ALLIANCE LAUNCHES MOST POWERFUL
NON-PROFIT INVESTOR EDUCATION SITE

Full-scale Personalization Offered for Investors Who Want to Learn; Site Features Best from SEC, FTC, NASD, ICI, SIA and Other Leaders.

WASHINGTON, D.C.///May 15, 2000/// The 21-member Alliance for Investor Education (AIE) today unveiled the most powerful non-profit investor education site available on the Web. The redesigned AIE site at www.investoreducation.org features more than 100 resources provided by Alliance members and, for the first time ever, full-scale site personalization for visitors.

The nonprofit AIE site now permits content personalization on two levels. On the first level, visitors to the Web site can select the “life stage” personalization that best suits them: young person; inexperienced investor; experienced investor; or retiree. On the second level, those who wish to customize the content of the AIE site more extensively can opt for “full-scale” personalization.

The latter option permits users to pick and choose from among 11 categories of information and then lay out the AIE homepage based on their own needs. On both levels of personalization, the AIE Web site will “remember” the visitor and then display the customized version of the page whenever the visitor returns to the site.

“The new AIE Web site accomplishes two important goals,” said Michael D. Jones, president of the AIE and chief administrative officer for the NASD. “First, through customization, it helps consumers get the information they want and need in a manner that is most relevant to and appropriate for their individual circumstances. Second, it offers investors a wealth of easy-to-use information that is easily accessible through a single source.”

More than 100 resources from Alliance members are featured in the 11 key areas of the overhauled AIE site:

• Investing Basics



• Financial Planning



• Stocks



• Mutual Funds



• Bonds



• Futures



• Getting Help



• Online/Internet Investing



• Scams



• Young Investors



• Older Investors

ABOUT AIE

The Alliance for Investor Education Web site at www.investoreducation.org provides investors with access to a full range of information they need to make wise investment decisions. Dedicated to facilitating a greater understanding of investment basics, the Alliance for Investor Education was established in 1996 as a coalition of leading financial services industry and investor advocacy groups.

The entire investment community is represented in AIE’s membership ranks. Full members of the Alliance include: The American Association of Individual Investors, The American Stock Exchange, Association for Investment Management and Research, Bank Securities Association, Bond Market Association, Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Financial Planning Association, Futures Industry Institute, Investment Company Institute, Investor Protection Trust, National Association of Investors Corporation, NASD, National Futures Association, National Investor Relations Institute, the New York Stock Exchange, Securities Industry Association, and the Security Traders Association.

The SEC Office of Investor Education and Assistance, the Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Consumer Protection, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the North American Securities Administrators Association are among the government and quasi-governmental advisors to the Alliance.

CONTACT: Ailis Aaron Wolf, (703) 276-3265 or .