NEW YORK, July 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BMO Capital Markets, the investment and corporate banking arm of BMO Financial Group (TSX, NYSE: BMO), will hold its 9th annual Focus On Healthcare institutional investor conference on Wednesday, August 5 in New York City. About 600 institutional investors, industry participants and company executives are expected to attend the event, which features a unique line-up of presentations from more than 75 leading public and private healthcare companies. The conference will focus on challenges and opportunities in the life sciences, medical technology devices, and payer provider services industries. Some of this year's large-cap and mid-cap presenters include: Aetna, Inc. (AET) Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) C.R. Bard, Inc. (BCR) Celgene Corp. (CELG) Cigna Corp. (CI) Covidien (COV) Eli Lilly & Company (LLY) Humana, Inc. (HUM) Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) Pfizer, Inc. (PFE) Smith & Nephew plc (SNN) WellPoint, Inc. (WLP) Zimmer Holdings, Inc. (ZMH) Avalere Health, a prominent advisory services firm delivering high-quality research, analysis, insight and strategy for leaders in healthcare business and policy, is set to deliver a keynote address at 12 p.m. (EST) about U.S. healthcare reform. BMO's highly regarded Healthcare Equity Research team will host the conference. The team is comprised of Robert Hazlett (Pharmaceuticals), Dave Shove (Managed Care and Healthcare Services), Joanne Wuensch (Medical Technology) and Jason Zhang (Biotechnology). Media interested in attending the conference or scheduling an interview are asked to call (416) 867-3996 or toll free at 1-866-298-8385. Presentations will be broadcast live and archived at: http://www.bmocm.com/conferences/2009healthcare/ A complete conference agenda plus a list of participating companies are also available by visiting the Focus on Healthcare website. About the BMO Capital Markets Healthcare Equity Research Team The BMO Capital Markets Healthcare Equity Research Team provides coverage of more than 60 healthcare services, medical technology, specialty and large-cap pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology companies. About BMO Capital Markets BMO Capital Markets is a leading full-service North American financial services provider, with over 2,400 employees operating in 14 North American offices and 26 worldwide, offering corporate, institutional and government clients access to a complete range of investment and corporate banking products and services. BMO Capital Markets is a member of BMO Financial Group (TSX, NYSE: BMO), one of the largest diversified financial services providers in North America with US$362 billion total assets and 37,000 employees as at April 30, 2009. DATASOURCE: BMO Capital Markets CONTACT: Media Contacts: Kim Hanson, Toronto, , (416) 867-3996; Holly Holt, New York, , (212) 885-4153, Internet: http://www.bmocm.com/

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