Change of Investment Manager

F&C Pacific Inv Tst 
22 March 2005


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

22 March 2005

F&C Pacific Investment Trust PLC

Change of Investment Manager and Tender Offer

The Board of F&C Pacific Investment Trust PLC (the 'Company') announces the
appointment of Aberdeen Asset Managers Limited ('Aberdeen') and Nomura Asset
Management U.K. Limited ('Nomura') to manage the Company's assets in place of F&
C Management Limited ('F&C'), both with a pan-Pacific mandate.  The Board has
also appointed Witan Investment Services Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of
Witan Investment Trust plc) as Executive Manager with responsibility for the
commercial management of the Company, including advising on, liaising with and
monitoring the investment managers and other third party service providers.
Witan Investment Services Limited ('Witan') will also have responsibility for
the marketing of the Company, and it is expected that this will include the
administration and servicing of savings plans in due course.

The Company has suffered a sustained period of disappointing investment
performance. Against this background, the Board undertook a strategic review
which led to this positive and direct action with the aim of improving returns
for shareholders.

The Board also announces that it will be sending to shareholders a circular in
due course convening an Extraordinary General Meeting for the purposes of
seeking shareholder approval for:

  • A tender offer by the Company for up to 50% of the issued share capital at
    a price equal to a 4.5% discount to net asset value (together with a
    matching purchase facility enabling investors to purchase shares in the
    Company)
  • A proposal to change the name of the Company to Witan Pacific Investment
    Trust PLC

The Company's major shareholders have been consulted and have indicated their
support for these new arrangements.  In addition, the Directors will be voting
for the proposals at the EGM and will not be tendering any of their shares in
the tender offer.

Aberdeen and Nomura will initially each manage 50% of the Company's assets on a
pan-Pacific basis and will each assume responsibility for their own asset
allocation and gearing within parameters set and monitored by the Board.  The
benchmark against which the Company's performance will be measured remains
unchanged, being the MSCI All Countries Asia Pacific Free Index.  The Board
believes that, the overall costs of operating the Company under these new
management arrangements will be less than the current costs (excluding
performance fee arrangements).  The new managers will assume responsibilities
after completion of the Tender Offer but their appointment is not conditional on
the Tender Offer proceeding.  No fee is payable to F&C in respect of the
termination of the existing investment management contract.

Christopher Purvis, Chairman, commented 'We are establishing ourselves as an
independent investment trust, with specialist investment managers and our own
executive and commercial manager. We believe that the appointments of Aberdeen
and Nomura, together with the appointment of Witan, are important positive steps
for shareholders.  We have been able to combine the talents of two experienced
and well resourced managers with long and successful track records.  Their
individual approaches work well with each other and we believe offer
shareholders the prospect of significantly improved performance.  These changes
reinforce the Company's proposition of pan-Pacific investment at a time when the
region's economies are undergoing a process of integration.  Harnessing the
talents of Aberdeen and Nomura in this way allows the Trust to offer investors a
unique package hitherto inaccessible to the UK retail market'.



Enquiries:
Christopher Purvis                                                 020 7221 6985
Chairman, F&C Investment Trust PLC

Jim Horsburgh  /James Budden                                       020 7818 3121
Witan Investment Services Limited

Angus Gordon Lennox                                                07768 503 516
JPMorgan Cazenove Limited

Gordon Puckey                                                       0207 7636975
quill Communications


Proposals for a new management structure, a change of name, Tender Offer and
Matching Purchase Facility and certain other matters



Introduction

The Board of F&C Pacific Investment Trust PLC (the 'Company') today announces
the implementation of a new investment management structure with the appointment
of Aberdeen Asset Managers Limited ('Aberdeen') and Nomura Asset Management U.K.
Limited ('Nomura') to manage the Company's assets in place of F&C Management
Limited ('F&C'), both with pan-Pacific mandates.  The Board has also appointed
Witan Investment Services Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of Witan Investment
Trust plc) as Executive Manager with responsibility for the commercial
management of the Company, including advising on, liaising with and monitoring
the Company's investment managers and other third party service providers.
Witan Investment Services Limited ('Witan') will also have responsibility for
the marketing of the Company, and it is expected that this will include the
administration and servicing of savings plans.  The Board has also announced
proposals for a change of name and for a tender offer for up to 50% of the
Company's issued share capital together with a matching purchase facility
enabling investors to purchase shares in the Company (the 'Proposals'). A
circular setting out the Proposals in greater detail and convening an
Extraordinary General Meeting will be posted to shareholders of the Company in
due course.

Background

The Company's investment objective is 'to maximise shareholders' total return,
predominately through growth in capital, by investing in the Asia Pacific region
'.

The Company has suffered a sustained period of disappointing investment
performance. Against this background, the Board undertook a strategic review
which has led the Board to take the positive and direct action described above
with the aim of improving returns for shareholders.

The Company provides its shareholders with a broad-based exposure to equity
markets across the Pacific region. The Board understands that many investors,
who consider that the Pacific region is attractive, choose to invest in the
region through an investment trust which gives coverage of all of the major
markets and whose managers make the asset allocation decisions between the
various markets, as well as selecting stocks for the portfolio. The Company is
one of a very small number of trusts that provides this service.

The Board believes the case for a pan-Pacific mandate is now even stronger
because of current economic trends, in particular with the integration of the
region's economies.  Within this context the Board believes that the investment
managers should be able to exploit investment opportunities across the region
and be able to switch between the different markets and industries. However, in
assessing investment performance, the Board measures the successes and failures
of an investment manager by comparing performance against a benchmark index.

The Directors believe that the combination of the two managers (the 'New
Managers') will lead to improved returns for shareholders.

New Investment Management structure

The Board has agreed to appoint two investment managers to implement this
strategy to exploit what it believes to be attractive investment opportunities
within the Pacific region better.  The New Managers have an excellent record of
investment in the Pacific region.

The Board believes this investment approach helps engage the expertise of fund
managers with particular knowledge of specific markets and investment styles and
that the blend should serve to improve returns for investors. The Board is
convinced that an investment strategy which blends investment approaches and
investment styles is more likely to result in outperformance for shareholders
over a market cycle.  Furthermore the Board believes the flexibility inherent in
the new management structure where each service provider is separately employed
will enhance the smooth operation of the Company and avoids the risk of being
tied to a particular investment house or investment formula.

Having reviewed the investment objective and policy of the Company, the Board
has concluded that it should not be changed.  Accordingly the benchmark against
which investment performance will be measured will remain the MSCI AC Asia
Pacific Free. Accordingly, both the New Managers will be assuming a pan-Pacific
mandate, initially on the basis of 50% of the Company's assets each.  The New
Managers will have responsibility for asset allocation decisions and gearing
levels for their own portfolios, within parameters set by the Board.  The New
Managers may invest in all countries within the Asia Pacific region including
Australasia and India.

Executive Manager

The Board will appoint Witan as Executive Manager to oversee and monitor the
investment managers, and to provide commercial and executive management services
to the Company, including provision of marketing services and savings schemes in
due course.  The Board believes that Witan is well placed to provide these
services.

Witan Investment Services Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Witan
Investment Trust plc, a £1.45bn multi-managed global fund.

Costs

The Board believes that the overall costs of operating the Company under these
new management arrangements will be less than the current costs (excluding
performance fee arrangements).

New Investment Managers

Aberdeen

Aberdeen Asset Managers Limited is a subsidiary of Aberdeen Asset Management
PLC, (the 'Aberdeen Group'), an international investment management group,
managing assets for both institutional and retail clients from offices around
the world. The portfolio will be run from the Aberdeen Group's Singapore office.
Total group funds under management and advice currently total £24.19 billion.
Of this some £5.29 billion is in the form of closed end investment trusts and
investment companies.

Aberdeen Asset Management Asia Limited ('Aberdeen Asia') is a
Singapore-incorporated fund manager, regulated by the Monetary Authority of
Singapore and a fully-owned subsidiary of the Aberdeen Group. Established in
1992 as the Group's Asia Pacific headquarters, Aberdeen Asia has a long and
successful track record of investing in Asian markets.

Funds are sourced from a diversified group of clients. Aside from Singapore, it
has won mandates from institutions in the UK, Europe, US and Canada. Clients
include other asset managers, government and related bodies and the retail
public, via pooled vehicles registered in various jurisdictions.  As at 31
January 2005, Aberdeen Asia had £7.8bn under management.

Aberdeen Asia has a team of 30 fund managers, based in Singapore, Sydney and
Bangkok. They follow a fundamental investment style emphasising the
identification of good quality companies, on reasonable or low valuations
relative to their growth potential, which are likely to deliver above average
growth in earnings and dividends over the long term. Teams effectively work as
one, cross covering company visits, under the overall direction of Hugh Young,
who is also head of equities for the Aberdeen Group.  Seven other executives
from Aberdeen, including Peter Hames (Investment Director) and Graeme Sinclair
(Head of Japanese Equities), will be involved with the day to day investment
management of the Company's portfolio.

Aberdeen's record in investing in pan-Pacific equities is illustrated below:

Total return and annualised return over five years compared against benchmark
(to 31 December 2004):

    Fund                                                         Over 5 Year     Benchmark        Fund Performance
                                                                 Period          Performance (1)  Relative to
                                                                                                  Benchmark

    Aberdeen Asia Pacific Unit Trust     Total return            14.5            -27.1            41.6
    Aberdeen Asia Pacific Unit Trust     Annualised return       2.7             -6.1             8.8

Source: Lipper, Total Return, Offer to Offer, UK Net Income Reinvested. These
figures do not include the initial charge, but are net of the annual management
charge of the Fund.  Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

Notes:

1.                  Benchmark: MSCI AC Asia Pacific

Nomura

The Nomura Asset Management Group is headquartered in Tokyo, with investment
offices in London, Singapore, Hong Kong and New York.  The Nomura Asset
Management Group manages over $140 billion of assets globally (as at 31 December
2004) and employs over 700 staff world-wide including approximately 200
portfolio managers and analysts.

The Nomura Asset Management Group has been managing Pacific Basin assets since
1981 and presently manages £11.6 billion of assets on behalf of institutional
clients investing in the Pacific Basin region.  Nomura Asset Management U.K.
Limited is the London arm of the Nomura Asset Management Group, and is
recognised as a leading provider of active Pacific Basin equity management to
U.K. and European clients.

As a specialist manager, Nomura Asset Management U.K. Limited has enjoyed a
period of growth as consultants and clients have sought the benefits of
appointing specialists at the expense of generalists.  With a strong track
record, a stable investment process and philosophy and considerable resources on
the ground, Nomura Asset Management U.K. Limited is well placed to continue its
successful investment record for the Company.

Day to day investment management for the Company will be carried out from Nomura
Asset Management's Group offices in Tokyo and Singapore as the Nomura Asset
Management Group is a firm believer in the value of local management of assets.
The nominated portfolio managers of the Company are Yuichi Murao and Graham
Muirhead.

Other U.K. based clients for whom Nomura Asset Management U.K. Limited is
managing a similar mandate include London Regional Transport, EDF Energy
(previously London Electricity), Worcestershire County Council, Pilkington and
the Merseyside Pension Fund.  The Nomura Asset Management Group also manages a
number of similar accounts for a variety of pension funds worldwide.

A number of Nomura Asset Management U.K. Limited's appointments have come from
selection exercises involving some of the leading investment consultancy firms.

A summary of Nomura Asset Management Group's assets under management in the
Pacific Basin is set out below:


                                                                         Assets Under Management
                                                                         (£ millions)
Pacific Basin equities (all clients)                                     29,098

of which:

Institutional clients                                                    11,648

of which:

Segregated accounts                                                      10,238

of which:

Pacific Basin inc Japan equity                                           2,248

Japan equity                                                             7,337

Source: Nomura Asset Management Co., Ltd, Tokyo as at 31st December 2004

The table below provides performance information for Nomura Asset Management
Group for the Pacific Basin:

     Fund                                                      Over 5 Year     Benchmark        Fund Performance
                                                               Period          Performance      Relative to
                                                                                                Benchmark
                                                                               (1)

     Confidential US Client (1)       Total return             -19.98%         -29.39%          +9.41%
     Confidential US Client (1)       Annualised return        -4.36%          -6.72%           +2.36%



Data source: Nomura Asset Management Co., Ltd, Tokyo as at 31st December 2004.
Performance figures are shown here in GBP, gross of fees, net dividends
reinvested.



Notes:

(1)   A portfolio contracted to Nomura Asset Management USA Inc. managed against
a customised version of the FTSE AW Asia Pacific benchmark which excludes China,
Indonesia, Pakistan and Thailand by the
same Tokyo and Singapore team responsible for this mandate.  Nomura Asset
Management USA Inc. has designed its policies and procedures to calculate and
present performance results in compliance with
AIMR-PPS on a firm-wide basis.

(2)   The value of investments and any income from them may fall as well as
rise.  This may also happen as a result of exchange rate movements between
currencies.  Past performance is no guarantee of future
returns.

Portfolio management

The New Managers will take over the management of the Company's assets,
following completion of the Tender Offer detailed below.

No termination fee is payable to F&C, who will continue to manage the portfolio
until immediately prior to implementation of the Tender Offer.  A transition
manager will be appointed to manage the Company's assets over the time of the
implementation of the Tender Offer.

Gearing

The Company will continue with its existing policy towards gearing, and will
have bank facilities such that each manager may utilise borrowings within agreed
parameters set and monitored by the Board.

Change of Name

The Directors propose that the Company's name should be changed to 'Witan
Pacific Investment Trust PLC'.

Savings Scheme arrangements

The current savings scheme arrangements for existing savings scheme participants
will remain in place for the time being.  Witan will have responsibility for the
marketing of the Company, and it is expected that this will include the
administration and servicing of savings plans in due course.

Tender Offer and Matching Purchase Facility

The Directors are aware that certain Shareholders may wish to realise their
investment and accordingly have reviewed the available options with their
advisers and with the Executive Manager and New Managers.  The Directors are
also aware that, with the change in management arrangements, Shareholders and
new investors may wish to purchase shares in the Company.

The Directors have determined that a Tender Offer and Matching Purchase Facility
should be made, under which up to 50 per cent. of the Company's issued share
capital would be repurchased by the Company. The Tender Offer is designed to
enable those Shareholders who wish to realise Shares in the Company to do so at
a price which is close to their fair realisable value, while ensuring that
ongoing Shareholders who do not wish to tender their Shares are not
disadvantaged by the Proposals.  The Tender Offer will be made at a price (the '
Repurchase Price') equal to a discount of 4.5 per cent. of the net asset value
per Share (before expenses of the Proposals) on the calculation date, as will be
detailed in the circular to be sent to Shareholders in due course.

The Tender Offer is to be coupled with a Matching Purchase Facility under which
Shareholders who wish to increase their holding may do so at the same price.
Under the Matching Purchase Facility, Shareholders will be able to purchase
Shares at the Repurchase Price to the extent that there are Shares available to
be so purchased through valid tenders. Shares tendered under the Tender Offer
will first be allocated to this facility and any balance will be repurchased by
the Company.  Investors who are not currently Shareholders will be able to
participate in the Matching Purchase Facility either by acquiring Shares (with
the right to participate in the Matching Purchase Facility) or by co-ordinating
their order through the sales desk at Cazenove.

None of the Directors will be tendering any Shares in the Tender Offer.

Enquiries:
Christopher Purvis                                                 020 7221 6985
Chairman, F&C Investment Trust PLC

Jim Horsburgh  /James Budden                                       020 7818 3121
Witan Investment Services Limited

Angus Gordon Lennox                                                07768 503 516
JPMorgan Cazenove Limited

Gordon Puckey                                                      0207 7636975
quill Communications




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