Press Release

STaRS ANNOUNCES MAY 2002 DISTRIBUTION
AND INVESTMENT UPDATE

STaRS Income Fund ("STaRS") is pleased to announce that a distribution of $0.075 per trust unit will be payable on June 14, 2002 to unitholders of record on May 31, 2002. This equates to an annual yield of 9% based upon the issue price of $10.00 per unit.

STaRS is Middlefield’s third closed-end investment trust and the first combining the investment management experience of both Middlefield and Guardian Capital Inc., who act as Co-Advisors to the Trust, responsible for asset mix and security selection. The objectives of STaRS Income Fund are to provide unitholders with a stable monthly income stream of 9% per annum, as well as capital appreciation. The Managed Portfolio is being invested in a broadly diversified portfolio predominantly comprised of income trusts including REITs, oil and gas royalty trusts and income funds.

The current asset class weightings for the STaRS Managed Portfolio are:

The trust units trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol STZ.UN.

For further information, visit our website at www.middlefield.com or contact the undersigned:

Nancy Tham
Vice-President
(416) 362-0714 ext. 277

May 17, 2002

This press release contains forward looking information. Actual future results may differ materially. The risks, uncertainties and other factors that could influence actual results are described in the STaRS prospectus and other documents filed with regulatory authorities.