Advantus Seeing Improved Performance Under New Head of Equities; Matt Finn Returns After 3 1/2 Years to Oversee Managers of Funds He Started in 1990s.

Business Editors & Banking/Investment Writers

ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 25, 2002

After only six months back at Advantus Capital Management, Matt Finn is starting to see positive results from the changes he's made.

"I feel that everything needed for success was in place when I returned to Advantus in July," said Finn, vice president and head of equities. "We just needed to reorganize so we could execute better."

Finn's previous stint with Advantus was 1994 to 1998 when he started the mid-to-large (Cornerstone) and small cap (Venture) value funds. In 1998, he moved to Evergreen Investment Management Co. in Boston, where he was chief investment officer of Evergreen's growth and income group. He was successful there, but his family missed Minnesota.

"We took the opportunity to return to Advantus," said Finn.

Bringing Finn back appears to have been a good move for Advantus. He made structural changes in the equity investment team to make more efficient use of the analysts and portfolio mangers who were in place when he arrived.

"We had a growth team with four analysts and a value team with four analysts," explained Finn. "We reorganized into one team with each analyst responsible for a portion of the 500 largest companies. It eliminates duplication of effort and seems to be yielding better results."

Finn also is co-manager of the Advantus asset allocation (Spectrum) fund with Al Steinkopf; Wayne Schmidt manages the bond portion of the fund. Finn also co-manages the large cap value (Cornerstone) fund with Matt Norris. He says these changes are yielding positive results.

"Our goal is two-fold," said Finn. "We aim to generate consistent returns superior to the peer group average and the appropriate benchmark for each calendar year, and to confine any under-performance, should it occur, to the third quartile. Through a rigorous portfolio risk management process we've begun to achieve the first step in attaining that goal, which is to reduce volatility in historical performance, compared to the volatility in the bench mark and the peer group," meaning the fluctuation in the funds' rates of return appears to be less dramatic.

Other Advantus equity funds, including the REIT fund managed by Joe Betlej and the Venture fund sub-advised by State Street Research, gave solid performances last year.

"We have the people and resources we need to be successful," said Finn. "We just need to fine-tune our processes and produce the rates of return we are capable of."

Advantus Capital Management, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Minnesota Life Insurance Company, manages more than $18 billion in assets and offers a variety of investment products and services to individuals and institutional investors. Advantus manages 11 open-end mutual funds, which include equity and fixed income funds and a money market fund. Advantus also provides investment management expertise to insurance and pension products available through Securian Financial Services, the Securian Financial Network, and Securian Retirement Services, a business unit of the Minnesota Life Insurance Company.

For more complete information about Advantus Funds, including charges and expenses, you may request prospectuses from Advantus Capital Management, Inc. Advantus mutual funds are distributed through Securian Financial Services, Inc., member NASD/SIPC, 400 Robert Street North, St. Paul, MN 55101; or call [phone]. Please read the prospectus carefully before you invest or send money.

NOTE: A photo of Matt Finn is available in 300 dpi TIF format; request it by contacting [e-mail]