Company Manages Its Strategic Direction to Continue to Maximize Value Added for its Clients

Houston - October 24, 2000 - Gerald B. Smith, Chairman & CEO of Smith Graham & Company today announced the firm's tenth anniversary servicing clients as a top fixed income manager. Having opened its doors in 1990, Smith Graham continues to maximize value added through a partnership perspective by offering specific products that meet the unique requirements of its clients. The firm has grown over the past 10 years and is the nation's largest African-American owned institutional fixed income manager, managing over $2 billion in fixed income assets for institutional clients.

Gerald B. Smith and his partner Ladell Graham, who has since left the firm to join the ministry, started with a single government mortgage core product. Since then, Smith Graham has expanded its investment management capabilities to a broad portfolio of fixed income products ranging from cash management to global, as well as international.

Gerald B. Smith, Chairman and CEO of Smith Graham stated, "In 1995, we realized that the fixed income market was becoming more global and the major influences on the market were no longer based on what happened domestically. We could no longer focus exclusively on domestic fiscal and monetary policy as a means for developing fundamental strategic decisions in managing our clients' portfolios."

To meet the challenges wrought by globalization in the fixed income market, Smith Graham partnered with the Dutch firm, The Robeco Group in 1996. Gerald B. Smith became a member the Rorento Fund Management Board which is the largest fixed income fund traded on the European exchanges. As well, one of Robeco's senior portfolio managers moved to Houston to lead Smith Graham's Global Division. Since then, Smith Graham has focused on developing their own global capability by bringing in professionals that have strong expertise in this area.

The building blocks of Smith Graham's portfolio of products continue to be refined, adding new products such as the pooled cash product. This product actively manages the aggregate liquidity component of a pension fund to increase the overall yield of the fund. This product has captured the interest of new and existing clients and reflects the firm's heightened sensitivity to the needs of institutional investors.

Smith Graham continues to focus on ways to develop and maintain differentiated capabilities that add value for its clients. The firm has recently created the Office of the Chairman, which will be led by Gerald B. Smith, Chairman & CEO, Dr. Ronald A. Johnson, President and CIO and Jamie G. House, COO & CFO. The Office of the Chairman is a "leadership circle" that will focus on the further developing the firm's vision and strategic direction.

"Adapting to change is at the core of Smith Graham's success," Smith said. "Over the years we have participated in dynamic growth and recently scored in the top quartile across the broad spectrum of our product lines because of our foresight and adaptability to change."