Elias Azrak, co-founder of the Palisades Water Index, said, "There has recently been an historic increase in the public awareness of global water issues. Virtually every country in the world is presented with some combination of water quality and quantity issues that will require significant expenditures to resolve. Given the investment needed to address the myriad of global water resource issues, we believe the Palisades Water Index is the right product at the right time. We are delighted to partner with Amex in launching this product."

Steve Hoffmann, water resource economist and a principal architect of the Palisades Water Index, said, "The Palisades Water Index is the premier vehicle developed for investors to capture the potential associated with the substantial increase in the economic value of water. We believe that this value will inevitably be unlocked as the global population adjusts to the linkages between human health, economic development and resource sustainability."

Mr. Azrak added, "It is clear that not only human health, but also environmental protection and economic development, are critically dependent upon efficiently managing an increasingly scarce resource. The water industry is poised for considerable growth as convergent technologies and institutional changes combine to address the global demand for clean water. I believe that the Palisades Water Index will only grow in significance as these critical needs are addressed."

Scott Ebner, director of New Product Development at the Amex, said, "The Palisades Water Index goes beyond the typical construction of an industry or sector index to target companies in a variety of business lines that are impacted by an interesting and important economic issue. The Palisades Water Index is the latest example of a long tradition at the Amex of working with expert partners to introduce innovative index ideas."

The Palisades Water Index is a modified equal weighted index comprised of companies whose businesses stand to benefit substantially from the burgeoning global demand for safe drinking water, environmentally sustainable use, and industrial process improvement. The index is rebalanced each March, June, September and December. The index divisor was initially calculated to yield a benchmark value of 1000.00 at the close of trading December 31, 2003.

The index was created by a venture between Hydrogen Ventures, LLC and WaterTech Capital. Discussions are underway relative to the licensing of the Palisades Water Index for financial products, including an exchange traded fund which tracks the index.