Barings Stands by Strategic Long Term Allocation to Asia Despite Recent Political Volatility.

BOSTON -- Baring Asset Management's Head of Asian Multi-Asset, Khiem Do, is confident that recent political events in Asia, despite causing some short-term volatility, will not change the course of the long-term economic trend or investment environment in Asia.

Korea, Thailand and Taiwan have all experienced some political instability over recent months. However, according to Barings the recent coup in Thailand, the diplomatic crisis in North Korea and large-scale protests in Taiwan do not represent a common theme of political instability, which threatens to impact the strength of Asian markets.

Khiem Do explains, "Obviously the markets didn't react well when North Korea announced the nuclear test. The market fell 2.5% and the Korean Won weakened by 1.5%. The sentiment on the Korean stock market throughout the whole of this year has been a little weak. However we believe that, at some stage, the market will present so much value that it will provide good opportunities for those who want to take a long term view to increase their holdings in Korea.

"In the case of Thailand, political uncertainty has been brewing for quite a while and we think that it was only a matter of time before there was a change. The demonstrations in Taiwan have been taking place for the past few months yet the market is withstanding this volatility.

"The important question to ask from an investment perspective is: Have these isolated events really impacted Asian markets? The answer is that Asian markets have actually done quite well over the past few months and in the year to date they have outperformed world markets once again."

Looking to Japan, Barings is confident that the new Japanese Prime Minister will improve relations between Japan and China as the importance of China in trade terms continues to grow.

According to Khiem Do, "Mr Abe has been proactive in terms of trying to improve the relationship, not just between Japan and China, but also trying to be more active, for instance, in voicing Japan's protest against the North Korean missile tests. Mr Abe is playing a bigger role in the growth of Asian markets as he knows that as Asia becomes stronger and stronger, Japan cannot be left behind."

"For North American clients we remain very committed to our current Singapore overweight position," said Hayes Miller, Senior Vice President of Global Equities at Baring Asset Management. "The recent period has not been so profitable in broad Asia, but we remain convinced of the long term attractiveness of the region over the next few years." said Mr. Miller.

Barings is still very positive on Asia- ex-Japan from a global asset allocation viewpoint because they believe that the region still has economic growth, which has been translating into good earnings growth. Valuations are still reasonably cheap - trading on 12 times price to earnings ratio, based on 2007 earnings and liquidity is strong.

Baring Asset Management

Baring Asset Management is an international investment management firm with investment skills, clients and business locations spanning world markets.

Worldwide clients include public and corporate pension plans, government agencies, financial institutions, charitable organisations, mutual funds and private individuals. Assets under management as of September 30, 2006 were US$38.5 billion for clients worldwide.

Baring Asset Management is part of the MassMutual Financial Group, a global, diversified financial services organization. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) is one of the largest life insurance businesses in the USA.