10.05.2004 ET

(CSRwire) BETHESDA, MD - Today, Calvert, one of the nations' largest families of socially responsible mutual funds, announced the addition of two new value funds to its equity funds line-up: the Calvert Small Cap Value and the Calvert Mid Cap Value Funds. Both funds are managed by mutual fund industry veteran Eric McKissack of Channing Capital Management, LLC.

The new funds are the latest addition to Calvert's family of sixteen socially responsible mutual funds. Calvert corporate social responsibility criteria includes issues such as Governance and Ethics; Workplace Practices; Environment; Product Safety and Impact; International Operations and Human Rights; Indigenous Peoples' Rights; and Community Relations.

"The addition of the Calvert Small Cap Value and Mid Cap Value Funds will complement and expand Calvert's existing equity product line and fulfill an important asset allocation category," said Steve Falci, Calvert's Equities Chief Investment Officer of Calvert.

Eric McKissack, CFA, who is Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Channing Capital Management, is the lead portfolio manager for both funds. Wendell Mackey, CFA, is Principal and Director of Investments for Channing, and will serve as co-manager. Mr. McKissack has over 20 years of industry experience, including 16 at Ariel Capital Management inChicago, where he managed a socially screened, mid-cap value equity fund, the Ariel Appreciation Fund. He also worked for five years as a research analyst for First Chicago and First Chicago Investment Advisors, led by Gary Brinson. Mr. McKissack has a B.S. in Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley.

Mr. Mackey is a Principal and Director of Investments for Channing Capital. He was formerly Senior Managing Director of Valenzuela Capital Partners, LLC, where he shared responsibility for managing the firm's assets, research staff, and overall operations. Prior to joining Valenzuela, Mr. Mackey was a Portfolio Manager with Barnett Capital Advisors and Senior Vice President and Portfolio Manager at NCM Capital Management Group. He has over 15 years' industry experience, and he holds a BBA fromHoward University and an MM from The J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University.

"We chose Channing Capital to manage Calvert's new value funds because we believe that their rigorous investment process is capable of producing excess returns in both the small-cap value and mid-cap value areas," Mr. Falci said.

"Channing's investment management expertise in the small/mid cap arena, complemented by Calvert's industry leading corporate responsibility research, offers a winning combination for financial advisors, retail investors and institutional investors," said Mr. McKissack. "Our investment philosophy is to employ an intrinsic-value methodology. Through this strategy, we attempt to identify companies that have a current market price that is at a significant discount (in the range of 40%) to their fair market value," he added.

There are few socially-screened small and mid-cap value funds in the marketplace and therefore Calvert believes these offerings will give investors an increased ability to diversify their assets across market capitalization sizes and investment styles. Calvert believes the case for filling the asset category is clear: historically, small-cap stocks have outperformed large-cap stocks over long periods, as the chart below shows:

Average Annual Returns for Periods Ending 12/31/03



Source: 2004 Ibbotson Yearbook Small-company stocks are represented by the Russell 2000 Index; large-company stocks are represented by the S&P 500.

In addition, small-cap value stocks typically have outperformed small-cap growth stocks and small-cap stocks overall, with the Russell 1000 Value Index earning 13.91% for the ten years period ended June 30, 1994 compared with 7.15% and 10.93% for the Russell 1000 Growth Index and the Russell 2000 Index, respectively.

Average Annual Returns for Periods Ending 6/30/04



Source: Frank Russell Company; Zephyr Style Advisor.

These funds provide investors with an opportunity for long-term capital appreciation but they may also experience significant share price fluctuations. Investing in small- and mid-cap stocks involves a higher degree of risk than investing in large-cap stocks due to the volatility of the investments.

Calvert is one of the largest mutual fund complexes in theWashington D.C. area with approximately $10 billion in assets under management. Best known for its family of socially responsible mutual funds, Calvert offers twenty-seven portfolios that allow individual and institutional investors to pursue a broad range of investment objectives within a single fund family. Calvert launched the Calvert Social Index(TM), a benchmark for measuring the performance of large, U.S.-based socially responsible companies. Calvert also has an extensive lineup of tax-free and taxable fixed income investments.

For more complete information about any Calvert Group mutual fund, call 800.368.2748 for a free prospectus or go to our Web site at www.calvert.com. Read it carefully before you invest. Calvert mutual funds are underwritten and distributed by Calvert Distributors Inc., member NASD, a subsidiary of Calvert Group, Ltd. (10/04) # 5163.

For more information please contact: