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Filed by State Street Research Income Trust
Pursuant to Rule 425 Under the Securities Act of 1933 and
deemed filed pursuant to Rule 14a-12 of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Subject Company: State Street Research Income Trust
SEC File No. 33-2697
This filing relates to the proposed reorganization of certain series of State
Street Research funds ("State Street Research") into certain series of the
BlackRock Funds ("BlackRock") pursuant to Agreements and Plans of
Reorganization, forms of which are on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission as appendices to the Combined Prospectus/Proxy Statements on Form
N-14 filed by BlackRock on November 8, 2004, and which are incorporated by
reference into this filing.
The following is an outline that was distributed by State Street Research to
certain of State Street Research's broker-dealers.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR REGISTERED INVESTMENT ADVISORS:
PROPOSED FUND LINE-UP AND PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT TEAMS
State Street Research (SSR) shareholders were sent a prospectus/proxy statement
soliciting their approval of the reorganization of SSR funds into BlackRock
funds in connection with BlackRock's recent agreement to acquire the parent
company of State Street Research & Management Company (SSRM), the investment
adviser to the SSR funds, from MetLife, Inc.
The grid on the next page outlines the proposed fund line-up and portfolio
management teams. These reorganizations are subject to shareholder approval and
the closing of BlackRock's acquisition of SSRM, which is expected to occur in
early 2005. We appreciate your patience and understanding during this period of
transition and thank you for your continued support.
IF YOU NEED FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CALL US.
INVESTMENT ADVISOR SERVICES GROUP
Peter Borghi, Senior Vice President, Director, 800.882.0052 x7002
Tom McNeil, Regional Manager, 800.882.0052 x7898
Greg Hohmann, Regional Vice President, 800.882.0052 x7865
Jason Moore, Investment Advisor Representative, 800.882.0052 x7831
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND WHERE TO FIND IT
BlackRock Funds ("BlackRock") has filed Combined Prospectus/Proxy Statements
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Registration Statements, on
Form N-14 (Nos. 333-119445, 333-119446, 333-119447, 333-119457, 333-119448,
333-119449, 333-119450, 333-119451, 333-119452, 333-119453, 333-119454,
333-119456, 333-119458, 333-119459 and 333-119461), of BlackRock and certain
State Street Research ("SSR") funds and other relevant materials regarding the
proposed reorganizations (the "Reorganizations") of certain series of SSR funds
into certain series of BlackRock funds. The Combined Prospectus/Proxy
Statements, of which this Questions and Answers summary is a part, is being
sent, simultaneously with the summary, to security holders of SSR seeking their
approval of the reorganizations. WE URGE YOU TO READ THE COMBINED
PROSPECTUS/PROXY STATEMENTS FILED BY BLACKROCK WITH THE SEC ON NOVEMBER 8, 2004,
AND THE OTHER RELEVANT MATERIALS FILED BY BLACKROCK OR SSR WITH THE SEC BEFORE
VOTING OR MAKING ANY INVESTMENT DECISION WITH RESPECT TO THE REORGANIZATIONS,
BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT BLACKROCK, SSR AND THE
REORGANIZATIONS. You may obtain a free copy of these materials and other
documents filed by BlackRock or SSR with the SEC on the SEC's website at
www.sec.gov. In addition, the documents filed with the SEC by BlackRock may be
obtained free of charge by directing such request to: BlackRock Funds, Bellevue
Park Corporate Center, 100 Bellevue Parkway, Wilmington, Delaware, 19809, (800)
441- 7762. Documents filed with the SEC by SSR may be obtained free of charge by
directing such request to: State Street Research, One Financial Center, Boston,
Massachusetts, 02111, (877) 773-8637.
FOR USE WITH BROKER/DEALERS ONLY.
NO PORTION OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE SHOWN OR DISTRIBUTED TO THE PUBLIC OR USED
IN ORAL OR WRITTEN FORM IN SOLICITING SALES.
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PROPOSED FUND LINE-UP AND PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT TEAMS
<Table>
<Caption>
SSR FUND MERGE INTO INVESTMENT STYLE BENCHMARK FOR BLK FUND PM TEAM SURVIVING TRACK RECORD
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SSR ASSET BLK Balanced Keep existing 60% S&P 500, Merged team led by Andrew SSR Asset Allocation
ALLOCATION strategy 40% Lehman US Damm (BLK) & Linda Zhang
Aggregate (SSR)
SSR AURORA BLK Aurora Keep active Russell 2500(R) Value Merged team led by Wayne SSR Aurora
fundamental Archambo (BLK)
SSR EMERGING BLK Small/Mid Keep active Russell 2500(R) Growth Consolidate under merged SSR Emerging
GROWTH Growth fundamental team led by Neil Wagner (BLK) Growth
& Eileen Leary (SSR)
SSR GLOBAL BLK Global Keep active Lipper Natural Resources SSR energy team led by Dan SSR Global Resources
RESOURCES Resources fundamental and S&P 500 Rice & Denis Walsh
SSR GOVERNMENT BLK Keep relative Lehman Intermediate BLK fixed income team BLK Intermediate
INCOME Intermediate value Government led by Scott Amero, Keith Government Income
Government Anderson & Todd Kopstein
SSR HEALTH BLK Keep active Lipper Health/Bio- Merged team led by Erin Xie SSR Health Sciences
SCIENCES Health Sciences fundamental technology and S&P 500 (SSR) & Thomas Callan (BLK)
SSR HIGH INCOME BLK High Yield Keep relative Lehman US BLK fixed income team led by BLK High Yield
value Corporate HY Scott Amero & Jeff Gary
SSR INVESTMENT BLK Select Change to S&P 500 BLK quantitative equity team BLK Select Equity
TRUST Equity active quant led by David Byrket & Fred
Herrmann
SSR LARGE-CAP BLK Select Change to S&P 500 BLK quantitative equity team BLK Select Equity
ANALYST Equity active quant led by David Byrket & Fred
Herrmann
SSR LARGE-CAP BLK Large-Cap Change to Russell 1000(R) Value BLK quantitative equity team BLK Large-Cap
VALUE Value active quant led by David Byrket & Fred Value
Herrmann
SSR LEGACY BLK Legacy Keep active Russell 1000(R) Growth SSR large-cap growth team led SSR Legacy
fundamental by Ed Dowd & Jeff Lindsey
SSR MID-CAP BLK Mid-Cap Keep active Russell Midcap(R) Growth Merged team led by Eileen BLK Mid-Cap
GROWTH Growth fundamental Leary (SSR) & Neil Wagner Growth
(BLK)
SSR MID-CAP BLK Mid- Keep active Russell Midcap(R) Value Merged team led by Anthony SSR Mid-Cap Value
VALUE Cap Value fundamental Forcione (SSR) & Wayne
Archambo (BLK)
SSR MONEY BLK Money Keep relative N/A BLK Advisors and BLK BLK Money Market
MARKET Market value Institutional Management
Corp.
*SSR: State Street Research; BLK: BlackRock
</Table>
The information above is as of November 2004 and is subject to change. The
reorganizations are subject to shareholder approval and the closing of
BlackRock's acquisition of SSRM.
FOR USE WITH BROKER/DEALERS ONLY.
NO PORTION OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE SHOWN OR DISTRIBUTED TO THE PUBLIC OR USED
IN ORAL OR WRITTEN FORM IN SOLICITING SALES.
Member NASD, SIPC
(C)2004 State Street Research Investment Services, Inc.
One Financial Center
Boston, MA 02111-2690
www.ssrfunds.com
CONTROL NUMBER:(exp0205)SSR-LD SSR-9123-1104