Company Press Release

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Evergreen Investments today announced several new appointments in its municipal bond group. Effective immediately, portfolio manager Mathew Kiselak, who currently serves as lead portfolio manager of several Evergreen municipal bond funds, will assume responsibility as head of Evergreen's municipal bond group. In addition, current municipal bond team members Dennis Derby, Ladson Hart, Charles Jeanne and James Randazzo have been named co-managers on products across the platform. All of Evergreen's municipal bond capabilities will continue to be supported by Evergreen's proprietary credit research teams, which includes 11 analysts, led by Ken Anderson and Jill Richman.

"Evergreen remains firmly committed to providing leading tax-advantaged solutions for our clients," said Karen Watson, executive managing director of Evergreen's Portfolio Solutions and Investment Strategy Group. "This team- based approach draws upon the strengths of our own extremely capable investment talent, creating depth of leadership and portfolio management for our municipal bond mutual fund offering."

In this broadened role, Kiselak will serve as lead portfolio manager on all internally managed municipal money market and municipal bond mutual funds, providing strategic oversight of research, security selection and trading for the funds. With more than 20 years of experience, Kiselak has been with Evergreen or one of its predecessor firms since 2000.

Supporting Kiselak, Randazzo and Hart will serve as co-managers of Evergreen Municipal Money Market Fund, Evergreen Institutional Municipal Money Market Fund, Evergreen New Jersey Municipal Money Market Fund, Evergreen New York Municipal Money Market Fund, Evergreen California Municipal Money Market Fund, and Evergreen Pennsylvania Municipal Money Market Fund. Randazzo also will serve as co-manager of Evergreen Short-Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund.

Also supporting Kiselak, Dennis Derby will serve as co-manager of Evergreen High Income Municipal Bond Fund and Charles Jeanne will serve as co- manager of Evergreen California Municipal Bond Fund and Evergreen North Carolina Municipal Bond Fund, while continuing to serve as a portfolio manager of Evergreen Pennsylvania Municipal Bond Fund.

With almost ten years with the firm, portfolio manager Hart currently has responsibility for the daily management of municipal money market fund assets. Portfolio manager Randazzo, who has been with Evergreen for eight years, currently has responsibility for management of several municipal money market funds. Derby, analyst with the municipal bond group, currently has responsibility for research and analysis on high yield municipal bonds and for monitoring the credit quality of bonds held in several municipal bond funds. He joined Evergreen in 1995. Jeanne is currently a senior portfolio manager with the municipal bond group with responsibility for tax-exempt portfolio management for several state-specific funds. Jeanne has been with Evergreen or one of its predecessor firms since 1989.

"These appointments support Evergreen's ongoing effort to broaden the depth of management for key investment capabilities and facilitate a team- based approach to support our goal of delivering consistent, long-term investment results and best-in-class asset management," said Watson.

About Evergreen Investments

Evergreen Investments is the brand name under which Wachovia Corporation (NYSE: WB) conducts its investment management business. Wachovia Global Asset Management is the brand name under which Evergreen Investments conducts sales and distribution business outside the United States. Evergreen serves more than four million individual and institutional investors through a broad range of investment products. Led by 300 investment professionals, Evergreen Investments strives to meet client investment objectives through disciplined, team-based asset management. Evergreen Investments manages more than $245 billion in assets (as of June 30, 2008). Please visit EvergreenInvestments.com for more information about Evergreen Investments.

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Evergreen InvestmentsSM is a service mark of Evergreen Investment Management Company, LLC. Copyright 2008. Evergreen Investment Management Company, LLC.