Contact: Mike MacMillan/Alyson Nikulicz MacMillan Communications mike@macmillancom.com (212) 473-4442

53% of intermediaries say Internet has positive impact on their relationship with asset managers; firms look beyond Web sites to e-mail services, wholesaler support

NEW YORK, October 14, 2003—Asset management companies are looking to develop support tools for their wholesalers while continuing to make basic improvements in Web-based services targeted to financial intermediaries, according to a new whitepaper to be released tomorrow by kasina LLC, a leading management consulting firm to the financial services industry. Enhanced e-mail services and streamlined site registration are among the areas seeing the most advances, the study reports.

The kasina study, "Intermediary Web Site Trends & Best Practices," is based on a survey of all Web sites targeted to financial intermediaries from U.S. asset management firms with over $1 billion in assets under management, a universe of 217 firms. While the study found that many firms are shifting resources away from Web site development, e-business budgets are continuing to expand. The average e-business budget among kasina's "Top 10" firms was $3 million for 2003, and is expected to increase slightly for 2004 as firms invest in e-mail services and tools to support their wholesalers. Among the study's other findings:

• 92 percent of the industry now provides intermediaries with access to at least some firm information prior to log-in, up from 49 percent in 2002. This information is generally designed to educate visitors on site features, and to ultimately encourage registration.
• 72 percent of firms have put in place registration forms with five or fewer questions, greatly streamlining the sign-up process. Just 26 percent included simplified registration questionnaires in 2002.
• The use of targeted e-mail has been expanded, with nearly 50 percent of sites now offering some type of subscription service. Thirty-nine percent of industry sites now allow intermediaries to sign-up for e-mailed market updates, compared to only 24 percent in 2002.
• While 88 percent of intermediaries access their intranet daily, only 28 percent visit the intermediary Web site of an asset management firm on a daily basis.
• Fifty-three percent of intermediaries feel that the Internet has had a positive effect on their relationship with asset management firms, with only 6 percent feeling that the impact has been negative (41 percent feel the impact has been neutral).

"Though significant strides in function and user-friendliness have been made, intermediary Web sites remain a work in progress for most asset managers," stated Steven Miyao, chief executive officer at kasina. "Going forward, there is a need to further analyze what intermediaries want, what they'll use, and how the asset manager can achieve cost efficiencies through more targeted Web-based solutions. Developing robust support tools for wholesalers, and including the sales force in the strategy process, will be the key to future success."

kasina's 2003 "Intermediary Web Site Trends & Best Practices" whitepaper is available at www.kasina.com/whitepapers/2003intermediary. For the study, kasina evaluated intermediary sites based on five categories: branding, content, online services, usability and Web technology. Major sections of the report include an overview of the state of the industry, with a description of each of the top Web sites with best practices and key features highlighted. The report also includes detailed findings from interviews with independent and wirehouse brokers, results of surveys of the firms behind the top Web sites, and a look forward to intermediary e-business over the next twelve months.

The following page includes a list of the firms named as having top sites in the 2003 study, as well as those firms named as being among the top three in each of kasina's five evaluation categories.

• AIM Investments
• American Funds
• Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Company
• Franklin Templeton Investments
• MainStay Funds
• MFS Investment Management
• One Group Investments
• OppenheimerFunds
• Putnam Investments
• Russell

• Calvert
• Phoenix Investment Partners, Ltd. the asset management subsidiary of The Phoenix Cos.
• RS Investments
• SAFECO
• Thornburg Investment Management

Branding MainStay Funds One Group Investments RS Investments		Usability MFS Investment Management MainStay Funds Franklin Templeton Investments
Content Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Company MainStay Funds Calvert		Web Technology Pioneer Investments AIM Investments One Group Investments
Online Services Putnam Investments Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Company Franklin Templeton Investments