Institutional Shareholder Services Recommends Shareholders of Salomon Brothers Municipal Partners Fund II Vote For the New Manag
2005年10月13日 - 3:20AM
ビジネスワイヤ(英語)
Salomon Brothers Municipal Partners Fund II Inc. (NYSE:MPT) today
announced that Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), the
nation's leading independent proxy voting advisory firm, is
recommending that shareholders vote in favor of a new management
agreement with Salomon Brothers Asset Management Inc (SBAM), to
take effect upon the completion of Legg Mason's purchase of
Citigroup's asset management business. ISS's voting analyses and
recommendations are relied upon by more than a 1,500 major
institutional investment funds, mutual funds, and fiduciaries. ISS
made its recommendation after considering the efforts and arguments
by Karpus Investment Management to solicit votes against approval
of the management agreement. In its report, ISS notes that: "SBAM
has performed well as investment advisor, leading to strong returns
for shareholders over the years. The board is also carefully
monitoring any discount, but it will not seek the discount's
elimination at the expense of long-term shareholders. A vote
against this proposal may create significant uncertainty for the
fund and its shareholders. ISS does not believe that this is the
proper means to narrow the discount." The report continued,
"Furthermore, the fund's closed-end structure is a fundamental
component of the fund's investment objective and is critical to its
successful implementation. In conclusion, ISS believes that
long-term investors, presumably the majority of shareholders, can
still benefit from this fund's overall performance." "The Board is
pleased that ISS has recognized the compelling reasons for
approving the new management agreement," said R. Jay Gerken,
Chairman of the Board. "Acting in the interests of all Fund
shareholders, the Fund's Board has approved, and recommended that
shareholders vote in favor of the new agreement, using the white
proxy card they have received from the Fund. "Under SBAM's
management, the Fund has outperformed its benchmark, the Lehman
Brothers Municipal Bond Index, based on net asset value for the
3-year, 5-year and 10-year periods and on market price for the
1-year, 3-year, 5-year and 10-year periods ended August 31, 2005,
according to Lipper Analytical Services," continued Mr. Gerken.
"Furthermore, the Fund will be aligned with an organization with an
excellent reputation, focused solely on asset management following
the completion of the Legg Mason transaction. Legg Mason has a
strong record of long-term performance in asset management." As of
May 31, 2005, 98% of Legg Mason's open- and closed-end mutual fund
assets had beaten their Lipper category averages over ten years,
according to Lipper Analytical New Applications (excluding money
market funds). The Fund's Directors, including all Independent
Directors, approved a new management agreement between SBAM and the
Fund, following the announcement of Citigroup's intention to sell
its asset management business to Legg Mason, in exchange for Legg
Mason's broker-dealer business and other consideration. The Legg
Mason transaction is expected to be completed by Citigroup in the
fourth quarter of this year, at which time the new management
agreement is intended to become effective. Shareholders can vote
for approval of the new agreement by using the white proxy card
they received in the mail from the Fund. If shares are held in a
brokerage account, a broker can vote for the shareholder only if
the broker has been instructed to do so by the shareholder.
Shareholders can give their brokers instructions simply by signing
and dating the white proxy card provided by the Fund and returning
it in a postage-paid envelope provided to them or by following the
instructions for phone or Internet voting on the proxy card.
Shareholders need not contact their brokers directly. Shareholders
may obtain a white proxy card and return envelope by calling
1-888-293-6728. Salomon Brothers Municipal Partners Fund II Inc., a
diversified investment management company, is managed by SBAM, an
indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Citigroup Inc. For more
information, please call 1-888-777-0102 or consult the Fund's web
site at www.citigroupam.com. Please note that past performance does
not guarantee future results. Investment return and principal value
of a fund will fluctuate. Current performance may be lower or
higher than the performance data quoted.
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