TMX group

Listing: TSX (Toronto Stock Exchange)

Symbol:  XIU        XIT        XFN
         XIC        XGD        XIN
         XMD        XGV        XSP
         XEG        XBB        XRE 

TORONTO, April 26 /CNW/ - Barclays Global Investors Canada Limited
(Barclays Canada) announced today that Fee Freedom Day for Canadian mutual
fund investors will fall on April 27th this year.
"Fee Freedom Day is the day in the year that Canadian mutual fund
investors stop paying their managers and start paying themselves -- keeping
the returns that their savings generate," said Howard Atkinson, Head of Public
Funds at Barclays Canada, one of Canada's largest investment managers.
"This year's April 27th Fee Freedom Day, which is a little later than
2004 when it landed on April 12th, shows just how high mutual fund costs are
compared with the returns that these funds deliver." Although the median
Canadian equity fund MER remained the same as 2004 at 2.70%, the median five-
year performance declined slightly, resulting in Fee Freedom Day falling a
little later in the year. This means that investors must wait a little longer
in 2005 before starting to keep the returns on their investments."
"We can put this in perspective by using the Fee Freedom Day calculation
methodology and applying it to the i60, our iUnits Canadian equity fund. Based
upon the 0.17% MER and annualized returns over five-years ending December 31,
2004, investors would have started earning returns for themselves three months
earlier on January 25th!"
"To determine Fee Freedom Day we express the median management expense
ratio (MER) for mutual funds in the Canadian equity asset category as a
percentage of median, pre-MER five-year annual returns for that category --
based on year-end 2004 data provided by Globefund," Mr. Atkinson explained.
"We then apply that percentage to the days in the year to arrive at the
specific date for Fee Freedom Day. We believe the Canadian equity mutual fund
category is the one that Canadians focus on most."

Mutual Fund Costs Matter!
"Fee Freedom Day is just another way of showing how much mutual fund
costs matter," said Mr. Atkinson. Mutual fund costs, in the form of MERs, have
a huge impact on returns over the long term - especially today, when expected
returns are generally lower. However, the good news - in all the uncertainty
and turmoil of today's markets -- is that costs are the one piece of the
investment puzzle that mutual fund investors can actually control."

MER Calculator A Hit With Investors
"From our vantage point as Canada's leading provider of low-cost exchange
traded index funds (ETFs), we at Barclays Canada see investor awareness and
concern about mutual fund costs rising sharply," said Mr. Atkinson. "For
example, our MER Calculator, which we feature on our iunits.com website, has
now performed over 70,000 calculations. The Calculator lets investors quantify
the impact that mutual fund management fees have on their investments, based
on assumptions that they provide."

How does Barclays Canada Calculate Fee Freedom Day?
Barclays Canada defines Fee Freedom Day as the day of the year equal to:

MER/(MER + RET) (x) 365

Where
-   MER (equal sign) the median annual MER of mutual funds in the
    Canadian equity asset class, as of year-end 2004 (2.7%)
-   RET (equal sign) the median 5-year annual return, after expenses, of
    mutual funds in the Canadian equity asset class as of year-end 2004
    (5.60%)

All data and fund classifications based on Globefund.

How do iUnits MERs Compare with Median Mutual Fund MERs?
Table: iUnits versus Median MERs, December 31, 2004.
<<
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Median MER
                                                              For Mutual
iUnits    Ticker                              iUnits MER    Funds in the
Fund      Symbol     Asset Class               Capped at   Asset Class(1)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Canadian Equity (pure)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
i60        XIU       Canadian Equity (pure)       0.17%         2.29%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
i60C       XIC       Canadian Equity (pure)       0.17%         2.29%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
iMidCap    XMD       Canadian Equity (pure)       0.55%         2.29%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Canadian Equity Sectors
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
iIT        XIT       Science and Technology       0.55%         2.81%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
iEnergy    XEG       Natural Resources            0.55%         2.68%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
iFin       XFN       Financial Services           0.55%         2.80%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
iGold      XGD       Precious Metals              0.55%         2.64%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
iREIT      XRE       Real Estate                  0.55%         2.83%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fixed Income
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
iG5        XGV       Canadian Short-Term Bond     0.25%         1.64%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
iBond      XBB       Canadian Bond                0.30%         2.00%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
100% RSP Eligible Foreign Equity
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
i500R      XSP       U.S. Equity                  0.30%         2.71%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
iIntR      XIN       International Equity         0.35%         2.80%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Source: Globefund.


About Barclays Canada
Barclays Canada is an indirect subsidiary of Barclays PLC and part of
Barclays Global Investors (BGI), one of the largest institutional investment
managers in the world and the largest manager of index funds. BGI leads the
world in exchange traded funds (ETFs), with funds covering a complete range of
asset classes and currency exposures. BGI offers more than 100 ETFs, including
14 in the UK, 12 in Canada, and more than 90 in the US. Barclays Canada
currently manages over $9 billion in ETFs. The i60 Fund is one of the largest
mutual funds in the Canadian equity category and the largest index fund across
all categories. As at December 31, 2004, BGI managed approximately $51 billion
in Canadian assets and in other assets for Canadian clients. Barclays Canada
has offices in Toronto and Montreal.
Investors wishing to obtain additional information on iUnits are
encouraged to visit www.iunits.com or call 1-877-Go-iUnit.

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