Press Release - April 26, 2007

Janice Deringer joins Granite Solutions Groupe as Senior Search Consultant

Granite continues to build its reputation as a top recruiting firm in Investment Industry

San Francisco, Calif. – April 26, 2007 – Granite Solutions Groupe, a leading provider of recruiting and placement services to the financial services and technology industries, today announced the addition of investment industry expert Janice Deringer to its ranks as a Senior Search Consultant. Ms. Deringer will lead recruitment efforts for Granite’s clients in the securites, asset management and quantitative investment channels.

John Henning, Managing Director at Granite Solutions Groupe, said, “Janice is one of the original pioneers in the quantitative investment industry and brings with her a keen sense of what it takes to fill key vacancies in this fast-paced hiring environment. We’re very excited to have her with us as we embark on the next stage of our growth, delivering value and industry expertise to our clients across the globe”.

“Janice brings professional, managerial and technical expertise to the recruiting process and coupled with Granite’s global network and deep research capabilities she will increase our investment industry recruiting capacity and further our reputation as a business savvy recruiting firm. We’re absolutely delighted to have her on board”, said Dan L’Abbe, Granite’s founder and President of Recruiting Services.

"I am very happy to have the opportunity to work with Granite Solutions Groupe as the company's philosophies regarding recruiting mirror the manager's needs for finding great talent and compatible team members. I look forward to meeting the needs of our clients in the evolving and fast-paced investment services industry, recruiting with a manager's eye for assessing the best talent for a particular role”, said Janice.

Janice Deringer, Senior Search Consultant

Janice has worked for or with institutional investment companies for 17 years. Janice was an institutional portfolio manager with Barclays Global Investors (formerly Wells Fargo Investment Advisors) for 13 years and managed many investment strategies, including quantitative asset allocation, international indexed equities, transition services, and the quantitative investment process for the Sydney, Australia office, eventually overseeing $450 billion in indexed assets. She managed teams of investment professionals, identified robust portfolio management strategies, oversaw day-to-day investment decisions and met with some of the firm’s largest clients. After working for Barclays Global Investors (BGI), Janice relocated to Portland, Oregon and established Deringer Consulting to provide special situations management consulting for institutional investment businesses. In her consulting practice, she has provided interim management, internal risk reviews, identified strategic advantage opportunities, provided systems development plans and documented systems and processes for her clients in the asset management community.

As an industry thought leader and writer, Janice co-authored a chapter titled, “Development of a Tactical Asset Allocation Model at Wells Fargo Nikko Investment Advisors” in Global Asset Allocation—Techniques for Optimizing Portfolio Management, edited by Jess Lederman and Robert A. Klein, 1994. Janice was interviewed for a Money Magazine article published in Forecast 1996 focusing on funds that perform well in down markets, including some that she managed. While at BGI she wrote many firm newsletters describing the portfolio strategies that she managed.

Janice has also served as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Oregon Employees Retirement System, overseeing all public employee fund administration from 2002 to 2003. She currently serves on the Panache Living Board of Directors. Panache Living is a non-denominational women’s ministry serving women with practical classes and support. Janice is also a certified Retirement Options coach, providing retirement assessment and life planning to individuals and groups. This program focuses on the non-financial aspects of preparation and readiness for retirement planning or for planning the next phase of life.

Janice received her BS degree from Willamette University (Salem, Oregon) in 1983 with majors in economics and political science. She spent a summer at Richmond College in London studying international business and economics. In 1988, she received an MBA with a concentration in finance from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.

About Granite Solutions Groupe

Granite Solutions Groupe (Granite) is a San Francisco based recruiting firm that specializes in recruiting and placing highly-skilled senior-level talent at global firms throughout the financial services and IT market. Contact them online at www.granitesolutionsgroupe.com