HM International President Joins rateGenius Board; Anne Smalling Completes Online New Car Refinance Company's Team of Advisors

    AUSTIN, Texas--Jan. 22, 2001--RateGenius, an Austin-based online financial services company, today named the president of holding company HM International to its board of directors.
    Anne Smalling, a national and international business veteran, joins rateGenius' board as one of the company's seven strategic advisors. The board includes rateGenius President and Chief Executive Catherine Ghiglieri and Chief Operating Officer Austin Moore; attorney Pike Powers, Sr., partner in charge of Fulbright and Jaworski's Austin office; Capstar Partners president Lew Little and Vignette President and Chief Executive Greg Peters. RateGenius Founder Cole Lowenfield serves as board chairman.
    Live since mid-October, rateGenius' online auction provides automobile refinancing services, allowing consumers to obtain better interest rates on their car loans than they did at the dealership and providing lenders with pre-qualified, pre-screened loan applicants.
    "HM International chooses very few start-up companies to invest in, but rateGenius stands out as one of the most promising new companies we've seen," Smalling said. "The company's business model and its team of experienced professionals from the automotive and financial services industries make rateGenius one of the top companies to watch in 2001."
    Smalling became president of HM International, where she has served for five years, in 1998. HM International is a private holding company that owns and operates six manufacturing and technology companies throughout the United States and Mexico.
    Before joining HM International, Smalling was a product manager for FMC Corporation in Philadelphia. There she was responsible for the worldwide marketing and sales performance of Avicel, a product enabling pharmaceutical tablets to bind.
    Smalling also served as manager of business development for the Far East and China for SmithKline Beecham, now GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C., a leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare company.
    An active volunteer in Austin, Smalling serves as a community investment committee member with United Way and the Children's Hospital of Austin Foundation.
    Smalling earned a bachelor's degree from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., and a master's degree from Harvard Business School in Boston.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A photo of Anne Smalling is available online at http://www.warrencordes.com/clients/rategenius/pr_photo_smalling/