Market Commentary

As a leading provider specialized exclusively in performance measurement for the wealth management industry, First Rate shares its unique knowledge to help financial institutions make more strategic choices. These non-biased commentaries feature summaries and data tables on the U.S. Economy, Performance in Recent Market Cycles, Relative Strength of U.S. Dollar, as well as U.S. Bond Performance and Stock Market summaries.

The information presented below reflects the opinions of First Rate’s Managing Director of Marketing, as of January 19, 2012. These opinions do not necessarily represent the views of First Rate, Inc. or any other person in the First Rate, Inc. organization and are subject to change at any time based on market or other conditions. First Rate, Inc. disclaims any responsibility to update such views.

2011 Quarter IV Market Commentary

2011 Q4 Market Commentary The U. S. Economy

• U.S. bond yields fell during the quarter with the most significant declines in the long term maturity range. The Barclays U.S. Aggregate index returned 1.12% during the fourth quarter of 2011.

• The MSCI EAFE index performance during the fourth quarter of 2011 was 3.33% and the MSCI Emerging Markets index was 4.42%.

• U.S. unemployment has experienced a slight decline from 9.10% in September to 8.50% at the end of December.