Bangkok--30 Oct--Standard & Poor’s S&P Trends Analysis, STARS Changes, Model Portfolios, Market Commentary, “Street Talk” and More Available on One Easy-to-Use Platform Standard & Poor’s Equity Research Services, the world’s leading provider of independent investment research, today announced the introduction of a new market intelligence tool that serves the financial advisory market’s burgeoning need for a central source of real-time qualitative stock analysis, thematic research, strategic asset allocation, and market commentary. With MarketScope? Advisor, financial advisors can quickly leverage Standard & Poor’s award-winning Equity Research to take advantage of market moves and emerging opportunities by helping advisors identify creative and actionable financial ideas within a relevant market context. With MarketScope Advisor’s technologically advanced Web 2.0 interface, financial advisors can easily navigate among six discrete modules to manage a multitude of workflow tasks, stay on top of market events and generate new ideas that meet their clients’ investment needs. These modules are: ? MarketView — for short updates on market-moving stocks, Standard & Poor’s STARS upgrades/downgrades, activity on the Street, merger talk, stock splits, and S&P’s asset allocation recommendations and global outlook ? MarketScan - for obtaining market statistics, S&P market commentary and breaking news ? TrendScope — for in-depth, thematic analysis of recent and emerging trends in healthcare, energy, lifestyle, Green Investing, Sector Investing, Emerging Markets and more. Offers access to a variety of S&P equity, mutual fund, and ETF recommendations suitable for pairing with allocations derived from S&P investment strategies, equity research and model portfolios ? Calendars — for informing clients about potential market-moving events such as government data announcements, IPO calendars and more ? Rankings — for keeping clients abreast of S&P STARS stock recommendation changes, and how these changes may impact their portfolios ? Portfolios — for guiding the creation of individual client portfolios and monitoring the performance of S&P’s own suite of model portfolios “As the world’s largest provider of independent equity research, Standard & Poor’s recognizes that every good advisor needs to be able to process information about the markets and communicate it to clients quickly and with sound recommendations backed by intelligent explanations,” said Larry Neal, Executive Managing Director, Standard & Poor’s. “With MarketScope Advisor, financial professionals can use the knowledge and insights provided by Standard & Poor's Equity Research Services to enhance client communications and decision-making regarding investment opportunities across asset classes and around the globe.” “Today’s savvy investor is in search of insights into sector performance, emerging markets, and market-moving companies,” says Ken Hoffman, Senior Director of Platform Management and Development, Standard & Poor’s. “More and more, they look to their financial advisors for actionable investment insights when market changes occur or as new trends emerge. MarketScope Advisor provides the insight, analysis and research needed to identify dynamic investment opportunities that enhance the client relationship.” More information on Standard & Poor’s MarketScope Advisor is available by logging on to www.marketscope.standardandpoors.com or by calling 800-523-4534. MarketScope Advisor is part of the Standard & Poor’s Equity Research Services family of products. These offerings draw from the award-winning complete STARS coverage and Stock Reports, including detailed financial information, such as valuation models, sector and peer group analysis, and proprietary Standard & Poor’s metrics such as Fair Value and Quality Rankings, on over 1,500 U.S.-listed equities, used by market professionals. About Standard & Poor’s Equity Research Services As the world’s largest producer of independent equity research, Standard & Poor’s licenses its research to over 1,000 institutions for their investors and advisors, including 19 of the top 20 securities firms, 13 of the top 20 banks, and 11 of the top 20 life insurance companies. Standard & Poor’s team of 120 experienced U.S., European and Asian equity analysts use a fundamental, bottom-up approach to assess a global universe of approximately 2,000 equities across more than 120 industries worldwide. Follow Standard & Poor's equity analysts' U.S. market commentary each day at http://www.equityresearch.standardandpoors.com/. The equity research reports and recommendations provided by Standard & Poor’s Equity Research Services are performed separately from any other analytic activity of Standard & Poor’s. Standard & Poor’s Equity Research Services has no access to non-public information received by other units of Standard & Poor’s. Standard & Poor’s does not trade for its own account. The analytical and ethical conduct of Standard & Poor’s equity analysts is governed by the firm’s Research Objectivity Policy, a copy of which may also be found at www.standardandpoors.com. For more information contact: Jeff Sexton, Communications, Tel.: 212-438-3448 [email protected]