BNP Paribas Provides Capital Protection for Janus Protected Series-Growth

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - May 5, 2011) - BNP Paribas today announces its partnership with Janus Capital Group Inc. (NYSE: JNS), providing capital protection for Janus Protected Series-Growth, the first U.S.-based capital protection mutual fund to offer daily liquidity with no set maturity date. The new fund launched May 4, 2011.

BNP Paribas is one of the world's strongest banks¹ and has a market capitalization of $93 billion. The bank has an award-winning global franchise in capital protected solutions and is a leader in risk management capabilities and product development.

"We are committed to growing our leadership in the asset management space and increasing our solutions and client offerings to open-ended mutual funds, close-end funds and ETFs," said Edward Speal, Head of Global Equities and Commodity Derivatives for the Americas. "We are very excited to partner with Janus to deliver the first product of its kind in the U.S. Our technology, combined with our risk management capability and platform enables us to collaborate in offering this unique capital protection product that will create a very compelling product for investors."

"BNP Paribas' extensive experience with capital protection products makes them the perfect partner for this innovative strategy," commented Jonathan Coleman, Co-Chief Investment Officer, Equities of Janus Capital Management. "BNP Paribas has been providing capital protection for European-based investment strategies since 1995 and we are confident of their risk allocation methodology and we are excited to collaborate with them on this new strategy."

The Janus Protected Series-Growth seeks to provide investors with the long-term growth of capital and downside protection, via a protected net asset value (NAV). BNP Paribas is providing the NAV protection, utilizing the bank's strengths in capital protection, risk management and its prime brokerage infrastructure.

BNP Paribas' innovative risk allocation methodology will be used to capture characteristics and behaviors hidden at the fund level due to diversification and make prompt adjustments to current market conditions and upcoming downward cycles. A Janus portfolio manager will decide how to allocate the fund's assets between, and within, an equity component and protection component, factoring in volatility of each individual fund holding, portfolio concentration and liquidity, among other measurements. This product provides investors with daily liquidity and the fund manager with significant flexibility, key features that differentiate this product from other capital protected offerings.

"Given the oscillation of the equity markets, investors are looking for products that deliver equity markets' potential for significant capital appreciation with downside protection," added Speal. "As one of the world's top players in Equity Derivatives and Risk Management, BNP Paribas seeks to offer investors a valuable alternative to traditional investment vehicles and best serve the needs of our clients."

BNP Paribas Global Equities and Commodity Derivatives offers a full range of equity, fund, and commodity-linked products, tailored to meet the needs of financial institutions and hedge funds, as well as corporates and retail clients. BNP Paribas has five major regional platforms in New York, London, Paris, Hong Kong and Tokyo, serving clients in over 80 countries.

The Janus Protected Series-Growth is designed to provide investors with a protected NAV of no less than 80% of the highest NAV ever achieved by each individual share class of the fund. The fund aims to balance capital appreciation and capital protection by allocating its assets primarily between domestic large cap equities, cash and cash equivalents, U.S. Treasury securities and short index futures and other risk reducing instruments.

¹ Rated AA by Standard & Poor's i.e. 3rd rating level on a scale of 22.

BNP Paribas Corporate and Investment Banking
BNP Paribas Corporate and Investment Banking employs around 20,000 people in over 50 countries and services 14,000 corporate and institutional clients worldwide.

BNP Paribas CIB excels in:
Derivatives - where it is one of the leading global players in rates, credit, forex, commodity and equity derivatives
Capital markets - where it is one of the top European houses in both ECM and DCM (bond, securitization, convertibles and equity issuance)
Structured finance - where it is amongst the leaders in acquisition, export, project, energy and commodity finance globally
www.cib.bnpparibas.com

About BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas (www.bnpparibas.com) is one of the six strongest banks in the world*. The Group has a presence in more than 80 countries and more than 200,000 employees, including more than 160,000 in Europe. It ranks highly in its three core activities: Retail Banking, Investment Solutions and Corporate & Investment Banking. In Europe, the Group has four domestic markets (Belgium, France, Italy and Luxembourg) and BNP Paribas Personal Finance is the leader in consumer lending. BNP Paribas is rolling out its integrated retail banking model across the Europe-Mediterranean zone and boasts a large network in the western part of the United States. In its Corporate & Investment Banking and Investment Solutions activities, BNP Paribas also enjoys top positions in Europe, a strong presence in the Americas and solid and fast-growing businesses in Asia.

* Rated AA by Standard & Poor's i.e. 3rd rating level on a scale of 22.