RBC Asset Management and Phillips, Hager & North also receive seven individual fund category awards

TORONTO, April 29, 2009 - RBC Asset Management Inc. (RBC AM) has received the award for Best Bond Fund Family in Canada by Lipper Inc.

RBC AM was presented the award for having the bond fund family with the best risk-adjusted performance over a three-year time period ended December 31, 2008. The award, presented at last night’s Lipper Fund Awards 2009 ceremony, is part of a global program of events held in 21 countries to highlight funds and fund families that excel in delivering consistently strong risk-adjusted performance relative to their peers.

“We are very pleased by this recognition of our talented fixed income management team,” said Doug Coulter, president of RBC AM. “In the current market environment, investors are particularly interested in conservative investment options, and this award validates the fact that our bond funds are among the best managed in the country.”

Phillips, Hager & North (PH&N), a wholly owned subsidiary of RBC since May, 2008, won the Best Bond Fund Family award in 2007 and 2008. “The combined expertise of RBC AM and PH&N results in a strong and diversified range of fixed income funds for investors to choose from,” noted Coulter.

RBC AM also received Lipper awards in the Canadian Fixed Income category for the RBC Canadian Bond Index Fund (for one-, three- and five-year periods), and in the Precious Metals Equity category for the RBC Global Precious Metals Fund (one-year period). The PH&N High Yield Bond Fund received awards in the High Yield Fixed Income category (for one-, three- and five-year periods).

Combined, the RBC AM and PH&N fixed income management teams comprise 36 investment professionals and manage over $90 billion in assets (as at December 31, 2008).

Lipper, a Thomson Reuters company, is a global leader in supplying mutual fund information, analytical tools and commentary. The award-winning funds are among the 140,000 funds Lipper tracks globally.