Financial Engines
GENERAL MOTORS SELECTS FINANCIAL ENGINES TO PROVIDE INVESTMENT ADVICE TO 100,000 PARTICIPANTS IN THE GM
SAVINGS PLAN
Independence and Quality of Finance Methodology Key Selection Criteria
PALO ALTO, Calif., February 3, 2003 – Financial Engines, Inc. today announced that General Motors Corp. (GM), the world's largest vehicle manufacturer, has selected Financial Engines as its online 401(k) investment advice provider. Personalized advice from Financial Engines started to be available to 100,000 participants in GM's Savings - Stock Purchase Program (S-SPP) beginning in January 2003. Key factors in GM's selection of Financial Engines were its independence as a third party advice provider, the quality of its finance methodology, and the proven online adoption success of other Financial Engines' customers.
Financial Engines offers a broad array of services through multiple channels, including Direct Access, Personal Statements and call centers, to meet the needs of different types of investors. GM chose to make the Financial Engines Direct Access service available to participants as part of its commitment to online benefits administration and employee self-service. S-SPP participants will access Financial Engines through gm401k.com, the vehicle manufacturer's award winning benefits web site. Companies that have online portals for employee news and benefits and have offered the Financial Engines Direct Access service for more than one year have an average adoption, i.e. usage rate of more than 25 percent. GM has set a goal of 25 percent adoption after the first year.
"At GM we have been offering extensive education and guidance resources to our employees, and advice is the logical next step in our plan evolution," said Charles Tschampion, managing director of Defined Contribution Plans for GM Asset Management. "We selected Financial Engines because of its independence as a third party advice provider, the quality of its finance methodology, and the proven online adoption success of other Financial Engines' customers. We anticipate that the Financial Engines service will drive usage and reinforce the value of our highly successful employee portal."
GM anticipates significant usage of Financial Engines' investment advice online due to the popularity of gm401k.com. According to GM, the number of times participants have accessed the S-SPP website has continued to increase since the site was launched in 1999, with 47 percent of all interactions with the program now being conducted through the web site. gm401k.com has experienced a significant increase in "hits" per month from May 1999 to May 2002 (92,464 hits per month in May 1999 and 445,820 hits per month in May 2002), illustrating that the web site is an increasingly popular vehicle for S-SPP participants to access their account information, use planning and investing tools and get up-to-date investment performance information.
S-SPP account information will be pre-populated in the Financial Engines service, requiring participants to enter only their birth date, income and desired retirement age before they receive a forecast of how much their savings may be worth in retirement. Financial Engines will then show S-SPP participants the benefit of how increasing their savings, and how rebalancing their portfolios and adjusting risk can help them achieve their goals. Transaction capabilities will also be available in 2004 through GM's plan administrator, Fidelity Investments. "Most successful companies like GM have major initiatives to establish centralized HR portals to enable convenient employee self-service and reduce costs," said Jeff Maggioncalda, president and CEO of Financial Engines. "By adding Financial Engines' retirement forecasting and advice to gm401k.com, GM is sending a clear message that the delivery of a state of the art 401(k) retirement plan to its employees is a top priority."
About Financial Engines
Financial Engines provides advice technology and services to help financial institutions and employers address real-world investor needs for their clients and employees. Financial Engines' services provide specific, actionable investment recommendations based on the outcomes an investor wants to achieve and can be delivered through the web, phone, or face-to-face. More than 15 financial institutions and 900 plan sponsors have hired Financial Engines to make advice available to over 3.0 million individuals. Nobel Prize winning economist William F. Sharpe founded the company with a revolutionary vision: to help financial institutions and employers make institutional-quality advice available to individual investors. For more information on Financial Engines, visit www.financialengines.com.
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