Luxury Institute Survey: Wealthy Consumers Rate the Most Effective Websites of 2007 for Business, Finance, Information and News -- Barron's, Harvard Business Review and Morningstar

Market Wire, April, 2007

High net worth consumers rated Barron's website the most effective in the 2007 Luxury Website Effectiveness Index survey (LBSI) for the Business and Finance Information and News category conducted by the independent New York-based Luxury Institute. The Harvard Business Review and Morningstar websites were rated second and third, respectively.

"Wealthy consumers tell us candidly that many business and financial information and news websites are ineffective," said Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute. "Many financial sites are 'sloppy and disorganized,' 'too cluttered with ads,' and 'cover issues of no concern' to the wealthy. Many publishers have brought their 20th century habits and practices to a completely new medium without listening to the voice of the high net worth consumer. We designed these impartial, unfiltered website effectiveness surveys by asking wealthy consumers what attributes are most important in a website, and then asked them to rate the sites they visited in the past twelve months. Their candid and insightful comments are case studies on how to create an effective website."

Brands rated (alphabetically): Barron's, Bloomberg, BusinessWeek, CNBC, Drudge Report, Financial Times, Forbes, Fortune, Fox News, Harvard Business Review, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, Money, Morningstar, MSNBC, Smart Money, The Economist, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, U.S. News and World Report, and Wired.

The summarized results of this survey, and scores of other surveys conducted with the wealthy, are available to members of the Luxury Board ( www.luxuryboard.com ), the world's first online community for luxury professionals, executives, and entrepreneurs.

A national sample of over 1,600 wealthy American consumers, with an average income of $305K, and average net worth of $3.2 million, was surveyed online. Survey results are weighted to match demographic and net worth profiles of the same audience according to the latest Survey of Consumer Finances from The Federal Reserve.

About the Luxury Institute

The Luxury Institute is the uniquely independent and impartial ratings and research institution that is the trusted and respected voice of the high net-worth consumer. The Institute provides a portfolio of proprietary publications and research that guides and educates high net-worth individuals and the companies that cater to them on leading edge trends, high net-worth consumer rankings and ratings of luxury brands, and best practices. The Luxury Institute also operates the Luxury Board ( www.luxuryboard.com ), the world's first global, membership-based online community for luxury goods and services executives, professionals and entrepreneurs. To reach the Luxury Institute, please call 646-792-2669 or go to www.luxuryinstitute.com .

Contact: Martin Swanson Vice President, Business Development The Luxury Institute (office) 914-909-6350 (cell) 914-715-3357 Email Contact www.luxuryinstitute.com