Plansponsor.Com and OptiMark Form Strategic Initiative for Retirement Industry

Greenwich, CT, August 8, 2000 - PLANSPONSOR.com, the nation's leading authority on pension and retirement issues and OptiMark, Inc., a leading provider of electronic exchange solutions, have entered into a strategic alliance that will bring OptiMark's advanced transactional technology to PLANSPONSOR.com's next-generation retirement services platform. The two companies will cooperate in the development of a number of leading-edge services designed to bring powerful efficiencies to both buyers and sellers in the retirement market.

The initiative by PLANSPONSOR.com and OptiMark will serve as a comprehensive platform for small and mid-sized employers and financial planners to make timely and informed decisions on investments, employee education and overall plan design. One such innovation will be the creation of a robust electronic marketplace for small 401(k) plans to address a market place that is already greater than $500 billion today.

"The small employer marketplace is so underserved, and yet employees at small companies are no different than employees at large ones. We are pleased to be working with such a powerful partner on this important project because of the advantages OptiMark's tools will bring to the participants," said Charles Ruffel, chief executive of PLANSPONSOR.com. "The timing is superb for this kind of alliance, with the enormous changes the Internet is imposing on the retirement space, and the concomitant appetite on the part of plan sponsors and providers for new and exciting services," continued Ruffel.

"We are excited to partner with PLANSPONSOR.com to bring new electronic services to the retirement industry in a convenient and easy-to-use environment," said David Johnson, managing director of OptiMark, "We believe that the powerful combination of PLANSPONSOR.com's industry expertise and our proven ability to provide exchange solutions will bring better value-added services to the decision makers and beneficiaries in the pension and retirement community."

PLANSPONSOR.com is dedicated to serving the retirement industry by providing the most comprehensive information and current news about the range of issues facing both employer and employee. The company has earned a well-deserved reputation for understanding and explaining the complexities of public, private and corporate pension funds. The web site, www.plansponsor.com is produced by Asset International, Inc, 125 Greenwich Avenue, Greenwich, CT. 06830.

OptiMark, Inc., a privately held company, is a leading provider of exchange solutions to electronic marketplaces and communities globally. OptiMark's broad range of solutions include the simplest browse, search or auction markets to the most sophisticated exchanges where multiple buyers and sellers trade and negotiate for goods and services, and value is determined by more than price and quantity alone. OptiMark has proven solutions operating in some of the most demanding markets in the world today including the Nasdaq Stock Market for US OTC equities and the Pacific Exchange for US listed equities. OptiMark 's investors include General Atlantic Partners, SOFTBANK, Aon Group, Dow Jones & Company, Goldman Sachs, and Merrill Lynch. OptiMark is headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. Additional information on the company is available at www.optimark.com.

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