in defined benefit and defined contribution plan assets, covering 15 million participants. Members are the senior corporate financial officers who individually manage and administer ERISA-governed corporate retirement plan assets.