New Title Sponsor for the Phonak Cycling Team
iShares comes on as main sponsor in 2007 -2009

What has been in the making for quite some time has now become a fact: Today’s Presenting Sponsor iShares will become the Title Sponsor of the current Phonak Cycling Team from 2007 onwards. ARcycling AG, licensee and operator of the only Swiss ProTour team, has signed a three-year contract (2007 – 2009) with Barclays Global Investors N.A., iShares' parent company headquartered in San Francisco. As a result, "iShares" will become the new team name at the start of 2007. The parties have agreed not to name the amount of the new title sponsor's financial commitment.

"With iShares we have a new title sponsor who is exactly in line with what we had in mind. We wanted a partner who is a global player, enthusiastic about cycling and the opportunities the sport offers to leverage its brand in a variety of ways,” says ARcycling AG founder and team owner Andy Rihs.
Speaking for his part, Lee Kranefuss, iShares CEO, said, "I'm extremely pleased for the iShares brand to be associated with such a well-regarded and well-organised ProTour team. For iShares this sponsorship represents an excellent opportunity to further expand the visibility of our brand across Europe, which is a market of strategic importance to us."

BMC's cooperation also extended
A partner from the very beginning, BMC will also be standing alongside the team in future. "We also want to be part of the team with the new title sponsor," says Andy Kessler, CEO of BMC which, in addition to being the team's outfitter, is one of the leading Swiss companies in high-tech bikes. "Thanks to pro cycling, BMC has made enormous progress in the last few years. And I'm sure that the company will continue to strengthen its technological leadership and international presence in the coming years and thus maintain its rapid growth rate. In return, the team has the assurance that with BMC it has the best material," Kessler adds.

iShares is the brand name for the world's largest ranges of exchange traded funds (ETFs), which is marketed and managed by Barclays Global Investors (BGI). BGI is one of the world’s largest investment managers with over USD 1.6 trillion of assets under management (as at 31 March 2006) BGI pioneered index funds more than thirty years ago and therefore brings unrivalled expertise to the management of the assets of iShares ETFs. iShares manage over 158 funds listed globally, totalling over USD 231.7 billion. iShares funds are available to institutional and private investors. ETFs are index funds that are bought and sold like ordinary shares on a stock exchange and are a tool to gain diversified exposure to a market.