2008 2nd Quarter

In May, 2008, the Bear Stearns Board of Directors engaged IFS to act as named fiduciary and investment manager of The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. Employee Stock Ownership Plan to direct the Plan’s trustee with respect to the voting of the ESOP’s shares with respect to the proposed merger with JPMorgan Chase.

In Beijing, in late 2007, Independent Fiduciary Services (IFS) President Samuel (Skip) Halpern assisted the Asian Development Bank (ADP) in presenting a seminar to the Office of Legislative Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, concerning investment of pension assets for governmental retirement systems.

The City of Los Angeles hired IFS to conduct a management audit of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Employees' Retirement Plans with $7 billion in assets under management. The audit will focus on governance, organizational structure, staffing and resources, benefits administration, and other additional areas.

On May 21, Andrew Irving (Managing Director for the IFS Fiduciary Decision Making Practice and General Counsel), acting in his capacity as a member of the New York City Conflicts of Interest Board, presided at the Board’s 14th “Citywide Seminar on Ethics in New York City Government”.

Andrew Irving, Managing Director for the IFS Fiduciary Decision Making Practice had an opportunity to speak at two recent CLE conferences:

Independent Fiduciary Services ("IFS") has promoted Steven M. Harding, a Senior Vice President, to the position of Managing Director of the firm's Operational Review practice. He replaces Jeanna M. Cullins, who left the firm in March of 2008. He will report to the company's Management Committee.