Security Service Investment Group Adds Curian Capital's Managed Accounts Program to Its Investment Product Offerings.

Business Editors

DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 22, 2003

Curian Capital LLC and Security Service Investment Group (SSIG) announced today that Curian's innovative and technology-driven Managed Accounts program has been added to SSIG's line-up of investment products for distribution through its network of credit unions. SSIG is a Registered Investment Advisor and wholly owned subsidiary of Security Service Federal Credit Union.

"With Curian's Managed Accounts program, financial institutions like SSIG can improve their competitive position by entering the Managed Accounts market quickly with a competitive product," said Kevin Garrow, vice president, Banking and Financial Institutions, Curian Capital. "Historically, only the largest financial institutions could offer Managed Accounts programs, and then almost exclusively to their affluent customer base. Curian's platform eliminates many of the barriers to entry typically associated with launching a Managed Accounts product, most importantly the significant technology investment."

Some of the innovative features on the Curian platform include:

-- Custom Style Portfolios that combine suitability

questionnaires, asset allocation preferences, and

institutional asset management;

-- Customization tools to exclude individual securities or social

sectors, multiple rebalancing options, reinvestment

preferences and customized tax lot selling preferences;

-- A scaleable platform that can serve the needs of retail

brokerage, private banking, or trust by offering these

services with an account minimum of $25,000;

-- A genuinely paperless platform that enables financial

professionals and institutions to run their businesses more

effectively and efficiently;

-- A fee-advance program that allows financial professionals to

make a seamless transition from a commission- to fee-based

business, plus a level fee option;

-- A new permissioning function that allows a client to provide

other trusted advisors with view-only accessibility to their

accounts. This functionality also facilitates a financial

professional becoming the center of their clients' wealth

management team.

-- An un-replicated advisory technology platform that can

facilitate proposing, account application, compliance approval

and funding an account in as short as 24 hours; and

-- Strong sales support, including comprehensive training on

Curian's vast technology platform.

"The Curian platform allows our SSIG representatives to maintain a competitive edge in our regional marketplaces in San Antonio, Texas; Colorado Springs and Pueblo, Colo.," said Joseph B. James, III, CFP, manager, SSIG. "We will be able to offer our clients institutional asset management at account sizes representative of our depositor base. This is an important strategic initiative for SSIG as the Managed Accounts market is one of the fastest growing, and most appealing segments of the investment industry, and a product that will benefit our members."

About Curian Capital

Curian Capital LLC is an indirect subsidiary of the United Kingdom's Prudential plc, a leading international financial services group with operations in the U.K. and Europe, Asia, and the United States (not affiliated with Prudential Financial), and more than $250 billion of assets under management. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Curian is a registered investment advisor providing innovative fee-based managed accounts and investment products to financial professionals through a state-of-the-art technology platform.

About Security Service Federal Credit Union

Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, Security Service Federal Credit Union, which owns SSIG, is the nation's 11th largest credit union. Security Service is a recognized leader in the credit union industry in implementing technological advances that improve convenience and service for its members. The credit union has over $3 billion in assets and more than 500,000 members, with 22 locations in Texas and six service centers in Colorado.