AMVESCAP Completes Acquisition of PowerShares Capital Management

ATLANTA, Sept. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AMVESCAP PLC today announced it has completed its previously announced acquisition of PowerShares Capital Management LLC, a leading provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

"The addition of PowerShares ETFs expands AMVESCAP's ability to offer investment solutions to investors and their advisors," said Marty Flanagan, president and chief executive officer of AMVESCAP. "The powerful combination of PowerShares' exciting ETFs, AIM Investments' broad range of actively managed mutual funds and our top-ranked money market funds offers advisors a uniquely comprehensive array of investment choices from which to build better portfolios for their clients."

PowerShares, whose family of 37 distinctive ETFs will now be distributed by AIM Investments, manages $5.9 billion in assets (as of June 30, 2006).

"The combination of PowerShares and AIM creates one of the broadest financial product suites available anywhere and the largest and most experienced ETF distribution force in the U.S. I am looking forward to working together on the tremendous opportunities that lie ahead of us," said H. Bruce Bond, president and chief executive officer of PowerShares Capital Management.

Since their inception in 1993, ETFs in the United States have grown to $336.92 billion (as of July 30, 2006), according to the Investment Company Institute.

"We're excited to provide PowerShares ETFs, alongside our wide range of mutual funds, for investors and their advisors," said Phil Taylor, AMVESCAP's senior managing director for North American retail. "AIM's brand strength, broad distribution capabilities and long-standing relationships with advisors will make PowerShares ETFs available to a larger group of investors. These complementary investment products greatly expand AIM's product line and our ability to provide a full range of investment solutions."

AMVESCAP is a leading independent global investment manager, dedicated to helping people worldwide build their financial security. Operating under the AIM, AIM Trimark, INVESCO, Invesco Perpetual and Atlantic Trust brands, AMVESCAP strives to deliver outstanding products and services through a comprehensive array of enduring investment solutions for our retail, institutional and private wealth management clients around the world. The company is listed on the London, New York and Toronto stock exchanges under the symbol "AVZ." Additional information is available at http://www.amvescap.com/.

AIM Investments is a registered service mark of A I M Management Group Inc. A I M Distributors, Inc. is the distributor for the retail mutual funds and exchange-traded funds represented by AIM Investments.

This release may include statements that constitute "forward-looking statements" under the United States securities laws. Forward-looking statements include information concerning possible or assumed future results of our operations, earnings, liquidity, cash flow and capital expenditures, industry or market conditions, assets under management, acquisition activities and the effect of completed acquisitions, debt levels and the ability to obtain additional financing or make payments on our debt, regulatory developments, demand for and pricing of our products and other aspects of our business or general economic conditions. In addition, when used in this report, words such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "estimates," "projects" and future or conditional verbs such as "will," "may," "could," "should" and "would," or any other statement that necessarily depends on future events, are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance. They involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Although we make such statements based on assumptions that we believe to be reasonable, there can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from our expectations. We caution investors not to rely unduly on any forward-looking statements. In connection with any forward-looking statements, you should carefully consider the areas of risk described in our most recent annual report on Form 20-F, as filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). You may obtain these reports from the SEC Web site at http://www.sec.gov/.

A I M Distributors, Inc. is the distributor of the PowerShares Exchange-Traded Fund Trust.