American Express Acquires Assets of Dynamic Ideas, LLC; New Team Will Expand American Express' Quantitative Analysis Capabilities

Business Wire, August 12, 2002

Business Editors

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 12, 2002

American Express Financial Corporation, a unit of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP), has acquired the assets of Dynamic Ideas, LLC, a quantitative analysis and portfolio optimization firm in Cambridge, Mass. American Express will leverage Dynamic Ideas' portfolio optimization methodology in its retail mutual fund, separate account and institutional businesses.

Founded in January 1999, Dynamic Ideas has developed and refined forward-looking quantitative methodology to optimize portfolios for trading, tax awareness and other investment decision-making purposes. The firm has worked with a number of leading asset management organizations as a consultant and software licensor.

As part of the acquisition, the firm's four employees: Gina Mourtzinou, Ph.D., Steve Kokkotos, Ph.D., George Vetoulis, Ph.D., and Thurston Towle, MBA, have become American Express employees. Dynamic Ideas' co-founder and senior partner, Dimitris Bertsimas, Ph.D., will work as a consultant to American Express while maintaining his position as the Boeing Professor of Operations Research at the Sloan School of Management and the Operations Research Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"This acquisition is another major step in our drive to add to the depth of talent in our Investment department," said James Cracchiolo, chairman and chief executive officer - American Express Financial Advisors. "It expands our quantitative capabilities as we look to provide retail and institutional clients with a broad range of quality investment products."

American Express plans to have the team manage the U.S. equity portion of AXP Managed Allocation Fund as well as utilize its portfolio optimization models in new proprietary separate account strategies and mutual funds.

"My colleagues and I are excited about joining American Express," said Dr. Bertsimas. "American Express' investment strategy fits well with the goals of Dynamic Ideas. Joining American Express provides us with a broad range of opportunities to leverage the years of work we have devoted to further refining our methodology."

American Express Financial Advisors is one of the nation's leading financial planning companies. It is part of the American Express Financial Corporation, which currently owns or manages more than $205 billion in assets. Through a network of more than 10,000 financial advisors and its online services, the company provides comprehensive, long-term financial planning and high-quality financial products to more than 2 million clients throughout the United States.

American Express Company (www.americanexpress.com), founded in 1850, is a global travel financial and network services provider.

American Express Financial Advisors Inc. Member NASD. American Express Company is separate from American Express Financial Advisors Inc. and is not a broker-dealer.