Domini Social Equity Fund Beats S& 500 for Third Consecutive Year.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 3, 2000

Domini Social Investments Manages Nation's 15th Fastest

Growing Family of No-Load Mutual Funds 

Socially Responsible Investment Industry Enters Mainstream as

Major Financial Firms Launch New SRI Products

The Domini Social Equity Fund (Nasdaq:DSEFX), the nation's oldest and largest socially and environmentally screened index fund, today announced a 1999 calendar year return of 22.63%. For the third consecutive year, the Fund outperformed its benchmark, the S& 500 Index, which returned 21.04% during the same period.(1) According to Strategic Insight, the Fund is now the largest no-load socially responsible mutual fund in the country, and Domini Social Investments manages the nation's 15th fastest growing mutual fund family.(a) Rate of growth is measured as net flows as a percentage of beginning total assets under management. Morningstar awarded the Fund a five-star overall rating as of 12/31/99 among 3,469 and 2,180 domestic equity funds for the 3- and 5-year periods ended 12/31/99, respectively.(b)

&uot;In 1991, we launched the Domini Social Equity Fund, the first socially and environmentally screened index fund. The Fund's continued success, nearly ten years later, has helped pave the way for other socially responsible funds, by demonstrating that social screening can produce competitive returns,&uot; said Amy Domini, Founder and Managing Principal of Domini Social Investments. &uot;The past twelve months alone proved to be a watershed period for the social investment industry. Some of the largest asset managers in the world have introduced funds designed to meet the needs of the socially responsible investor. Domestically, TIAA/CREF and the Vanguard Group each announced their entrance to the field. In Europe, Dow Jones &Co. launched the Dow Jones Sustainability Group Index in partnership with Sustainability Asset Management of Zurich. In Japan, Nikko Securities entered the field with an environmentally oriented fund and in Singapore UOB Asset Management and Unifem Singapore, the local chapter of the United Nations Development Fund for Women, recently launched the region's first ethical fund.&uot;

&uot;By screening their investments, social funds help to build a corporate accountability structure -- a framework investors can use to evaluate and address corporate social and environmental performance. As social investing goes mainstream, it will become more commonplace to see corporations publicly report on their social and environmental performance. Why? Because social investors require this information to make their investment decisions.&uot;

&uot;We welcome our new peers to the industry and will continue to urge them to go beyond social screening and to embrace the other important hallmarks of social investing: shareholder activism and community development investing,&uot; Ms. Domini continued. &uot;For example, we encourage all mutual fund managers to publish the thousands of proxy votes they cast every year on corporate governance issues such as environmental disclosure and sweatshop conditions. Last year we became the first mutual fund in America to publish our voting record and we invite all mutual fund managers to join us in taking up this important responsibility.&uot;

Domini Social Investments' Net Sales Outpace Mutual Fund Industry

Domini Social Investments ended the year with $1.7 billion in assets under management, a 93% increase from the prior year. The firm's growth was largely due to strong net sales of $539 million for the year, a 60% increase over 1998. By contrast, according to Strategic Insight, net sales to the mutual fund industry as a whole were down 23% for the same period.

An important part of Domini's growth can be attributed to the increased demand from 401k plan sponsors. Over the past year, the Domini Social Equity Fund was added as an investment option to many 401k plans. The Fund is available through some of the largest retirement plan distributors in the country, including American Express, Charles Schwab, Fidelity Investments, Manulife Financial, Putnam Investments and a host of other third parties.

Increasing Investor Awareness for Socially Responsible Investing 

According to a recent national investor survey conducted on behalf of Domini Social Investments by Audits and Surveys Worldwide, a national research firm, 26% of adults surveyed had heard of socially responsible investing and of those, 42% stated that they considered whether the company or mutual fund they were investing in was socially responsible.(c) &uot;Socially responsible investing (SRI) is an investment strategy that considers more than just a corporation's financial statements. SRI factors in other vital issues such as how the corporation treats its employees and the environment. Our survey suggests to us that when people become aware of social investing and what it is working to achieve, a significant proportion of them will screen their investments. This conclusion is also reflected in our experience with 401k plans - when the Domini Social Equity Fund is available as an option, a significant percentage of employees choose to invest. We expect to see these numbers continue to grow as more and more people awaken to the wider consequences of their investments,&uot; said Ms. Domini.

The First Mutual Fund Company to Publicly Disclose its Proxy Voting Record

Domini Social Investments set an example of responsible investing during the 1999 proxy season by becoming the first mutual fund manager in the country to publish its proxy voting record. Domini's votes can be viewed at www.domini.com. The firm has also remained an active shareholder, filing 10 shareholder resolutions for the 2000 proxy season with companies in its portfolio on a range of issues. In addition, the firm has engaged many companies in dialogue on social and environmental issues. These pending resolutions and discussions concern board diversity, sweatshop conditions, environmental stewardship and pay equity.

The Domini Social Equity Fund is a no-load, large-capitalization domestic equity index fund based on the Domini 400 Social Index, a widely recognized benchmark for measuring the impact of social screening on financial performance. It is composed of 400 corporations that pass multiple, broad-based social screens designed to meet the needs of the socially responsible investor. The Fund seeks to invest in companies with positive records in community involvement, the environment, employee relations, and hiring practices. It strives to avoid companies with meaningful revenues from alcohol, tobacco, gambling, nuclear power and weapons contracting.

New York based Domini Social Investments manages more than $1.6 billion in assets for individual and institutional investors who are working to create positive change in society by using social and environmental criteria in their investment decisions. The firm is the 15th fastest growing mutual fund firm in the country, among firms with over $500 million in assets. The firm's flagship product, the Domini Social Equity Fund, is a socially screened no-load index fund. Domini also offers an FDIC-insured community development money market account through its partnership with South Shore Bank of Chicago.

For more information, contact Sigward Moser at 212-352-9200 ext. 232, [e-mail], or Domini Social Investments LLC, 11 West 25th Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10010.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

(1) The Fund also outperformed the S& 500 since its inception on June 3, 1991, returning 371.18% on a cumulative basis, compared to 358.95% for the S& 500 and 19.79% on an annualized basis versus 19.43% for the S& 500. The Fund also outpaced the S& 500 for the five-year period ended Dec. 31, with an annualized return of 29.58% versus the S&'s 28.56% return.

The Domini Social Equity Fund also beat the S& 500 in 1998 and 1997, with a total return for the year ended 12/31/98 of 32.99% and for 12/31/97 of 36.02%, compared to 28.58% and 33.40% for the S& 500 for the same periods. Total Return for the DSEF is based on the Fund's net asset value and assumes all dividends and capital gains were reinvested. Economic and market conditions change, and both will cause investment return and principal value to fluctuate. Therefore, if you decide to sell your shares, you may receive more or less than your original investment. The Standard &Poor's (S&) 500 Index is an unmanaged index of common stocks. Investors cannot invest directly in the S& 500 Index. These figures represent actual mutual fund performance after all expenses. The Fund waived certain fees during the period and the Fund's average annual total return would have been lower had these not been waived.

(a)Source: Strategic Insight Simfund. Domini Social Investments was ranked 15th in growth of assets out of 277 mutual fund complexes for the year ended 12/31/99. Ranking is based on net flows as a percentage of assets for all mutual fund complexes with more than $500 million in assets under management. Money market fund assets were excluded. Strategic Insight supports the research efforts of over 125 fund companies who collectively oversee more than 85% of mutual fund industry assets. Their subscribers also include service, distribution, finance, and equity research firms, as well as non-U.S.-based organizations.

(b)MorningstarTM proprietary ratings are subject to change monthly and reflect historical risk-adjusted performance as of 12/31/99. They are calculated from the fund's 3- and 5-year average annual returns in excess of 90-day T-bill returns with appropriate fee adjustments, and a risk factor that reflects fund performance below 90-day T-bill returns. The Fund received four stars for the 3-year period and five stars for the 5-year period ended 12/31/99 among 3,469 and 2,180 domestic equity funds, respectively. The top ten percent of the funds in their broad asset class receive five stars and the next 22.5% receive four stars.

(c)Based on interviews conducted in December 1999. A total of 1,003 interviews were completed. Of 450 investors, 26% had heard of socially responsible investing, and 42% of those investors stated that they consider whether the company or mutual fund they are investing in is socially responsible.

Unlike other mutual funds, the Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing all of its investable assets in the Domini Social Index Portfolio, a separate portfolio with an identical investment objective. The Domini 400 Social Index is an index. An investment cannot be made directly in an index. Other fees and expenses apply to a continued investment in the Fund, and are described in the Fund's current prospectus. Please obtain the fund's current prospectus by calling 1-800-762-6814 or online at www.domini.com. DSIL Investment Services LLC, Distributor (DSILD). The DSEF is not insured. The DSEF and DSILD are not affiliated with any bank. 2/00