The New Zealand Superannuation Fund today announced the appointment of Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) to a multi-strategy mandate.

Under the mandate GSAM will employ a number of different active management strategies incorporating equities, fixed income, currency markets, commodities, relative value between those markets, and volatility, to generate alpha. The alpha generated by this strategy will be overlaid on a market exposure for which the benchmark is the Citigroup World Government Bond Index.

Commenting on the appointment, the Fund's CEO Paul Costello said: "This appointment continues our strategy of focussing on efficient delivery of returns from active risk independent of a particular benchmark. We continue to look for opportunities to broaden and deepen our active management programme."

This mandate will be managed by the Quantitative Strategies Group within GSAM. It is the second mandate awarded to GSAM since the Fund began investing in September 2003. In June 2004 they were appointed to manage a US small-cap value mandate.

The appointment of Goldman Sachs brings the total number of external investment mandates to 33. The value of the Fund at 31 March 2006 was NZ$9.5 billion.

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For more information please contact:

Paul Costello, CEO, New Zealand Superannuation Fund, + 64 9 300 6980 Phil Gardner, Goldman Sachs JBWere Asset Management, + 61 2 9321 8789

Notes to Editors:

About Goldman Sachs Asset Management:

GSAM's growth in assets under management from $10.6 billion in 1988 to $496.1 billion as of December 31 2005 has been exceptional in the industry. With over 1,000 investment, business development and client service professionals located in 16 global offices, Goldman Sachs Asset Management is among the world's leading asset management institutions.

Since its founding in 1869, Goldman, Sachs & Co. has played a key role for financial institutions, markets and industries worldwide--while forming long-term client relationship based on integrity and innovation. Goldman Sachs Asset Management continues its tradition of excellence by seeking to deliver strong, consistent investment results across a range of asset classes. www.gs.com/client_services/asset_management/index.html