Bill Henson Joins Grail Partners LLC.

NEW YORK -- William P. Henson has joined Grail Partners LLC, an advisory merchant bank specializing in the investment management industry. Grail Partners was founded by Donald H. Putnam in February 2005.

Mr. Henson joins Grail as a partner in charge of Grail's merchant banking activities and will head Grail's New York office. Grail Partners invests its own capital and that of its investors to facilitate transactions, provide growth capital, recapitalize businesses and incubate financial service businesses. "Bill is the lead partner in charge of our balance sheet, new investments and oversight of our portfolio companies," said Don Putnam, managing partner of Grail, "and his wide-ranging corporate finance experience is likely to be vital to our clients and investors in the next few years."

Mr. Henson brings more than 25 years of extensive experience in the financial services industry, specializing in developing and providing structured finance and capital raising solutions to firms of all sizes. From 1996 to 2003, he was with Putnam Lovell Securities (later Putnam Lovell NBF Securities) where he worked with Mr. Putnam. His responsibilities there culminated in the positions of chief operating officer, head of capital markets and board director. He was managing director and industry head at Citicorp Securities, where he worked from 1984 to 1996. Most recently, he helped found MRP Inc., a startup specialty finance company.

Over the course of his career, Mr. Henson has worked with clients across numerous financial service sectors, including institutional and retail investment managers, life and property & casualty insurers, commercial and investment banks, and specialty finance companies. He has completed approximately 75 transactions ranging in size from a few million dollars to in excess of $1 billion. He pioneered the development within the investment management industry of financing the distribution of retail investment products such as mutual funds and variable annuities in the structured finance market, creating a new, multi-billion dollar asset class. Mr. Henson was also responsible for the conception, plan and development of Asset Management Finance Corp., a specialized investment management finance company launched in 2003 and capitalized with $90 million from Pacific Life and National Bank of Canada.

Commenting on Mr. Henson's hiring, Donald Putnam said, "All of us at Grail are thrilled to be working with Bill. His experience and ability to creatively blend structured finance techniques with traditional corporate finance solutions make him the ideal head of our investment, leveraged buy-out and incubation efforts. Over the next few years, we anticipate that investment opportunities in money management and related businesses will increase, that there will be a premium placed on non-traditional solutions and that Bill's unique talents and skill set well position us to succeed in such an environment."

From his perspective, Mr. Henson noted that, "Grail Partners offers the unique opportunity to work in an entrepreneurial environment surrounded by a focused group of very talented and committed professionals. I couldn't be more excited."

About Grail Partners LLC

Grail Partners LLC is an advisory merchant banking firm dedicated to providing advice and capital to the global investment management business. From offices in Boston, London, New York, and San Francisco, Grail assists selected asset managers worldwide with mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and restructuring, and deploys the firm's capital to incubate new financial services businesses. Grail's partners have completed close to 200 strategic and capital-raising transactions involving US and non-US companies in the past two decades. www.GrailPartners.com