Robert L. Reynolds named President and CEO of Great-West Lifeco U.S. subsidiary Putnam Investments, LLC

    WINNIPEG, June 12 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Great-West Lifeco Inc.
 announced today that The Board of Directors of its U.S. subsidiary Putnam
 Investments named Robert L. "Bob" Reynolds President and Chief Executive
 Officer of Putnam Investments. Charles E. "Ed" Haldeman, currently
 President and CEO, Putnam Investments has been named Chairman of Putnam
 Investment Management, LLC. Both appointments are effective July 1, 2008.
 
     "Bob brings substantial industry experience, energy, and a fresh
 perspective to Putnam's leadership team," said Mr. Jeffrey Orr, Chairman of
 The Board of Directors of Putnam Investments. "Along with Kevin Cronin,
 Putnam's Head of Investments, and Bill Connolly, Putnam's Head of Global
 Distribution, we have a very strong management team to move Putnam
 forward."
 
     "We welcome Bob to the Putnam team," said Mr. Haldeman. "I personally
 look forward to working with him as we continue positioning Putnam to
 exceed our clients' expectations."
 
     "For more than two decades, I have known Putnam as a formidable and
 respected investment management company, and, quite frankly, a very tough
 competitor," said Mr. Reynolds. "Putnam has a strong reputation for its
 broad investment management capability, distribution prowess, and
 award-winning service. I am honored and excited to join Putnam and lead a
 company that has one of the great legacies in the industry."
 
     Mr. Reynolds was Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of Fidelity
 Investments from 2000 to 2007. From 1996 to 2000, he was President,
 Fidelity Investments Institutional Retirement Group. Previously Mr.
 Reynolds held various senior management roles within the Fidelity
 Investments organization, beginning in 1984.
 
     A native of Clarksburg, West Virginia, Mr. Reynolds graduated from the
 West Virginia University College of Business and Economics in 1974 with a
 bachelor's degree in business administration, majoring in finance.
 
     About Putnam
 
     Founded in 1937, Putnam Investments is one of the nation's oldest and
 largest money management firms. As of May 31, 2008, Putnam managed US $175
 billion in assets, of which US $103 billion is for mutual fund investors
 and US $72 billion is for institutional accounts. Putnam has offices in
 Boston, London, Frankfurt, Rome, Copenhagen, Sydney, Tokyo and Singapore.
 For more information, go to www.putnam.com
 
     About Great-West Lifeco
 
     Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSX: GWO) is a financial services holding
 company with interests in the life insurance, health insurance, retirement
 savings, investment management and reinsurance businesses. Lifeco has
 operations in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia through The
 Great-West Life Assurance Company, London Life Insurance Company, The
 Canada Life Assurance Company, Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company,
 and Putnam Investments, LLC. Lifeco and its companies have more than $398
 billion in assets under administration and are members of the Power
 Financial Corporation group of companies.
 
     Cautionary note regarding Forward-Looking Information
 
     This release contains some forward-looking statements about the
 Company, including its business operations, strategy and expected financial
 performance and condition. Forward-looking statements include statements
 that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or
 conditions, or include words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends,"
 "plans," "believes," "estimates" or negative versions thereof and similar
 expressions. In addition, any statement that may be made concerning future
 financial performance (including revenues, earnings or growth rates),
 ongoing business strategies or prospects, and possible future Company
 action is also a forward-looking statement. Forward-looking statements are
 based on current expectations and projections about future events and are
 inherently subject to, among other things, risks, uncertainties and
 assumptions about the Company, economic factors and the financial services
 industry generally, including the insurance and mutual fund industries.
 They are not guarantees of future performance, and actual events and
 results could differ materially from those expressed or implied by
 forward-looking statements made by the Company due to, but not limited to,
 important factors such as sales levels, premium income, fee income, expense
 levels, mortality experience, morbidity experience, policy lapse rates and
 taxes, as well as general economic, political and market factors in North
 America and internationally, interest and foreign exchange rates, global
 equity and capital markets, business competition, technological change,
 changes in government regulations, unexpected judicial or regulatory
 proceedings, catastrophic events, and the Company's ability to complete
 strategic transactions and integrate acquisitions. The reader is cautioned
 that the foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive, and there
 may be other factors listed in other filings with securities regulators,
 including factors set out under "Risk Management and Control Practices" in
 the Company's 2007 Annual Management's Discussion and Analysis, which,
 along with other filings, is available for review at www.sedar.com. The
 reader is also cautioned to consider these and other factors carefully and
 to not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Other than as
 specifically required by applicable law, the Company has no intention to
 update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new
 information, future events or otherwise.
 
 
 

SOURCE Great-West Life Assurance Company