GSAM Receives Four Lipper Fund Awards

GSAM Receives Four Lipper Fund Awards Best Large Overall Fund Family, Best Large Mixed Asset Fund Group, Top Emerging Markets Debt Fund and Top Short Municipal Debt Fund

NEW YORK, March 22, 2007 – The mutual fund family of Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) is the recipient of four 2007 U.S. Lipper Fund Awards: Best Large Overall Fund Family, Best Mixed Asset Large Fund Group, Top Emerging Markets Debt Fund and Top Short Municipal Debt Fund. The awards are for the three-year period ended December 31, 2006; the fund classification awards were for Institutional Shares. The awards, now in their fifth consecutive year, were presented at last night’s Lipper Fund Awards 2007 ceremony to recognize fund families that deliver consistently strong relative performance.

“We thank Lipper for not only the awards presented to GSAM, but also for its many initiatives to assist investors by recognizing outstanding performance within the entire industry,” said Jim McNamara, Managing Director and Head of Third Party Distribution, who accepted the awards for GSAM. “Above all, what we appreciate most about these awards is that they recognize the entire family of Goldman Sachs Fund as ‘best in class,’ and therefore are an external validation that our funds are an excellent choice for individual and institutional investors seeking to meet a myriad of long-term investment objectives.”

Goldman Sachs Funds was presented the Best Large Overall Fund Family Award for having the best three-year, risk-adjusted performance among 27 eligible large fund groups. It won the Best Mixed Asset Large Fund Group Award for the best three-year, risk-adjusted performance among 28 eligible fund groups. Excluding money market funds, GSAM recently surpassed the $50 billion mark in mutual fund assets under management, spread across 48 equity, fixed income and hybrid funds. “This is a milestone that we’re very proud of considering our relatively late entry into the non-money market space,” said Mr. McNamara.

In commenting further on the awards, McNamara said, “These awards are a direct reflection of the excellent work of our portfolio managers, our global research teams and our risk management professionals -who are dedicated to building better portfolios for our clients. A big part of what makes us successful is GSAM’s expertise in portfolio management, where our ten distinct asset teams are led by chief investment officers averaging 19 years experience, and which include over 100 Chartered Financial Analysts and 32 professionals with PhDs. In addition, GSAM has long held that a key driver of superior investment performance is superior research. In both fundamental and quantitative research – and with more than 280 research professionals based throughout the world – GSAM has the necessary resources to put this belief into practice.”

“As for risk management, we don’t view it as placing constraints on portfolio managers, but rather as a tool to help them achieve the highest return possible for each fund, based on the fund’s risk parameters.” GSAM has one of the industry’s largest and most experienced risk and performance measurement teams; it is comprised of 38 experienced professionals who view the allocation of risk as important as the level of risk.

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Goldman Sachs Asset Management is the asset management arm of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS), which manages $627.6 billion as of December 31, 2006. Goldman Sachs Asset Management has been providing discretionary investment advisory services since 1989 and has investment professionals in all major financial centers around the world. The company offers investment strategies across a broad range of asset classes to institutional and individual clients globally. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm.

Media Contacts:

Laura Rzasa. Donley Communications Tel: 212-751-6126
Chris Williams, Goldman, Sachs & Co. Tel: 212-357-5296

To learn more about Goldman Sachs Funds, visit www.goldmansachs.com. Prospectuses containing more complete information are available online, and may also be obtained from your authorized dealer or from Goldman, Sachs & Co. by calling 800-526-7384. Please consider a fund’s objectives, risks, and charges and expenses, and read the prospectus carefully before investing. The prospectuses contain this and other information about the Funds.

“Best Large Overall Fund Family” is for the three-year, risk-adjusted performance among 27 large fund groups for the period ended Dec. 31, 2006. Large fund groups with at least five equity, five bond, and three mixed equity portfolios that received Consistent Return scores as of Dec. 31, 2006, are eligible for an overall fund group award. “Best Mixed Asset Large Fund Group for 2007″ is for three-year, risk-adjusted performance among 28 eligible fund companies, using a combination of stocks and bonds to achieve consistent returns as of Dec. 31, 2006. Lipper determined the large fund group awards by averaging the decile rank of the three-year Consistent Return scores for all of the firm’s funds within the asset class(es), and the eligible group with the lowest average decile rank received the award for that asset class. In the case of a tie, the group with the lower average percentile rank received the award. In this category, fund groups with at least three mixed-asset portfolios that received Consistent Return scores as of Dec. 31, 2006 were eligible for a Best Mixed Asset Large Fund group award. Top Emerging Markets Debt Fund” and “Top Short Municipal Debt Fund” is for the three-year risk adjusted performance among 44 eligible emerging markets debt funds and 51 eligible short municipal debt funds, respectively, for the period ended Dec. 31, 2006. Fund classification averages are calculated with all eligible share classes for each eligible classification. The calculation periods extend over 36, 60, and 120 months. The highest Lipper Leader for Consistent Return (Effective Return) value within each eligible classification determines the fund classification winner over three, five, or ten years. Although Lipper makes reasonable efforts to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data contained herein, the accuracy is not guaranteed by Lipper. This is not an offer to buy or sell securities.

Goldman, Sachs & Co., distributor of the Funds, is not a bank, and Fund shares distributed by Goldman, Sachs & Co. are neither deposits nor obligations of, nor endorsed, nor guaranteed by any bank or other insured depository institution, nor are they insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board, or any other government agency. Investment in the Funds involves risks, including possible loss of the principal amount invested.

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