UPI ANNOUNCES NEXT GENERATION OF FINANCIAL PLANNING

Universal Pensions Inc (UPI), a leading retirement services firm, announced the availability of its new release 3.0 of On-Track, a comprehensive Internet financial planning and investment allocation system. The new release further extends UPI's online strategy to deliver its full breadth and depth of retirement plan expertise via innovative Internet technology.

With a broad audience appeal that includes retirement plan participants, financial advisors, and retail investors, On-Track configures and graphically illustrates customized investment strategies. An individual's risk tolerance, current savings portfolio, and retirement and non-retirement goals are factored into the system's projections and recommendations. On-Track is customized to present a list of the financial organization's proprietary funds and, if desired by the financial organization, other non-proprietary funds within each recommended asset class. Data for the system can be supplied from an existing client account database or recordkeeping system, and data input by the user can be "mined" for use by the financial organization.

"We are very excited about the impending release of version 3.0 of On-Track," said Thomas G. Anderson, president and Chief Operating Officer of UPI. "Earlier versions of On-Track are now being successfully used by six major financial organizations, with version 3.0 contracts signed or proposals pending for approximately another 10 organizations." Anderson also noted that, "UPI has successfully integrated its clients' asset allocation and risk tolerance assessment methodologies into On-Track's state-of-the-art, multi-goal needs analysis and portfolio modeling functions. This ability to tightly integrate multiple levels of investment functionality permits financial organizations to make available to its users extremely sophisticated projections and investment recommendations keyed to the financial organization's investment offerings."

On-Track gathers vast amounts of investor data including client-specific demographics, savings objectives (retirement and non-retirement goals), and current assets. This data can be input by advisors, participants or retail investors, or the data can be fed from the financial organization's recordkeeping system or other account database. Investments are then classified by asset class using a third-party asset classification system selected by the financial organization.

The On-Track system performs shortfall/surplus projections using the investor's actual current assets and recommends an alternative investment strategy via a financial organization's desired asset allocation methodology. Using third-party index data, the system applies UPI's sophisticated mathematical modeling methodologies to quickly analyze the risk and return attributes of both the current and recommended portfolios, and compares the probability of an investor reaching his or her financial goals via a Monte Carlo simulator-all analyzed and delivered via the Internet. A financial advisor can then create a customized printed report for his or her client using Adobe PDF technology.

"On-Track now provides a graphical, side-by-side comparison of an individual's current portfolio and a recommended portfolio using more precise modeling techniques," stated Anderson. "Although the output is still a projection, On-Track provides full life cycle planning illustrations, and its expanded functionality leaves little to guesswork."

Highlights of the enhancements in the new 3.0 release of On-Track include the following:

Expansion of Report/Proposal Printing Feature -- Using Adobe PDF technology financial advisors, and even participants and other investors, can now create dynamic, elegant reports and proposals with color graphics.

More Sophisticated and Precise Projections of Current Savings Portfolio -- On-Track assigns true asset classes to the user's existing savings portfolio a data feed from a third-party's "asset classifier" tool that eliminates guesswork and produces more accurate projections of where the current savings plan is headed. This capability provides a more accurate benchmark used to base recommendations and future savings strategies.

New Illustrations Give Broader Perspective -- The ability to illustrate the savings shortfall or surplus based on user assumptions and goals is key to any planning tool. On-Track expands its illustration functionality to now show, in a side-by-side format, how the investor's current savings portfolio compares to the financial organization's recommended portfolio. This current/recommended view better enables the advisor or investor to gauge the implications of changing his or her investment strategy. Users are also able to see the amount of financial shortfall in each year (pre and post-retirement) to better assess the need for changes in investment strategy.

Expanded Use of Monte Carlo Simulation -- The Monte Carlo simulation illustrates the probability a user has, based on all the data input (e.g. risk tolerance, savings goals, time horizons, etc.), of achieving his or her financial goals. The new release also illustrates the probability of having a financial shortfall each year before and after retirement that better illustrates the risks of more aggressive investing.

Powerful Risk/Return Analysis and Illustration Capabilities -- Portfolio risk/return analysis, standard deviation illustrations, savings projections, and simulation of goal achievement probability are now performed on both the current and the recommended portfolios.

Easier Implementation Features -- On-Track has added an implementation page that shows for the current and recommended portfolio each investment account (e.g. 401(k), IRA, non-qualified) in a side-by-side comparison and allows the user to easily implement the recommended investment changes.

The new version of On-Track also includes an improved methodology for handling qualified and nonqualified investments, tax exempt investments, book versus market value, and capital gains versus ordinary income tax calculations. The addition of a multi-level database also permits financial advisors to easily access and manage their own book of business. Users of On-Track will still benefit from the core functionality they are familiar with including multi-goal planning, investor education, asset allocation, portfolio risk and return analysis, Monte Carlo simulation, and branding features.

About UPI

Based in Brainerd, Minn., Universal Pensions Inc (UPI) is an independent company focusing primarily on the retirement services industry. Founded in 1975, UPI provides ERISA expertise, consulting, and the broadest array of support services in the industry. UPI is a major 401(k) plan outsource provider, the largest trainer of retirement plan professionals, one of the top document providers in the nation, and a developer of advanced, web-based technology unprecedented in the industry. Today, UPI serves a client base representing every financial services market segment including the top two-thirds of the largest banks, brokerage firms, mutual fund companies, and credit unions in the nation. For more information, visit UPI at www.universalpensions.com.

Contact John Arensmeyer, 415-332-4511, john.arensmeyer@universalpensions.com, of Universal Pensions Inc.