FBR Asset Management has completed its acquisition of AFBA 5Star Funds, the mutual fund business of the Armed Forces Benefit Association. The purchase increases FBR's AUM by 15 percent.

As part of the deal, the AFBA 5Star Balanced Fund and Total Return Bond Fund will be rebranded as the FBR Balanced Fund and FBR Core Bond Fund.

AFBA's five other funds, the AFBA 5Star Large Cap Fund, Large Cap Growth Fund, Mid Cap Value Fund, Science and Technology Fund and Small Cap Fund, will be absorbed by similar FBR funds.

The deal was revealed in December 2009, and officially closed on Friday, March 12.

Financial terms of the acquisition were not immediately revealed. Representatives from neither FBR Funds nor AFBA could be reached for comment.

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Company Press Release

ARLINGTON, Va., March 15, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FBR Capital Markets Corporation (Nasdaq:FBCM) (FBR Capital Markets), a leading investment bank serving the middle market, today announced that FBR Asset Management Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary, on March 12, 2010, completed its previously announced acquisition of the mutual fund operations of AFBA 5Star Investment Management Company, a related enterprise of the Armed Forces Benefit Association (AFBA). Under the agreement, the AFBA 5Star Funds become part of the FBR Funds family of mutual funds. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

"Our acquisition of the AFBA 5Star Funds is an accretive investment for our Asset Management business consistent with our strategic plan," said Russell M. Parker, Chief Marketing and Distribution Officer for FBR Asset Management Holdings, Inc. "This acquisition will increase our assets under management by 15% and further broaden our investor base, notably within the advisor-assisted and institutional channels."

FBR Capital Markets Corporation (Nasdaq:FBCM) provides investment banking, merger and acquisition advisory, institutional brokerage, prime brokerage, and research services through its subsidiary FBR Capital Markets & Co. FBR Capital Markets focuses capital and financial expertise on seven industry sectors: consumer; diversified industrials; energy & natural resources; financial institutions; insurance; real estate; and technology, media & telecom. Asset management services are provided by FBR Fund Advisers, Inc. and FBR Investment Management, Inc. The FBR Funds are distributed by FBR Investment Services, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. All companies are subsidiaries of FBR Capital Markets. FBR Capital Markets is headquartered in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area with offices throughout the United States and in London. 

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