Commerce Bank Names J.-J. Landers Carnal, CFA, Chief Investment Officer, and Mark W. Heatley, Head of Institutional Services Division.

Business Editors

ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 23, 2001

David W. Kemper, chairman and chief executive officer, Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBSH), announced today that J.-J. Landers Carnal has been named the bank's chief investment officer, and that Mark W. Heatley has been appointed lead executive for the company's Institutional Services division. Both Mr. Carnal and Mr. Heatley report to V. Raymond Stranghoener, president of the bank's Investment Management Group.

Mr. Carnal, an executive vice president, will have overall responsibility for Commerce Bank's corporatewide investment functions, setting investment policy for more than $10 billion of client assets under management. In this role, he will oversee all activities concerning investment management. In addition, he will retain his current responsibility for oversight of The Commerce Funds, the company's mutual fund family that is now being managed through Commerce Investment Advisers, Inc., a Commerce subsidiary of which he is also a director.

Mr. Carnal replaces Gary D. Campbell, who left Commerce after 11 years to take a position as president and chief investment officer of a privately owned investment management firm based in St. Louis.

Mr. Heatley will assume Mr. Carnal's previous duties as head of the Institutional Services division, which provides investment management, administration, trustee and custodial services, as well as endowment, foundation, pension and profit-sharing services, to all types of institutions.

"Both Landers and Mark have distinguished themselves during their respective careers," said Mr. Kemper. "Landers Carnal is a familiar name to those in the investment community, serving as co-Chief Investment Officer for Boatmen's Trust Company, an organization which had more than $40 billion in assets under management and investment professionals located across an eight-state region," said Mr. Kemper. "Leveraging the kind of investment expertise Landers has for our customers is just another affirmation of how we are committed to becoming the preferred provider of financial services in our Midwestern market."

"Mark Heatley has long been known for being a customer advocate in this special segment of the investment management business," said Mr. Kemper. "Our institutional customers recognize his expertise in handling the investment and retirement services needs of many kinds of organizations."

Prior to joining Commerce, Mr. Carnal was president and chief investment officer of Boatmen's Capital Management, Inc., an SEC-registered fixed income investment advisory subsidiary of Bank of America. He served in this capacity, and as a member of the subsidiary's board of directors, since the formation and incorporation of Boatmen's Capital in early 1997. In addition to his investment duties, he was responsible for all financial, administrative, operational, client service, marketing and sales activities.

From 1992 to 1997, he served as co-chief investment officer, and most recently, as executive vice president and a member of the board of directors of the former Boatmen's Trust Company. In this position, he was also a member of the senior management committee and responsible for corporatewide economic strategy. Mr. Carnal started at Boatmen's Trust Company in 1987 and progressed through a series of increasingly responsible positions in the fixed income investment area.

The 45-year-old executive began his career as a commercial banking relationship manager in the National Division of First National/Centerre Bank in 1981. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and past president of the St. Louis Society of Financial Analysts. He is a member of the Association for Investment Management and Research as well as the International Society of Financial Analysts. He has also successfully passed the NASD Uniform Investment Advisor Law Examination Series (Series 65-registration).

Mr. Carnal is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., and received his master's of business administration degree from Washington University.

Mr. Heatley, in his new role, will lead product development and client service initiatives in the areas of endowments and foundations, defined benefit pension plans, municipal funds, union health and welfare plans, and 401(k) plans. He has more than 17 years of experience in institutional trust and employee benefits business, most recently serving as systemwide head of institutional trust administration.

He will also manage the Corporate Debt business line, which specializes in helping clients administer bond issues of all kinds for political subdivisions, including school districts, city and county governments, finance agencies, hospitals, universities and other bond issuers for trustee and paying agent services.

The 40-year-old executive has been with the Commerce Investment Management Group since 1994. Prior to joining Commerce, Mr. Heatley worked in the retirement services business for ten years. He served as vice president and manager of Institutional Services for West One Bancorp. He was also a senior employee benefit officer for Commercial National Bank of Kansas City. Prior to this he worked as a Pension Consultant for Hanson & Associates, a pension consulting firm in Overland Park, KS.

Mr. Heatley earned a bachelor of science degree in Business Administration from Kansas State University. He also holds the designations of Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS), Qualified Plan Administrator (QPA), and Certified Retirement Services Professional (CRSP). He is a member of the American Society of Pension Actuaries and the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists.

The Commerce Bank Investment Management Group has responsibility for more than $18 billion in assets, including more than $10 billion under active management. The Investment Management Group provides a full range of fully integrated private client services, including investment advisory, brokerage, trust, lending and banking services. It also provides institutional trust and investment services to corporations, foundations, endowments, employee benefit plan sponsors, public funds and Taft-Hartley plans, as well as corporate debt administration services.

Commerce Bank is an affiliate of Commerce Bancshares, Inc., a registered bank holding company with assets of $11.1 billion, offering a full line of banking services, including retail and commercial banking, investment management and securities brokerage. The Company currently operates in over 330 banking locations in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas. The Company also has operating subsidiaries involved in mortgage banking, credit-related insurance, venture capital and real estate activities.

Stock symbol: CBSH Web site: www.commercebank.com Email: [e-mail]