Financial Profiles Donates Software, Services to University of Minnesota Business Class

Business Wire, Feb 17, 2004

Business Editors

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 17, 2004

Nationally-Ranked Carlson School of Management Students to Use

Profiles+ Professional(TM) for Curriculum, Class Project

Financial Profiles Inc., a leading international provider of financial planning solutions, today announced the company donated more than $30,000 worth of its Profiles+ Professional(TM) software to students at the nationally-ranked Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.

MBA candidates, as well as senior undergraduates majoring in finance and insurance, taking the school's Personal Financial Planning class received the program and training from Financial Profiles as part of the course curriculum and final project.

The relationship with the Carlson School of Management came at the recommendation of Northstar Resource Group through its affiliate, Securian Financial Group. The firm has maintained a strong relationship with the institution for more than three decades, and Carlson School graduates are regularly recruited and hired by the organization. Northstar's executives were looking for ways to help the students gain even more "real-world" experiences in the classroom.

"We believe Financial Profiles' solutions are the superior applications in the market," said Phil Richards, chairman and CEO of Northstar Resource Group and an adjunct professor emeritus with the Carlson School of Management. "We're very appreciative for their willingness to help the Carlson School's top-caliber students become acquainted with a state-of-the-art tool for financial planning."

Financial Profiles originally intended to install Profiles+ Professional on the Carlson School of Management servers. However, the company quickly realized that students in the Personal Financial Planning class needed the best of both worlds for their class project, and gave each class member a copy of Profiles+ Professional to load onto their own computers in addition to the server installation.

"Working with the Carlson students is a proud extension of our dedication and commitment to the financial service industry," said Dave Freitag, vice president of client development for Financial Profiles. "We continue to strive in enabling professionals to better serve their clients. Beginning this effort at the university level fits well with our mission."

Founded in 1919, Carlson School of Management's mission is to provide the highest quality education for present and future business and academic leaders, and advance the understanding and practice of management through research and outreach. Today, the school boasts over 3,500 students, 12-degree programs, 114 tenure-track faculty and dozens of adjunct faculty who specialize in particular subjects. More than 40,000 graduates in all 50 states and 70 foreign countries form an alumni network that spans the globe. U.S. News and World Report ranked the Carlson School of Management's Full-Time MBA program number 26 in the nation in 2004, and declared its undergraduate program the 14th best in the country in 2002.

"The reports developed by the students using Profiles+ Professional show they learned financial analysis of investments, saving and insurance according to their priorities and concerns," said Andrew Whitman, professor of human resources and industrial relations at the Carlson School of Management. "Thanks to Financial Profiles, this spring 2004 class of 36 students is off to a great start."

About Financial Profiles Inc.

Financial Profiles offers the financial services industry comprehensive financial planning software, and consulting, training and support services. The company began in 1969 as a service bureau offering needs analysis reports for insurance and financial services representatives worldwide, and today works with many nationally recognized financial services organizations. For more information about this or other Financial Profiles products and services, visit the company's Web site at www.profiles.com.

(C) 2004 Financial Profiles Inc. All rights reserved. Profiles+ is a trademark of Financial Profiles Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.