Eaton Vance Global Macro Absolute Return Fund Closing to New Investors

BOSTON, Sept. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Eaton Vance Management, a subsidiary of Eaton Vance Corp. (NYSE: EV), announced today that Eaton Vance Global Macro Absolute Return Fund (Class A: EAGMX, Class C: ECGMX, Class I: EIGMX, Class R: ERGMX) will close to new investors as of the close of business on Friday, October 1, 2010.  Shares of the Fund may be purchased thereafter only by (a) existing Fund shareholders and (b) qualified retirement plans and fee-based advisory programs with centralized investment discretion that have selected the Fund as an investment option prior to the closing.  Sales of Fund shares may be further restricted or re-opened in the future.

Eaton Vance Global Macro Absolute Return Fund invests in securities, derivatives and other instruments to establish long and short investment positions around the world, with significant exposures to frontier and other emerging markets. The Fund's investment adviser seeks to identify investments in countries and currencies it believes have potential to outperform based on consideration of global economies, markets, political conditions and other factors.  Introduced in 2007 utilizing a strategy developed by Eaton Vance in the 1990s, the Fund has grown to become one of the largest and most successful absolute return funds offered to individual investors.  As of August 31, 2010, the Fund had net assets of $6.4 billion.  

"We are closing the Fund because we believe doing so is in the best interest of shareholders," said Payson Swaffield, chief income investment officer at Eaton Vance. "Investments in frontier markets are an important element of the Fund's investment program that constrain its capacity."

Other Eaton Vance absolute return funds include its Multi-Strategy Absolute Return Fund (Class A: EADDX, Class B: EBDDX, Class C: ECDDX, Class I: EIDDX), the new Global Macro Absolute Return Advantage Fund (Class A: EGRAX, Class C: EGRCX, Class I: EGRIX), and the Option Absolute Return Strategy Fund, expected to launch at the end of this month.  Global Macro Absolute Return Advantage Fund is managed by the same team and employs a similar strategy to Global Macro Absolute Return Fund, but differs in two principal respects: first, a reduced exposure to investments in frontier markets, thereby freeing it from capacity constraints that apply to the original product; and second, the targeting of higher levels of potential return and a willingness to accept commensurately higher performance volatility.

"Product development in the absolute return space has been sweeping," said Swaffield. "But few firms match the breadth of capabilities and experience that Eaton Vance brings to this growing category."  Unlike traditional stock and bond strategies, absolute return funds benchmark performance primarily against short-term cash instruments and expect to provide returns over the long term that are substantially independent of market movements.  

Eaton Vance is one of the oldest investment management firms in the United States, with a history dating to 1924. Eaton Vance and its affiliates managed $173.3 billion in assets as of July 31, 2010, offering individuals and institutions a broad array of investment strategies and wealth management solutions. The Company's long record of providing exemplary service and attractive returns through a variety of market conditions has made Eaton Vance the investment manager of choice for many of today's most discerning investors. For more information about Eaton Vance, visit www.eatonvance.com.

About Risk – The following is a summary of the primary risks of investing in one or more of the Funds. Investments in foreign instruments or currencies can involve greater risk and volatility than U.S. investments because of adverse market, economic, political, regulatory, geopolitical, or other conditions. In emerging countries, these risks may be more significant. Derivatives instruments can be used to take both long and short positions, be highly volatile, result in economic leverage (which can magnify losses),  and involve risks in addition to the risks of the underlying instrument on which the derivative is based, such as counterparty and liquidity risk. Investments in income securities may be affected by changes in the real or perceived creditworthiness of their issuer and are subject to the risk of non-payment of principal and interest. An imbalance in supply and demand in the income market may result in valuation uncertainties and greater volatility, less liquidity, widening credit spreads and a lack of price transparency in the market. As interest rates rise, the value of certain income investments is likely to decline. Investments rated below investment grade (typically referred to as "junk bonds") are generally subject to greater price volatility and illiquidity than higher rated investments and typically have greater credit risk. Because investments may be concentrated in a particular geographic region or country, the value of Fund shares may fluctuate more than that of a less concentrated fund. The value of commodities investments will generally be affected by overall market movements and factors specific to a particular industry or commodity including weather, embargoes, tariffs, or health, political, international and regulatory developments. A "non-diversified" fund may be exposed to greater risk by investing it assets in a smaller number of investments than a diversified fund. No Fund is a complete investment program and you may lose money investing in a Fund.

Before investing, investors should consider carefully the investment objective, risks, charges and expenses of a mutual fund. This and other important information is contained in the prospectus or summary prospectus, if available, which can be obtained from a financial advisor. Prospective investors should read the prospectus carefully before investing.

Not FDIC Insured.  Not Bank Guaranteed.  May Lose Value.

The Funds are distributed by Eaton Vance Distributors, Inc. Two International Place, Boston, MA 02110.

SOURCE Eaton Vance Management