First Investors Included in Barron’s Annual Fund Ranking Survey

New York, NY, March 04, 2009 --(PR.com)-- First Investors placed 14th out of the 59 fund families in Barron’s annual fund ranking survey for 2009. Published in conjunction with Lipper, the survey is based on 2008’s results.

As in the past, Barron’s has segmented the universe of funds into five categories: U.S. Equity (48.6%), World Equity (18.0%), Balanced (15.5%), Taxable Bond (15.0%), and Tax-Exempt Bond (3.0%).

The solid ranking achieved by First Investors was primarily attributable to its very strong showing in the heavily weighted U.S. Equity category, where First Investors placed 10th out of 59. First Investors also benefited from its 8th place finish in the Balanced category. First Investors also finished 7th in the Tax-Exempt Bond category, but received little benefit in the survey because of the low weighting applied to the category.

Robert M. Flanagan, President of First Investors Corporation, said, “While we believe that investors are not well served by using fund rankings in making their investment decisions, most of our funds were able to beat their peers in a very difficult environment, and this survey reflects that. At the same time, we regret the anxiety that recent market conditions have caused our clients, as well as the sharp drops they’ve seen in their account values. We look forward to the time when the markets recover and our clients make more progress toward reaching their long-term financial goals.”

First Investors Careers

Press Contact: Nancy Ferraro (212) 858-8000

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