Banc One Investment Advisors Settlement Summary

On June 29, 2004, Banc One Investment Advisors (BOIA), a registered investment advisor based in Columbus, Ohio, reached a settlement with The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the New York State Attorney General. The allegations concerned certain issues related to trading in One Group mutual funds.

The settlement terms that were agreed to include:

• BOIA will pay $50 million ($10 million in shareholder restitution and $40 million in civil penalties), all of which will go to compensate eligible One Group shareholders.
• Additional benefit to One Group shareholders from a reduction of advisory fees of at least $8 million a year for 5 years.
• BOIA agreed to a number of steps to ensure additional protections and benefits to One Group mutual fund shareholders.

On January 24, 2005 the SEC approved the appointment of Joseph A. Grundfest, the William A. Franke Professor of Law and Business at Stanford Law School and a former SEC commissioner, as the Independent Distribution Consultant (IDC) of the BOIA settlement. The IDC has overall responsibility for the preparation, execution and completion of the Plan of Distribution for eligible shareholders.

The recipients of the settlement are eligible shareholders who held their shares in any of the One Group funds listed below between June 1, 1999 and May 31, 2003 and who are determined by the IDC to have been adversely affected by the actions of the market timers.

» One Group Mid Cap Growth Fund » One Group Diversified Equity Fund » One Group Mid Cap Value Fund » One Group Diversified Mid Cap Fund » One Group Diversified International Fund » One Group Small Cap Growth Fund

» One Group Large Cap Growth Fund » One Group Large Cap Value Fund » One Group Small Cap Value Fund » One Group International Equity Index Fund » One Group Equity Income Fund

It is important to recognize that many persons who held shares in the affected funds between June 1, 1999 and May 31, 2003 will not be receiving a distribution pursuant to the Plan because the trading patterns that gave rise to the SEC's enforcement proceeding did not cause them to suffer any harm, as determined by an evaluation of the trading data by the IDC. In particular, any investor's eligibility to participate in the Plan depends, among many other factors, on the pattern of trading by market timers during the period in which the investor held shares of the affected funds and the size of the investor's holdings as a percentage of the affected fund's net asset value.

On May 9, 2007, the SEC approved the Plan of Distribution described above. The approved Plan is posted on the SEC Website and can be accessed in the "Links & Related Documents" page of this website.

If you have any questions regarding this settlement, please contact the Banc One Settlement Administrator at 1-800-261-0282.