ING Global Equity Dividend and Premium Opportunity Fund Declares Initial Monthly Distribution

ING Global Equity Dividend and Premium Opportunity Fund (NYSE: IGD), a closed-end management investment company, today declared its initial monthly distribution of $0.156 per share. The distribution will be paid on June 15, 2005, to shareholders of record on June 3, 2005. The ex-dividend date is June 1, 2005.

The Fund intends to make regular monthly distributions based on the past and projected performance of the Fund. The tax treatment and characterization of the Fund's distributions may vary significantly from time to time depending on whether the Fund has gains or losses on the call options written on its portfolio versus gains or losses on the equity securities in the portfolio. The Fund's distributions will normally reflect past and projected net investment income, and may include income from dividends and interest, capital gains and/or a return of capital. The final composition of the tax characteristics of the distributions cannot be determined with certainty until after the end of the year, and will be reported to shareholders at that time. The amount of monthly distributions will vary, depending on a number of factors. As portfolio and market conditions change, the rate of dividends on the common shares will change. There can be no assurance that the Fund will be able to declare a dividend in each period.

Certain statements made on behalf of the Fund in this release are forward- looking statements. The Fund's actual future results may differ significantly from those anticipated in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors, including but not limited to a decline in value in equity markets in general or the Fund's investments specifically. Neither the fund nor ING undertakes any responsibility to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statement.

  Press inquiries:
  Christina Divigard, 860 723 2293, christina.divigard@us.ing.com

ING Investments LLC, the manager of the Fund, is part of ING, a global financial institution of Dutch origin offering banking, insurance and asset management to over 60 million private, corporate and institutional clients in more than 50 countries. With a diverse workforce of over 113,000 people, ING comprises a broad spectrum of prominent companies that increasingly serve their clients under the ING brand.

SOURCE: ING Americas

CONTACT: Christina Divigard of ING, +1-860-723-2293, or
christina.divigard@us.ing.com

Web site: http://www.ing.com/us