Brinker Capital Marks 15th Anniversary as Independent Firm.

Quiet Pioneer Makes Indelible Mark on Managed Accounts Business and Financial Services in Philadelphia Region

BERWYN, Penn. -- Fifteen years ago, Charles "Chuck" Widger led a group of eight colleagues to buy themselves and their managed accounts business out of their larger financial services employer. With a dozen or so accounts, a single Denver-based competitor, and a vision of what the Separately Managed Accounts (SMAs) business could become, Brinker Capital was born. Its vision, then, was to provide institutional quality investment management services to investors through advisors. This vision continues to guide Brinker today.

Today Brinker Capital remains a fully independent provider of separately managed accounts and mutual funds with:

* $7 billion in assets under management,

* a product line that has grown to include Unified Management Accounts and 401(k) retirement plan services, and

* relationships with more than 1,700 financial advisors at 211 financial institutions that participate in or distribute its products.

Brinker's original competitor, meanwhile, has morphed into a different firm in a different aspect of the business, but several newcomers have formed in an effort to emulate Brinker's success as the longest operating and continuously independent firm in its business.

"Our growth has been completely organic," said Chuck Widger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Brinker Capital, "something quite unusual in the financial services world." Brinker has also fostered growth in the money management business and related service sectors. "We've helped to incubate and foster the growth of many regional money managers who got their start by meeting the standards required to earn a place on our platform," Widger says. "We've also launched ideas such as fee-based clearing that not only spawned new firms but changed the business models at traditional clearing firms."

Brinker's role as a "quiet pioneer" in the managed accounts business was validated recently when Chuck Widger was honored with the Money Management Institute's "Pioneer Award," recognizing significant contributions to the SMA industry and a commitment to a highly ethical work environment.

Brinker's early emphasis on product quality has stood it in good stead. It has always been able to claim bias-free fund selection based on rigid due diligence and the end-clients' best interests. Inclusion on the Brinker platform could serve as an important validation for both well-known and up-and-coming money managers in the Philadelphia area and beyond.

Brinker further insisted on doing its own in-house asset allocation to add both value and quality control to its product offerings. Its inclusion of an alternative asset category in a standard asset allocation was years ahead of its time. The firm also resisted the temptation to follow the business toward the online do-it-yourself approach that was attracting dot-com venture capital in the late 1990s. Brinker chooses instead to align itself with professionals who were qualified to provide investors with the personalized advice that has since proven so important to investment success.

In the business of managed accounts, Brinker has proven to be a formidable David-type competitor in a field of Goliath-like financial services firms with enormous captive distribution. "We started building our distribution network in underserved areas like the RIA and insurance broker-dealer communities that needed first-rate turnkey products," Widger notes. "Necessity transformed to vision as these fee-based advisors rose to prominence by offering products without conflicts of interests."

Brinker formed its first distribution relationship in 1992 with Chubb Securities, which became part of Jefferson Pilot, which was eventually sold to Philadelphia-based Lincoln Financial. Today Brinker is Lincoln's largest independent provider of fee-based products.

Brinker Capital's now fully formed vision is to provide through advisors to investors investment management strategies which include separately managed accounts, mutual funds, ETFs and alternative investments. These individual investment vehicles are offered as managed account solutions or products. These products help investors to achieve their personal financial goals. These products also enable advisors to manage their practices much more efficiently.

"Brinker's growth over the past 15 years has been steady and profitable. This growth has been made possible by focusing on the needs of both investors and advisors and on continuous improvement in meeting their needs," Widger says. "And we see a lot more of the same in our future. As the baby boomers retire and the need for informed and objective investment advice increases, Brinker Capital is well prepared to provide the kind of products that our advisor clients and their investor clients need. We have a first rate senior management team and staff." We have never been better positioned for growth in the managed account industry. That growth should be very exciting. We expect the industry to double from $750 billion today to $1.5 trillion over the next five years."

About Brinker Capital

Brinker Capital, Inc. is a leading independent investment consulting firm which provides managed account investment programs to individual and institutional investors through financial advisors. Brinker was founded in 1987 by Charles Widger and is located in suburban Philadelphia. Assets under management were over $7 billion as of October 31, 2006. Visit the Brinker website at www.brinkercapital.com.