JAPONICA PARTNERS ADDS EUROPEAN STOCK INDEX to TOP QUARTILE HURDLE RATES PATENT

-----New global best practice integral to its entrepreneurial co-investor business model-----

Dateline: Providence, Rhode Island USA, April 18, 2005

Japonica Partners, the global management and investment firm with an entrepreneurial co-investor business model, adds a European stock index to its Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rates alternatives patent.

Japonica Partners’ patent-pending Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rates accommodate the performance benchmarks of major global asset classes by allowing the allocation to multiple top quartile hurdle rate alternatives.

The new European Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rate is 500 basis points above the MSCI Europe Stock Index.

Japonica’s other Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rates include: 1,000 basis points above the 3-month U.S. Treasury Bill, 500 basis points above the S&P 500, 500 basis points above the S&P 400 Index, and 15% fixed.

The Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rate alternatives are a new global best practice and integral to Japonica’s entrepreneurial co-investor business model.

Japonica’s business model is founded upon entrepreneurial co-investment partnerships that seek to perfectly align co-investor interests and demand an extraordinary level of superior performance. Japonica’s convictions in its business model are reinforced by both Japonica’s pre-control and control successes.

Under the patent, all calculations are cash-based. Profit sharing commences only after 100% return on investment and selected Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rates. The business model contains no annual management fee or advisory fees for Japonica. Japonica team members who assume positions with a control investment forgo industry standard incentive compensation.