Products August 3, 2007

EPIC Advisors Now Offers Investment Management

EPIC Advisors, Inc. announced it will now offer retirement plan investment management services as part of its suite of retirement plan products.
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Investment advisory and management services are provided through the trust powers of EPIC’s parent company, NBT Bancorp, whose Trust and Investment Division acts as co-fiduciary and partner to the plan sponsor.

The addition of a prudent investment identification, selection, monitoring, and reporting process to Rochester-based EPIC’s full-service 401(k) recordkeeping and administration services will provide local employers with a single source solution for all of their company retirement plan needs, EPIC announced.

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EPIC’s program also delivers online participant investment advice, ongoing educational services, and extensive plan sponsor reporting. EPIC currently serves clients in 29 states comprising over 810 retirement plans with $2.2 billion in assets.

The Markets August 3, 2007

All S&P Investment Styles See Red in July

Nine U.S. equity investment styles posted negative returns in July, with greatest drop coming from SmallCap 600, according to Standard&Poor’s.
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The grim returns were driven by rising volatility in the U.S. equity market, coupled with deepening liquidity and quality fears, according to S&P.

The average large-cap stock (as determined by the S&P 500) fell 3.1%, the average mid-cap stock (as determined by the S&P MidCap 400) lost 4.3%, and the average small-cap stock (as determined by the S&P SmallCap 600) dropped 5.04%.

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Industrials (+0.48%) and Energy (+0.40%) were the only sectors within the S&P Composite 1500 (an index comprised of the S&P 500, S&P MidCap 400 and S&P SmallCap 600) to post positive returns in July. The worst performing sector for the month was Financials, which lost 8.10%.

“July was not kind to equity investors. However, year-to-date, all three benchmarks and eight of the 10 sectors are still in the black, with Energy, Industrials, Materials, and Telecom Services showing double-digit advances,” said Sam Stovall, Chief Investment Strategist of Standard & Poor’s Equity Research Services, in a press release.

The three major investment styles continue to show positive returns for the year with the S&P MidCap 400 gaining 7.15%, the S&P 500 rising 3.64%, and the S&P SmallCap 600 increasing 3.07%.

The best performing investment style over the first seven months of the year continues to be mid-cap growth as the S&P MidCap 400/Citigroup Growth Index has gained 9.33% through July.

For more information on Standard & Poor’s indices visit www.standardandpoors.com/indices.

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