CHICAGO, Nov. 22, 1999 (PRIMEZONE) -- Wiesenberger, Ibbotson Associates and Innovative Systems Techniques, Inc. (Insyte) today announced a joint collaboration on a revolutionary, Web-based financial planning tool, Blueprint Web. The companies will develop the first all-inclusive portfolio planning tool that measures investor risk tolerance, classifies current holdings, recommends model portfolios and combines style analysis with security level analysis to allow financial professionals to appraise, build, evaluate and present portfolios to clients. Blueprint Web is a customizable product that will be sold primarily as an enterprise solution to brokerage firms, mutual fund firms and insurance companies.
Blueprint Web combines the best of Wiesenberger's risk tolerance, hypothetical and presentation software with Ibbotson's analytics engines and Insyte's advanced holdings analysis software. No other product on the market today combines 'best-of-class' software into a single Web-based financial planning solution. Blueprint Web is expected to be on the market in the first half of 2000.
"We strive to anticipate market trends in the fast-changing financial services industry and develop software products that can support our clients' business strategies," said Bill Chambers, president of Wiesenberger. "We partnered with Ibbotson Associates and Insyte, two premier companies in the financial services industry, to take the next step in financial analysis software."
Mike Henkel, president of Ibbotson Associates, said, "In today's demanding marketplace, we recognize that financial service companies need a complete, Web-based solution to investment planning that can be used by all their representatives across their system. We teamed up with industry leaders to create the first one-stop product that provides professionals with all the tools needed to determine and implement a client's investment objectives."
About Wiesenberger
Wiesenberger, the country's first mutual fund tracking service, has provided mutual fund data to financial professionals for more than 55 years. It is the leading provider of customized retirement, marketing and sales, and research software to both distributors and sponsors, including financial planning companies, wirehouses, broker/dealer firms, banks, mutual fund and insurance companies. Located in Rockville, MD, Wiesenberger is a division of Thomson Financial, a $1 billion provider of information services and work solutions to the worldwide financial community. Through the widest range of products and services in the industry, Thomson Financial helps clients in more than 70 countries make better decisions, be more productive and achieve superior results. Thomson Financial is part of The Thomson Corporation (TTC), one of the world's leading information companies, TTC, with annual revenues of more than US$6 billion, has interests in specialized information and newspaper publishing. TTC's common shares are traded on the Toronto, Montreal and London stock exchanges. For more information, visit www.thomsonfinancial.com.
About Ibbotson Associates
Ibbotson Associates, founded by Professor Roger Ibbotson in 1976, is the world's leading authority on asset allocation, providing products and services to help investment professionals make the best asset allocation decisions for their clients.
The company's business lines include consulting and research; investment forecasting, planning and analysis software; educational services ranging from on-site workshops to computer based training; and a widely used line of presentation materials designed to educate clients on asset allocation concepts and investment principles. With offices in Chicago and New York, Ibbotson Associates fills a growing need in the finance and investment industry for an independent, single source provider of investment knowledge, practical application expertise, leading edge technology, educational services and sales presentation tools. Ibbotson markets its integrated product line of investment analytical tools and services to institutional money managers, plan sponsors, and consultants for quantitative analysis, high level decision making and presentations. The company's clients also include financial planners, brokers, mutual fund firms, private bankers and small money managers.
About Insyte
Innovative Systems Techniques, Inc. (Insyte), founded in 1981 in Newton, Massachusetts, designs and installs mission-critical investment analysis applications at many of the largest and most prestigious firms in the financial industry using Vision(TM), its powerful object-oriented analytical information technology. Through its subsidiary, eLumient.com, Insyte combines its technology and industry expertise and ease of use of the internet to deliver an innovative online offering for dynamic mutual fund holdings analysis. For further information, visit (URL) http://www.insytenet.com/.