News Releases

BEIJING, CHINA and CHICAGO, ILLINOIS and LONDON, ENGLAND and TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Jan. 9, 2013) - Lloyd George Management (LGM), a member of BMO Global Asset Management, has surpassed US$250 million in assets under management for its Frontier Markets equity strategy.

Frontier Markets consist of countries with market-oriented economies in the early stages of economic development, reflecting many of the same characteristics of the original Global Emerging Markets - such as China and India - some 20 years ago.

Since its launch in December 2011, LGM's Frontier Markets strategy composite has returned 42.9 percent (gross of all fees, in USD terms to December 31, 2012)¹, which compares favorably to the strategy's benchmark return of 12.7 percent over the period (in USD terms). The Frontier Markets equity strategy is available to institutional investors in Canada, the U.S. and internationally.

LGM's Frontier Markets team is led by Senior Portfolio Manager Thomas Vester Nielsen, CFA. Mr. Vester Nielsen is supported by two experienced Frontier Markets Analysts: Dafydd Lewis, CFA, and Donatas Uzkurelis. This core team has been working together since the strategy's inception and is supported by Robert Lloyd George and Dr. Greg Mills, specialist advisors on Asia and Africa, respectively.

"Under Thomas' leadership, our Frontier Markets strategy has captured the attention and support of institutional investors around the world," said Barry McInerney, Co-CEO, BMO Global Asset Management Inc. "The growth of this segment of our business has, in part, helped validate our view that there are significant untapped investing opportunities in Frontier Markets for those who have the required expertise and knowledge of this space."

"Extending our Emerging Markets equity strategies to include Frontier Markets greatly enhances the opportunities we can provide our clients," stated Mr. Vester Nielsen. "We're delighted that this fund has captured the attention of institutional investors globally. Moving forward, our focus remains to invest in strong franchises stewarded by prudent management teams on a diversified basis."

About Lloyd George Management

Established in 1991, Lloyd George Management is a specialist Asian, Global Emerging and Frontier Markets equity manager with US$2.6 billion in assets under management (as of December 31, 2012). Its team of 27 investment professionals is based in offices in Hong Kong, London, Mumbai and Palm Beach. Lloyd George Management's approach is active and primarily stock driven, with a focus on high quality sustainable growth companies with strong capital management. It seeks investment opportunities across the market cap spectrum. In April 2011, Lloyd George Management became a wholly owned subsidiary within BMO Financial Group.

About BMO Global Asset Management

BMO Global Asset Management is a global investment manager with more than US$115 billion in assets under management as of October 31, 2012, including the BMO family of mutual funds. Our two multi-disciplined teams are based in Toronto and Chicago, and our network of world-class boutique managers is strategically located across the globe. They include Monegy, Inc., Pyrford International Ltd., Lloyd George Management and Taplin, Canida & Habacht, LLC. BMO Global Asset Management delivers service excellence from offices throughout North America, and in Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, London and Mumbai. Our approach has led us to be recognized by Pension & Investments as one of the world's largest 100 asset managers based on combined assets under management as of December 31, 2011. We are a part of BMO Financial Group (NYSE:BMO), a fully diversified financial services organization with US$525 billion total assets and more than 46,000 employees as of October 31, 2012.

Disclosures

BMO Global Asset Management is the brand name for various affiliated entities of BMO Financial Group that provide trust, custody, securities lending, investment management, and retirement plan services. Certain of the products and services offered under the brand name BMO Global Asset Management are designed specifically for various categories of investors in a number of different countries and regions. Products and services are only offered to such investors in those countries and regions in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. BMO Financial Group (NYSE:BMO), is a service mark of Bank of Montreal (BMO).

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements, and are typically identified by words such as "believe" and other similar expressions. By their nature, forward-looking statements require us to make various assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties and other factors which could cause results to differ, including those discussed in the Bank of Montreal 2011 annual consolidated financial statements and management's discussion and analysis, and quarterly reports to shareholders. We caution readers of this press release not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.

(1) Based on preliminary figures.