August 3, 2007 - Innovest Strategic Value Advisors has downgraded its Intangible Value Assessment of Wachovia Corp. based on the company’s relative performance of social, environmental, and strategic governance (ESG) issues relative to sector peers.

Banking Analyst Conan Magee notes, "Our concerns for Wachovia stem from the lack of demonstrated systems to protect customers, in both retail banking and brokerage divisions, the latter becoming all the more significant given the current merger with A.G. Edwards. The retail banking division stands out for failing to shut down a telemarketing scam using a Wachovia account, despite repeated warnings from other banks. The brokerage division has been fined for enabling market timing and for charging excessive fees, among other issues."

Downloadable reports for companies in the sector and more are available for purchase through Innovest's partner http://www.csrwire.com/reports/independent

Peter Wilkes, Managing Director at Innovest stated, "Innovest's ratings are an indicator of a company's performance on intangible value drivers and management quality. This information is used to support an investor's existing financial knowledge of a company. It is widely accepted among investors that extra-financial information is now required to get a full understanding of a company's prospects."

By assessing differentials typically not identified by traditional securities analysis, Innovest's IVA ratings uncover hidden risks and value potential for investors. Ratings range from AAA (best) to CCC (worst). Scores on sub factors range from 10 (best) to 0 (worst).

Some of the areas of analysis for companies include:

Supply Chain
Human Rights
Regulatory/Stakeholder relations
Health and Safety
Environmental Strategy and management
Carbon Risk Mitigation
Labor Relations
Product Safety
Workplace issues

About Innovest

Innovest Strategic Value Advisors is an internationally recognized investment research and advisory firm specializing in analyzing companies' performance on environmental, social, and strategic governance issues, with a particular focus on their impact on competitiveness, profitability, and share price performance. Innovest currently has offices in New York City, Toronto, San Francisco, London, Paris, Sydney, and Tokyo.

Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, Inc.

Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, Inc.

Innovest Strategic Value Advisors is an internationally recognized investment research and advisory firm specializing in analyzing companies’ performance on environmental, social, and strategic governance issues, with a particular focus on their impact on competitiveness, profitability, and share price performance. Innovest currently has offices in New York City, Toronto, San Francisco, London, Paris, Sydney, and Tokyo.

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