Bear Stearns Hires Expert Insurance Strategist to Cover the German Market.

LONDON -- Carsten Zielke, a renowned insurance strategist in the German financial markets, has joined the Financial Analytics and Structured Transactions (F.A.S.T.) group at Bear Stearns International Limited, the company announced today. Dr. Zielke joins from WestLB where he was head of insurance equity research. Bear Stearns has also hired Paul Wessling from HSH Nordbank to work with Dr. Zielke to provide strategy and asset liability management expertise. Both will be based at Bear Stearns' European headquarters in London.

Dr. Zielke will be responsible for publishing industry analysis and advising insurance companies on their asset liability and accounting issues. He joins as a managing director in F.A.S.T., Bear Stearns' center of expertise for the creation and analysis of fixed income securities and derivatives worldwide. He reports to Martin Migliara, the head of F.A.S.T. in Europe, and Dan Spina, the global head of Fixed Income Research and F.A.S.T. based in New York.

"The appointment of someone with Carsten's expertise not only demonstrates our commitment to business in Germany and our European customer franchise, but also highlights the importance of our growing focus on insurance companies as a sector," Migliara said. "Carsten's wealth of experience and extensive contacts make him a valuable addition to our team and positions us well for future growth."

Prior to joining Bear Stearns, Dr. Zielke was the head of the insurance equity sell-side research team at WestLB for 10 years. Previously, he was a consultant at Associes en Finance, a consultancy company for valuation techniques based in Paris. He graduated from Paris Dauphine, where he obtained a Maitrise de Gestion, and earned a PhD in Insurance Economics from the University of Goettingen, Germany. He is a member of the Technical Expert Group of the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group to the European Commission.

Mr. Wessling joins Bear Stearns with over twenty-five years of experience in systems development and product management. In addition to working with Dr. Zielke, he will establish an asset-liability management process, enriching Bear Stearns' service offering by providing solutions for legal restraints and regulations from the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). Both Dr. Zielke and Mr. Wessling will work closely with Julien Petit, senior managing director and Peter Wiederholt, managing director, in fixed income sales, who are focused on expanding business in Germany including insurance companies and pension funds in particular.

BSIL has strengthened its German business team over the past year with several significant senior hires: Florian Lahnstein was appointed Vice Chairman of European Investment Banking; Dr. Manfred Puffer joined Bear Stearns in April as a Senior Managing Director to coordinate strategic finance for Germany, Austria and Eastern Europe; and Joachim Koolmann joined in August as a Senior Managing Director in the firm's Special Situations Group.

About Bear Stearns

Bear, Stearns International Limited (BSIL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Founded in 1923, The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. (NYSE: BSC) is a leading financial services firm serving governments, corporations, institutions and individuals worldwide. The Company's core business lines include institutional equities, fixed income, investment banking, global clearing services, asset management, and private client services. Headquartered in New York City, the company has approximately 14,500 employees worldwide. For additional information about Bear Stearns, please visit the firm's web site at www.bearstearns.com.