NEW YORK, April 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- OppenheimerFunds today announced a new brand partnership with baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. and renowned chef Daniel Boulud, who will join the global asset manager's exclusive client events focused on the firm's core investment principles of looking to the long term, making global connections, taking intelligent risks and investing with proven teams.

OppenheimerFunds partners with Cal Ripken Jr. and Daniel Boulud for exclusive client events.

"OppenheimerFunds strives to serve our clients with trusted, long-term, active management and unconventional insights. Cal Ripken and Daniel Boulud are both highly respected for exceptional achievements over the course of their successful careers, and we are excited to partner with these inspiring leaders," said Art Steinmetz, Chairman, CEO and President of OppenheimerFunds. "Cal and Daniel's track records of consistent standout performance resonate with our clients, from institutions and high net worth managers to financial advisors serving individual investors."

Select client events will feature OppenheimerFunds' investment perspectives as well as Ripken's or Boulud's insight on current developments in their respective businesses and highlights from their stellar professional journeys.

"I am very excited to be entering into this partnership with OppenheimerFunds. Not only are they an incredibly strong brand and leaders in their field but their optimistic view and forward thinking strategy for growth are traits that resonate with me. As I get to know both the OppenheimerFunds leadership and Chef Boulud, I am confident and hopeful that this is a relationship that will grow and be long-term. After my baseball career, I embarked on a business life and the work that OppenheimerFunds does for its clients is something I appreciate and value now more than ever," said Ripken.

"OppenheimerFunds was a natural fit for me and for my restaurants because we share many core principles. We both strive for excellence, we take intelligent risks, we focus on long-term growth and success and aim to bring value to our clients – all while keeping our eyes open to the changing world around us and finding creative solutions," said Boulud. "I look forward to having the opportunity to work closely with their team and to share my own insights learned from over 30 years as a chef and restaurateur."

Cal Ripken is baseball's all-time Iron Man. He retired from baseball in 2001 after 21 seasons with the Baltimore Orioles. His name appears in the record books repeatedly, most notably as one of only eight players in history to achieve 400 home runs and 3,000 hits. In 2007, he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He received the third-highest percentage of votes in history and collected the highest vote total ever. In 1995, Ripken broke Lou Gehrig's Major League record for consecutive games played (2,130), and in 1996, he surpassed Japanese great Sachio Kinugasa's streak of 2,215 straight games and voluntarily ended his streak on Sept. 20, 1998, after playing 2,632 consecutive games. Although he began and finished his career at third base, Ripken is best known for redefining the position of shortstop.

In the fall of 2007, Ripken was named as a Special Public Diplomacy Envoy to the U.S. State Department. In that role, he travels the globe and uses baseball as a tool to spread goodwill. In October 2007, he traveled to China with former teammate B.J. Surhoff and in November 2008, he visited Nicaragua with former teammate and Nicaraguan native Dennis Martinez. His most recent trip came in November 2011, when he and former teammate Brady Anderson visited Japan and spent time with the children affected by the great earthquake and tsunami that devastated much of Japan in March 2011.

Due to the success of his Aberdeen youth complex as a tournament destination and the desire to grow the game of baseball worldwide, Ripken opened the Ripken Experience complex in Myrtle Beach, S.C. This complex hosts youth baseball tournaments with teams across the United States. Today, Ripken is working to replicate the proven Ripken Experience model in other markets across the country, including its latest complex in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., set to open in spring 2016.

Ripken is also a best-selling author and a highly sought-after public speaker. His books, which have all landed on best-seller lists, include: "The Only Way I Know," "Play Baseball The Ripken Way," "Parenting Young Athletes The Ripken Way," "The Longest Season" and "Get In The Game: 8 Elements of Perseverance That Make The Difference." In the spring of 2011, he launched a series of youth novels with a baseball theme through Disney Book Group. The fifth in the series was released in March 2014. He is also a spokesman for several brands including Under Armour, Rawlings, NewDay USA, Transitions Optical, Northern Safety and Kellogg's. Ripken is also a regular-season and post-season baseball broadcaster for TBS.

Daniel Boulud is Chef-Owner of several award-winning restaurants and the Feast & Fetes catering company. While he hails from Lyon, France, it is in New York that he has truly mastered the dining scene and is today considered one of America's leading culinary authorities. Raised on his family's farm in the village of St Pierre de Chandieu, the chef remains inspired by the rhythm of the seasons and menus driven by fine ingredients. Since arriving in the United States in 1982, Boulud has become renowned for the contemporary appeal he adds to soulful cooking rooted in French tradition.

His New York City restaurants include his flagship DANIEL, a Michelin-starred Relais & Chateaux member; the elegant Michelin-starred Cafe Boulud with its adjacent Bar Pleiades; the casual db bistro moderne; three adjacent Upper West Side locations including the charcuterie-centric Bar Boulud, Mediterranean-themed Boulud Sud and eat-in and take-out market and cafe Epicerie Boulud; and DBGB Kitchen and Bar on the Bowery, the Chef's relaxed downtown restaurant where the French brasserie meets the American Tavern.

Beyond Manhattan, the chef has created Cafe Boulud in Palm Beach and db bistro moderne in downtown Miami, Fla. The chef has extended his culinary reach internationally with a db bistro moderne at Singapore's Marina Bay Sands. Bar Boulud, his first restaurant in the United Kingdom opened in London's Mandarin Oriental in May 2010. In 2012, two new partnerships were forged with legendary names in hospitality, when Boulud and his restaurant management team opened a Cafe Boulud in Toronto's Four Seasons hotel and a Maison Boulud in Montreal's Ritz-Carlton. Additionally, he returned to Las Vegas in partnership with The Venetian® Las Vegas in spring 2014. In September 2014, he opened a DBGB Kitchen and Bar in Washington D.C.'s CityCenterDC and a Bar Boulud in Boston's Mandarin Oriental.

Boulud's culinary accolades include James Beard Foundation awards for Outstanding Restaurant, Outstanding Restaurateur, Best Chef, New York City and Outstanding Chef of the Year. In addition, he has been named Chef of the Year by the Culinary Institute of America and Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur by the French government. Restaurant DANIEL has been cited as "one of 10 best restaurants in the world" by the International Herald Tribune, has earned multiple Michelin stars and Wine Spectator's "Grand Award." The Chef's culinary style is reflected in his nine cookbooks, including his most recent books "DANIEL: My French Cuisine" and "My Best: Daniel Boulud."

OppenheimerFunds, a leader in global asset management, is dedicated to providing solutions for its partners and end investors. OppenheimerFunds, including its subsidiaries, manages more than $237 billion in assets for over 13 million shareholder accounts, including sub-accounts, as of March 31, 2015.

Founded in 1959, OppenheimerFunds is a high conviction asset manager with a history of providing active, innovative investment strategies to its investors. The firm's 14 distinct, collaborative investment management teams specialize in equity, fixed income, alternative and multi-asset strategies. OppenheimerFunds and its subsidiaries offer a broad array of products and services to clients, who range from endowments and sovereigns to financial advisors serving individual investors. OppenheimerFunds provides advisory services to the Oppenheimer mutual funds, and OFI Global Asset Management offers solutions to institutions. For more information, visit oppenheimerfunds.com.

Shares of mutual funds are not deposits or obligations of any bank, are not guaranteed by any bank, are not insured by the FDIC or any other agency, and involve investment risks, including the possible loss of the principal amount invested.

Before investing in any of the Oppenheimer funds, investors should carefully consider a fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. Fund prospectuses and summary prospectuses contain this and other information about the funds, and may be obtained by asking your financial advisor, visiting oppenheimerfunds.com, or calling 1.800.CALL OPP (225.5677). Read prospectuses and summary prospectuses carefully before investing.

Oppenheimer funds are distributed by OppenheimerFunds Distributor, Inc., 225 Liberty Street, New York, NY, 10281

© 2015 OppenheimerFunds Distributor, Inc.  All rights reserved.

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