Farmers Insurance Group and Cofiniti to Offer Remote Financial Management Collaboration Tool; Cofiniti Will Integrate and Customize Financial Management Tools for Insurer

    AUSTIN, Texas--March 1, 2001--Cofiniti, a leading developer of financial management software solutions, today announced plans to work with the Farmers Insurance Group of Companies, which includes the nation's third largest home and auto insurers, to extend the companies' needs-based selling from property and casualty insurance to financial management.
    Farmers will introduce online financial management tools to licensed registered representatives of Farmers Financial Solutions, the companies' broker-dealer.
    Cofiniti's software solution facilitates online, remote collaboration between registered representatives and their customers. Farmers will introduce the technology as it continues to broaden its capabilities beyond traditional insurance offerings to include financial services. In conjunction with a Farmers agent, customers can use Cofiniti's tools to independently create and modify a personalized financial program and send it via the Internet to their registered representative for review. Later, both parties can review the information together either face-to-face or remotely, online.
    "The convenience and efficiency of the application will allow our reps to offer their existing customers a broader range of options from preparing a college saving program to preparing for retirement," said Brian Cohen, president of Farmers Financial Solutions. "The implementation of Cofiniti's financial management technology underlines our commitment to offer our customers the latest and most convenient tools for managing their savings and preparing for their futures."
    The solution will initially be made available to a select group of trained Farmers registered representatives, and is expected to be extended significantly by the end of the year -- testing is expected to begin within the next 30 days. Cofiniti CEO, Don Steele, also welcomed the announcement believing that it reflected an overall trend within financial services to offer loyal customers services beyond a company's traditional product offerings.
    "The insurance industry is looking to extend its domain beyond conventional boundaries. Farmers is leading the way by providing their agents who are registered representatives with Cofiniti's tools to service their customers better," he said.
    Farmers Insurance Group of Companies includes the nation's third-largest home and auto insurers. Headquartered in Los Angeles and doing business in 41 states, Farmers provides home, auto, business and life insurance and financial services to more than 10 million households through 15,000 exclusive agents and district managers. For more information about Farmers, visit the company's Web site at http://www.farmersinsurance.com. Cofiniti(tm) (formerly MoneyStar) is a leading developer of financial management software solutions for the retail financial services industry. Cofiniti(tm) products and services integrate the electronic delivery of financial product information with state-of-the-art desktop planning and portfolio optimization tools to dramatically increase sales and profits for banks, brokerages, mutual fund and insurance companies as well as financial planners and advisors. Cofiniti is a privately held; venture capital-backed company located in Austin, Texas. See Cofiniti on the Web at http://www.cofiniti.com.