J.P. Morgan Core Bond Fund Vehicles Hit $25 Billion Milestone

NEW YORK, Oct. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- J.P. Morgan Core Bond Fund vehicles reached a milestone of $25 billion in fund assets (total Core Bond strategy assets exceed $50 billion) under long-term manager Doug Swanson (as of 08/31/2010).  The Core Bond Funds consist of five vehicles including the JPMorgan Core Bond mutual fund with approximately $18 billion in assets, a commingled fund, Luxembourg domiciled fund, Insurance Trust and Institutional Trust (40 Act fund).  Doug Swanson, managing director, lead portfolio manager for J.P. Morgan's Columbus-based Taxable Fixed Income Team and lead manager of the J.P. Morgan Core Bond Fund since its origination, just celebrated his 27th anniversary with J.P. Morgan.  Doug joined National Bank of Detroit, a heritage company of JPMorgan Chase, in 1983 in the same group he works with today. 

Under Doug's strong leadership and in combination with an experienced team of portfolio managers, the J.P. Morgan Core Bond mutual fund (Select shares – ticker: WODBX) has delivered solid results, ranking in the top decile of its Lipper category for the 1, 3, 5, 10 and 15 year periods as of 8/31/10(1).  Growth of inflows has been consistently strong as well; the combined fund vehicles have seen growth of nearly $15 billion since the beginning of 2009, of which $5 billion has been since the beginning of 2010.

"Doug Swanson and his team's excellent track record and proven investment strategy has made this strategy one of our best-performing offerings," said Gary Madich, CFA, global chief investment officer at J.P. Morgan Columbus Fixed Income.  "Our Core Bond Fund exemplifies the tenants of our time tested investment process:  disciplined, value-driven investing focused on bottom-up, fundamental analysis."

Mr. Swanson and his portfolio management team's risk-conscious investing approach, supported by a strong quantitative analysis and risk team, has helped the strategy to perform consistently over periods of market volatility.  For instance, the JPMorgan Core Bond mutual fund (Select shares) delivered a 3.96% gain in 2008 while the financial crisis dragged many of the Morningstar intermediate bond category into the red.  The team's expertise with mortgage bonds—they avoided subprime debt due to overly high valuations and questionable credit profiles—was a contributing factor to the Fund's success in 2008.  Mr. Swanson says managing risk has always been important, but the real measure of success for handling risk comes when things get difficult.  "The last few years have been a good test for that," he says.  As of 8/31/10, the JPMorgan Core Bond Fund (Select shares) had returns of: 1 year 9.42%, 5 year 6.33%, and 10 year 6.75%.  As of 6/30/10 the Fund had returns of: 1 year 10.10%, 5 year 5.92%, and 10 year 6.75% (Past performance is not indicative of future returns. See performance disclosure below.).

Mr. Swanson points out that one of the reasons for the group's long-term success has been Columbus Fixed Income's philosophy of working hard to find good values.  He says the group attempts to identify undervalued assets that other companies miss.  "That takes more work than a lot of people do," he says.  "We're definitely long-term investors."  For Mr. Swanson and his group of managers, that work consists of conducting careful analysis of the markets and in-depth security research.

Mr. Swanson sums it up by acknowledging teamwork defines how business is done in Columbus.  "I'm fortunate to have a great group of talented portfolio managers to work with and the contributions of our credit research and quantitative analysis and risk teams have been invaluable to our success."

Mr. Swanson previously worked as managing director of the Taxable Bond Team for Banc One Investment Advisors. Prior to this, he was first vice president and portfolio manager at First Chicago NBD Corporation, where he managed the government/corporate desk as well as the Pegasus Bond Fund, Pegasus Intermediate Bond Fund, the Mortgage-Backed Securities Fund, the Market Plus Fund and large institutional portfolios.

About J.P. Morgan Asset Management  

J.P. Morgan Asset Management, with assets under supervision of approximately $1.7 trillion and assets under management of $1.2 trillion (as of 6/30/10)(2), is a global leader in investment management. J.P. Morgan Asset Management's clients include institutions, retail investors and high-net worth individuals in every major market throughout the world.  J.P. Morgan Asset Management offers global investment management in equities, fixed income, real estate, hedge funds, private equity and liquidity.  JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), the parent company of J.P. Morgan Asset Management, is a leading global asset management firm with assets of approximately $2.1 trillion and operations in more than 60 countries.  Information about JPMorgan Chase & Co. is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.

The performance quoted is past performance and is not a guarantee of future results. Mutual funds are subject to certain market risks. Investment returns and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than original cost. Current performance may be higher or lower than the performance data shown. For performance current to the most recent month-end please call 1-800-480-4111.

Contact JPMorgan Distribution Services, Inc. at 1-800-480-4111 for a fund prospectus. You can also visit us at www.jpmorganfunds.com. Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives and risks as well as charges and expenses of the mutual fund before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information about the mutual fund. Read the prospectus carefully before investing.

(1)Source: Lipper Analytical Services. As of 8/31/10 the JPMorgan Core Bond Fund (Select shares) was ranked in the Lipper Intermediate U.S. Government category. For the 1yr period the fund ranked 6 out of 67 funds. For the 3yr period the fund ranked 6 out of 63 funds. For the 5yr period the fund ranked 3 out of 59 funds. For the 10r period the fund ranked 2 out of 48 funds. For the 15yr period the fund ranked 1 out of 29 funds. The rankings are based on the total return at NAV of multiple share classes from each fund within the Lipper universe. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. Different Share Classes will have different returns.

(2)Based on AUM for the Asset Management (JPMAM, PCS, PB) division of JPMorgan Chase & Co. as of June 30, 2010. Select Shares have a minimum investment $1 million dollars.

The Strategy mainly invests in bonds and other debt securities. These securities will increase or decrease in value based on changes in interest rates. If rates increase, the value of the Strategy's investments generally declines. On the other hand, if rates fall, the value of the investments generally increases. Your investment will decline in value if the value of the investments decreases. Securities with greater interest rate sensitivity and longer maturities tend to produce higher yields, but are subject to greater fluctuations in value. Usually, the changes in the value of fixed income securities will not affect cash income generated, but may affect the value of your investment.

J.P. Morgan Asset Management is the marketing name for the asset management businesses of JPMorgan Chase & Co. Those businesses include, but are not limited to, J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc., Security Capital Research & Management Incorporated and J.P. Morgan Alternative Asset Management, Inc.

J.P. Morgan Distribution Services, Inc. member FINRA/SIPC, is the distributor for the J.P. Morgan Mutual Funds.

SOURCE J.P. Morgan Asset Management