Michael G. Butler stepping down as President and COO of Northwest & Ethical
Investments L.P.

TORONTO , Oct. 23 /CNW/ - John Kearns , CEO of Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. (NEI) announced today that Michael G. Butler, the founder of Northwest Mutual Funds, is stepping down from his role as President and Chief Operating Officer. While he is relinquishing his operating responsibilities effective January 31st , he will continue to serve as member of the NEI investment committee.

"I am tremendously proud of the role that I have been able to play in the success of the company since the day I started Northwest Mutual Funds in 1997 through to our recent merger with The Ethical Funds Company, which has created Canada's 18th largest mutual fund company." said Mr. Butler . "It has been a great journey with some great people. Now that the majority of the work of the merger is behind us I am looking forward to turning my attention towards developing some of my other business investments so they enjoy just as much success, as well by doing some guest lecturing and giving back to the community."

"We thank Mike for his outstanding contribution to the success of the Northwest Funds business and for his leadership through the recent successful merger between Northwest Funds and Ethical Funds," says Mr. Kearns . "His energy, enthusiasm and business judgment will be missed not just by me, but by the strong team he helped build here. We wish him the very best in this next phase of his career."

Following graduation from the University of Toronto in 1984 with a Bachelor of Arts degree specializing in Economics and Political Science, Mr. Butler has held various sales, marketing and executive positions within the Canadian financial services industry prior to founding Northwest Mutual Funds in 1997 and creating one of Canada's premier boutique mutual fund companies. In addition, he is a past Director and former member of the Audit Committee of The Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC).

About Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.

Northwest & Ethical Investments has over $4 billion in assets under management and is owned by Desjardins Group and the Canadian Credit Union System. NEI was created through the merger of Northwest Mutual Funds and The Ethical Funds Company in late 2007. NEI offers a full range of management styles and a diverse selection of boutique funds. These include conventional risk-managed investments from Northwest Funds as well as Canada's largest family of socially responsible investments through Ethical Funds.

NEI has offices in Toronto , Vancouver and Montreal .

For further information: Steve Kunzel, SVP, Sales and Marketing, [phone], Email: [email protected]