S&P Affirms 'AAAm' Rtg On Corefund Sterling Cash Fund

Business Wire, Sept 15, 1998

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Standard & Poor's CreditWire 9/15/98-- Standard & Poor's today affirmed its triple-'Am' money market fund rating on the Corefund Sterling Cash Fund, a subfund of the Dublin-registered Corefund Umbrella Cash Fund PLC (which will be rebranded as Aberdeen Prolific Umbrella Cash Fund PLC in due course). The subfund has been rated by Standard and Poor's since Feb. 5, 1997. Aberdeen Prolific International Management Ireland Ltd. has recently acquired from Corestates Bank the Corefund Umbrella Cash Fund, and its triple-'Am'-rated Sterling money market subfund. The Fund will be renamed following its new ownership.

The Fund has been structured to suit institutional investors by offering an investment policy that focuses on high-quality, liquidity, and low-risk income bearing instruments as a direct alternative to sterling deposits. The Fund has a number of features:

-- High credit quality: The Fund's investments are comprised

exclusively of securities or deposits rated 'A-1'-plus or 'A-1'

by Standard & Poor's. At least 50% of the securities will be

rated 'A-1'-plus.

-- Low market risk: The Fund is structured to minimize exposure to

interest-rate risk. The Fund's portfolio will maintain a maximum

weighted average maturity of 60 days.

-- Liquidity: The Fund will offer daily dealing to investors, and

consequently, same day settlement.

Money market fund ratings, identified by the 'm' subscript, are assigned to funds or pools that exhibit stable net asset values. Those funds rated triple-'Am' by Standard & Poor's, the highest rating, exhibit a superior ability to limit exposure to loss and, as the Fund is a distributing fund, to maintain a constant net asset value at all times. Money market funds are rated on a seven category scale from triple-'Am' to triple-'Cm'.

Standard & Poor's reviews portfolio composition reports, for all rated money funds, on a weekly basis. These reports provide current information on the holdings of a fund, weighted average portfolio maturities, net asset values, and investor subscriptions and redemptions.

The Corefund Umbrella Cash Fund PLC, is an umbrella investment company with variable capital incorporated with limited liability in Ireland. The Sterling denominated subfund is the only class within the umbrella at present. Others are expected to be added at a later date. As the minimum subscription to the fund is in excess of Irish punt 100,000 or its sterling equivalent, the umbrella qualifies as a professional investment scheme.

The Corefund Umbrella Cash Fund PLC has appointed a new investment adviser to the Sterling subfund. The management of the fund was transferred from Analytic TSA International Inc. to Aberdeen Asset Managers Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Aberdeen Prolific. An experienced team of five investment professionals is dedicated to manage the Fund. The investment management team takes a thorough analytical approach to the management of the Fund, focusing on its principle of credit quality, liquidity, and risk. The Aberdeen Group of Companies currently has assets of UK13 billion ($21.8 billion) under management. The rating also reflects the subfund's custodial and administration arrangements with Bank of Ireland, Dublin (single-'A'-plus/Stable/'A-1'), which remain unchanged, Standard & Poor's said. -- CreditWire

CONTACT: Francoise Nichols, London (44) 171-826-3631

Nicholas Bradley, London (44) 171-826-3548

For more information on criteria or subscriptions:

http://www.ratings.standardpoor.com