American Century Launches New Venture Capital Arm; Invests in Emerging Companies.

Business Editors

KANSAS CITY, Mo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 23, 2000

American Century Investments announced the formation of a corporate venture capital arm to make investments in early-stage companies that complement the strategic direction of American Century. The new company, American Century Ventures, Inc., will invest up to $100 million globally over the next four years as part of an active program to sponsor and build innovation in the financial services industry.

"We hope to harness innovation as a company by creating a one-to-one personalized experience between customers and their investment manager," said William Lyons, president and chief operating officer of American Century. "To give our clients customized solutions, we must understand and invest in new ways of doing business."

Harold S. Bradley, president of American Century Ventures, has worked for 12 years at American Century as both a portfolio manager and lead trader. Diane Mulcahy, vice president of American Century Ventures, joins the group from Bessemer Venture Partners, a venture capital firm in Boston.

"American Century Ventures seeks strategic investments in companies that complement our recognized strengths in investment management and advice, online transactions, electronic trading, and core segmentation and database marketing," Bradley said. "Leadership during a time of such rapid change in financial services requires a commitment to influence the pace and the direction of such change."

American Century has a decades-long reputation for sponsoring new ideas and adopting new technologies. Founder James E. Stowers, Jr. was a pioneer in using computers for stock selection in the 1970s. Later, American Century was one of the first mutual fund companies to capture the Internet's power by offering its customers on line transactions in 1996.

Two international database-marketing groups recently recognized American Century for award-winning work in data mining. The company merits regular attention as an early adopter of electronic trading technologies.

"American Century Ventures will only make investments in a company whose technology or products we can use to improve our business and help our investors," Mulcahy said. "That differentiates us from traditional venture capital funds in that we will be a customer of our portfolio companies."

American Century Ventures plans an active investment strategy and will provide newly emerging companies with institutional expertise and industry contacts.

To date, American Century Ventures has invested $38 million in seven portfolio companies, including stakes in Optimark Technologies (www.optimark.com), WorldStreet, Inc. (www.worldstreet.com), TradePoint Financial Networks (www.tradepoint.co.uk), Archipelago (www.tradearca.com), W.R. Hambrecht & Co. (www.openipo.com), Third Age Media (www.thirdage.com) and Angry Monkey (www.angrymonkey.com). Initial investments have ranged from $2 million to $8 million.

Additional information about American Century Ventures can be found at its Web site, www.americancenturyventure.com.

American Century is a mutual fund, brokerage and investment services company serving nearly two million individual and institutional investors. It was recently selected as one of FORTUNE Magazine's 100 Best Companies to Work for in America. Through its broad selection of more than 70 mutual funds, the Kansas City, Missouri-based company manages more than $115 billion in assets. James E. Stowers Jr. founded the company in 1958 and serves as chairman. His son, James E. Stowers III, is chief executive officer and William M. Lyons is president and chief operating officer. For more information on company products and services, visit its Web site at www.americancentury.com.