Based upon current economic indicators, declining organic growth rates, and a shift in merger & acquisition supply and demand dynamics, MarshBerry is forecasting average agency/broker valuations to drop.  Average organic growth rates during 2007 fell to around 3.7%.  Combining this with projections of a slowing economy and continued soft market insurance rate conditions, future earnings enhancements for agencies/brokers will become increasingly difficult.   

Projected M&A deal pricing will also stabilize.  After several years of fierce buy-side competition between public brokers, banks, and private equity firms drove deal pricing to premium levels in excess of 8.0X EBITDA, the future will experience stabilizing pricing for the masses.  The insurance market will see fewer buyers combined with an increase in supply.  Deal supply by independent agencies will expand over the next several months for a number of reasons:    -- Stock is too narrowly held and the average weighted age of owners is in the mid 50s

-- Continued soft market conditions will hinder internal return expectations

-- The fear of capital gains increases

-- The threat of national health care

-- Falling agency valuations

The following link discusses these concepts in more detail while providing the reader with the best practices necessary to grow and prosper in the changing insurance environment: www.MarshBerry.com/Spring2008StateofIndustry  

“In determining areas of elevated potential for landfall, we try to understand where the spread of storm tracks will center – but even within this spread, storms can ‘bunch,’ creating discrete areas of increased risk,” Bastardi said.  Last season, the spread of the storms shifted southwest with one such bunch in the northern Caribbean. “This year, early indications show that the spread will move north and east with a target closer to the Southeast U.S.”

Bastardi and the AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center are looking at 1955, 1996, and 1999 as a few of the years showing similar weather characteristics to our current large-scale patterns. In 1955, Hurricanes Connie and Diane hit the Outer Banks and Carolina Beach in North Carolina. In 1996, Hurricanes Bertha and Fran made landfall in the Wilmington/Cape Fear area of North Carolina. During the 1999 hurricane season, Floyd and Dennis made landfall in September on the North Carolina coast.

Bastardi will provide more details and insight at the AccuWeather.com Hurricane Summit on May 12, 2008 in Houston, TX. Attendees at the summit will include leaders in industries heavily impacted by tropical weather, Bastardi’s AccuWeather.com EnergyPro® clients, and leading members of the press. To register for the summit, go to https://wwwl.accuweather.com/hurr_summit.htm.  www.accuweather.com

“It is important to remember that earthquake damage is not covered in a standard homeowners insurance policy.  Talk to your insurance agent to learn more about an earthquake insurance to help you make an informed decision whether to obtain earthquake insurance,” said Molasky-Arman.

The Commissioner strongly recommends that residents create or update an emergency plan to be used in the event of a disaster, such as an earthquake, fire or flood.  The plan could outline an escape route, list emergency numbers, and other important emergency information.  She also urged residents to inventory their assets, a helpful step to financial recovery when filing an insurance claim after a major loss.

“Review your insurance policies to make certain you are adequately protected.  Do not let a disaster wipe out your finances and belongings in seconds,” cautioned Molasky-Arman.

In an event of an earthquake occurring of sufficient magnitude (ranging between 3 and 4), many insurers will discontinue offering the coverage until a specific period of time has elapsed.  For instance, the November 15, 1995 earthquake of magnitude 4.6 near Bordertown prevented Nevadans in the Reno-Sparks and Carson City areas from obtaining earthquake insurance for up to 60 days.

Earthquake endorsements contain a separate deductible, either as a percentage of the amount of coverage, or as a specified dollar amount.  Masonry veneer over wood is often excluded from coverage.  Typically, earthquake insurance provides coverage for events related to earth movement and seismic shocks, including landslides, settlement, mudflow and the rising, sinking and contracting of earth if the damage sustained is attributable to an earthquake; however, water damage caused by an earthquake is usually excluded.

For information and tips on earthquake preparedness, visit the Nevada Seismological web site at http://www.seismo.unr.edu.

NEW YORK, April 24, 2008 — The revised earthquake-hazard maps released this week by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) provide greater understanding of the seismically active areas of the country, particularly the Pacific Northwest, while also highlighting the need for property owners to consider purchasing earthquake coverage, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.).

“The U.S. Geological Survey found that earthquakes remain a serious threat in 46 U.S. states. And this was clearly illustrated by last Friday’s 5.2-magnitude earthquake in southern Illinois, which was felt in neighboring states,” said Michael Barry, vice president of media relations for the I.I.I. “Despite that fact, only a very small percentage of home and business owners outside of California purchase earthquake insurance.”

The southern Illinois earthquake was the strongest in that part of the state since November 1968, when a 5.4-magnitude earthquake struck, according to the USGS.

Earthquakes are not covered under standard homeowners or business insurance policies. Coverage is usually available for earthquake damage in the form of a supplemental policy to a home or business insurance policy. Standard homeowners and business insurance policies may, however, cover losses from a fire following an earthquake, including additional living expenses and business interruption coverage. Cars and other vehicles are covered for earthquake damage under the comprehensive part of an auto insurance policy.

Earthquake insurance often carries a deductible, generally in the form of a percentage rather than a dollar amount. Deductibles can range anywhere from 2 percent to 20 percent of the structure’s replacement value. This means that if it cost $100,000 to rebuild a home and there was 2 percent deductible, the policyholder would be responsible for paying the first $2,000.

In its 2008 hazard maps, the USGS, a federal agency, found that western Washington and Oregon were especially vulnerable to intense earthquakes because of their proximity to an underwater fault line situated about 50 miles offshore of both states. Indeed, Washington ranks second and Oregon fifth in the U.S. when it comes to purchasing earthquake insurance, with Washington residents spending almost $118 million for this coverage in 2006 and Oregonians a little over $52 million, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).

“Nevertheless, those two states are not nearly as prepared as they need to be,” said Barry, who noted that Washington and Oregon were last hit by a severe earthquake in 2001, an event registering a 6.8 magnitude on the Richter scale. 

Even in California, where earthquake concerns are a fact of life, only about 12 percent of homeowners have earthquake insurance, down from 30 percent in 1996. “We want homeowners not just in California and the Pacific Northwest but in other parts of the country to make sure they have the right type of coverage should an earthquake hit,” said Barry.

Earthquake insurance premium rates are determined differently by each insurance company and can vary widely depending on several factors. For example, older homes generally cost more to insure because their construction predates many of the engineering advances that have made newer homes more structurally sound. And wood homes often have lower premium rates than brick buildings because wood tends to withstand earthquake stresses better.

Many insurance companies now require that your home be bolted to its foundation—a practice that wasn’t required by building codes until the early 1960s. There also may be some homeowners that need to show additional earthquake mitigation efforts since they are at greater risk than they were before, noted the I.I.I.

U.S. states and regions are graded on a scale of 1 to 5 for the likelihood of earthquakes, so the latest update to the USGS maps may have an impact on how certain insurance companies assess earthquake risk. Previous USGS surveys on the topic were released in 1996 and 2002.

A key step in preparing for a disaster is to create and regularly update an inventory of your personal possessions. To encourage consumers to create a home inventory, the I.I.I. has developed the popular software program, Know Your Stuff, which can be downloaded free-of-charge at www.KnowYourStuff.org.

For more information about earthquake preparedness, go to the Institute for Business & Home Safety’s DisasterSafety.org Web site.

For more information about earthquake insurance, go to the I.I.I. Web site.

The I.I.I. is a nonprofit, communications organization supported by the insurance industry.

Insurance Information Institute

110 William Street

New York, NY  10038

(212) 346-5500  www.iii.org 

“‘403(b) Plan Fundamentals’ is the latest in a series of tools from TIAA-CREF to help clients comply with added obligations under the new 403(b) plan rules,” said Nancy Heller, Senior Managing Director and Head of Institutional Relationships at TIAA-CREF. “TIAA-CREF is tapping years of 403(b) experience to offer substantive information to help clients navigate the details of plan operation and satisfy their evolving obligations.” www.tiaa-cref.org

NEW YORK, April 25, 2008 — Competition amongst U.S. auto insurers is vigorous and growing, providing the nation’s drivers with more choices than ever before. At the same time, the cost of auto insurance is nearly flat or falling for most drivers while the number of ways to purchase insurance and compare prices continues to expand. Efforts to impose onerous and expensive new regulations, such as California’s Proposition 103, on auto insurers nationally can only raise costs and reduce the policy options available to drivers, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I).

“The Consumer Federation of America’s view that costly new regulations on auto insurers are needed at a time when Americans can barely afford to put gas in the tank is incorrect and misguided,” said Dr. Robert Hartwig, an economist and president of the I.I.I. 

Auto insurance prices increased just 0.4 percent in 2007—just one-seventh the 2.8 percent increase in the overall Consumer Price Index (CPI) last year and less than 1/100th of the 41 percent increase in gasoline prices. “Maintaining a healthy auto insurance market and efficient regulatory structure is vital because both factors stimulate greater competition amongst insurers. Increased competition promotes more choices and savings for drivers”, noted Hartwig.

Dr. Hartwig’s comments were in response to yesterday’s Consumer Federation of America (CFA) report, alleging a variety of problems relating to price, availability and competition in auto insurance markets. “The most recent CFA study is another in a series of fatally flawed analyses whose conclusions are based on the selective use or omission of facts,” said Hartwig. Details of the flaws in the four major focal points of analysis performed by the CFA follow.

1. Rates

The CFA claims that more regulation produces lower rates. The analysis is flawed for several reasons:

The CFA uses “Average Expenditure” figures from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners—not premium rates—in its analysis. Expenditures are actually influenced by many factors other than premium rate, including decisions by individuals as to what type of vehicle they drive.  For example, during much of the CFA study period (1989-2005), consumer preferences shifted toward larger, more expensive sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and higher-end luxury vehicles. The effect was to push expenditures up even if rates remain unchanged. The CFA’s decision to focus on expenditures as opposed to premium rate is but one example of why its assertions are flawed and biased in a way that systematically overestimates the increase in the cost of auto insurance. 

The CFA’s entire rate exercise and claim that policyholders are paying too much are without merit and are inconsistent with price trends in the general economy. Auto insurance has become less expensive in relative terms over the past two decades. The average expenditure for auto insurance increased by 50.2 percent nationally between 1989 and 2005 (3.1 percent average annual basis), well below the 55.8 percent increase in the overall CPI (3.5 percent average annual basis). Relative declines in the cost of auto insurance have continued into 2008.

The CFA inaccurately ascribes modest increases in auto insurance costs to the additional regulation placed on insurers in the 1980s. The reality is that crackdowns on fraud and abuse, safer cars and roads, driver education and a variety of other factors account for the majority of the savings accrued over the past 20 years.

2. Insurer Profitability

The CFA claims that there is a “slight trend towards higher profits in states with less regulation,” but makes no reference to the fact that profitability during the study period used for this analysis (1997-2006), irrespective of the type of regulation, was well below commonly used benchmarks for profitability—such as return on equity (ROE)—for the Fortune 500 group of companies. The CFA study consistently neglects to make appropriate comparisons of profitability, as in the following examples:

The CFA cites a national average auto insurer profit of 8.1 percent between 1997 and 2006. In contrast, the average profitability among the Fortune 500 group of companies (as measured by return on equity) over the same period was 13.5 percent. By this commonly accepted measure, auto insurer profitability was generally inadequate during the study period.

Auto insurers in 49 of the 51 states (including the District of Columbia) produced average profits lower than that of the Fortune 500 between 1997 and 2006. In other words, only two states (Hawaii and the District of Columbia) produced profits for auto insurers that exceeded the Fortune 500 group. The CFA fails to mention this important comparison.

3.  Competition

The CFA claims that states with less regulation tend to be less competitive. Using the Herfindahl-Hirshman Index (HHI), CFA produces index values for each state ranging from a low of 603 in Maine to a high of 1548 for Alaska.1 However, the following important points suggest that auto insurance markets are, in fact, highly competitive:

·         The majority of states (27 out of 50) have HHI values under 1000, which is considered to be competitive by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The remaining 23 states have values between 1000 and 1548, which the DOJ considers to be “moderately concentrated.” Most major U.S. industries fit into this latter category. Only when the HHI exceeds 1800 does DOJ consider the market to be concentrated.

·         In most states, including those with higher HHI values, consumers can choose from dozens of competing insurers. Illinois, for example, had an HHI value of 1208 in 2005—among the highest in the country—yet 80 auto insurers wrote business in the state that year and the statewide average expenditure on auto insurance was 8.4 percent below the national average (average expenditure ranked 28th nationally). Notably, Illinois has no restrictions on the rates insurers can charge customers. This fact is very damaging to the CFA’s contention that more rate regulation leads to increased competitiveness.

4.  Availability of Insurance

The CFA claims that the use of certain underwriting criteria by insurers, such as credit-based insurance scores, negatively impacts the availability of auto insurance. Again, the facts tell a different story. The reality is that auto insurance is readily available to virtually any driver in every state. Consider the following measures of availability:

The aggregate market share of state-run residual markets for auto insurance dwindled from 3.5 percent in 2000 to just 1.3 percent in 2005. These policies are now being competitively underwritten by private insurers, even though these residual markets exclusively serve high-risk drivers.

The recent examples of New Jersey and Massachusetts suggest that deregulation increases competition in auto insurance markets. In both instances, regulatory reforms were followed by announcements of rate cuts and new entrants to the market.

Contrary to the CFA’s assertions, credit scoring has been proven to be a highly accurate predictor of loss in numerous independent studies, including two separate studies conducted in 2007 by the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Reserve. Banning or severely restricting the use of credit scoring would not only raise costs for consumers but would force good drivers to subsidize those with poor driving records. California—heralded by the CFA as a model state for its regulation—is one of only a very few states that prohibit the use of credit scoring. Unfortunately, the ban means that millions of good drivers in the state are forced to subsidize bad drivers, while California consistently ranks among the top 20 most expensive states in which to purchase auto insurance.

“Insurance rating systems—how a company assesses the risk a particular driver represents—have become more accurate and more equitable through recent innovations in underwriting technology,” Hartwig said. By looking at a potential policyholder’s credit score, in conjunction with many other factors such as their driving record and driving habits, insurers are able to match with greater precision the premium they charge in the context of the potential claims they may have to pay on behalf of a policyholder.

“Competitive marketplaces, safer cars, aggressive fraud-fighting and innovative underwriting have joined forces to keep down the price of an essential financial product,” added Hartwig. “This is great news for all drivers, who are facing higher fuel prices and rising auto repair costs.”

For more information about auto insurance, go to the I.I.I. Web site.

The I.I.I. is a nonprofit, communications organization supported by the insurance industry.

Insurance Information Institute

110 William Street

New York, NY  10038

(212) 346-5500  www.iii.org

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--U.S. medical liability insurers anticipate their primary rate levels to decrease in 2008, compared with 2007, while the average frequency and severity of claims sustained by their firms will remain about the same as last year, according to a survey of medical liability insurance executives conducted by reinsurance broker Collins at its seventh annual Medical Liability Insurance Networking Forum here yesterday.

The Forum is held each year to provide insurance and reinsurance company officials in the medical liability business segment with an opportunity to hear presentations on marketplace issues and discuss topics of current interest. The 2008 Forum attracted 70 representatives of medical liability insurers from across the country, including executives of stockholder owned companies, mutual insurers and risk retention groups. Forty reinsurance company executives also attended the event.

“The survey results indicate, overall, optimism and confidence among medical liability insurers for the near-term future,” commented Charles (Chip) Ott, executive vice president and co-leader of the professional liability practice at Collins. “There are, however, signs of growing concerns about the competitive marketplace.”

Senior Vice President and Professional Liability Practice Co-Leader Steve Underdal added that medical liability insurers were split on whether they would declare a policyholder dividend in 2008, with 45 percent indicating they would and 49 percent indicating they would not.

“This speaks not only to favorable market conditions but to the strong performance and operations of these companies,” Underdal said. “For those who said they would pay a dividend, estimates as to the sizes of those dividends ranged from $5 million to more than $40 million.”

www.collins.com

By Jennifer Ablan and Al Yoon - Analysis

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The allure of rotting mortgage bonds has grown so strong that Wall Street's vultures have begun picking over their carcasses -- a signal the credit crisis has entered a crucial stage in its vicious cycle.

In the past two months, these intrepid investors have begun betting billions of dollars on a hunch that mortgage security prices have fallen enough. It is a risk few have taken for a year or more as the credit crisis rooted in this very market wreaked havoc in financial markets around the world.

In early February, bid lists for bonds backed by middle-quality mortgages found no takers, even at what were then considered fire-sale prices, between 75 cents and 80 cents on the dollar. But the following month, though, Jeffrey Gundlach, chief investment officer at bond manager Trust Company of the West, began snapping up these same securities at 65 cents on the dollar during what he calls the "darkest moments for the markets.

"You had a massive, massive supply-demand imbalance that had developed into a death spiral," Gundlach said of the systemic liquidity squeeze in early March. "Those securities were really cheap against the fundamentals, so we went in big and started buying."

WATCH THE VULTURES

The behavior of Gundlach and those like him is important because this brand of investor -- patient, value scavengers willing to stomach some initial loss in exchange for huge windfalls when a market turns -- frequently signals that a market is forming a bottom when they are active.

In early March, banks and hedge funds stripped of access to credit had to sell mortgage securities to raise cash for margin calls. That helped send already panicky U.S. markets into a full-fledged credit freeze.

But the Federal Reserve stepped in and announced that it would lend up to $200 billion of U.S. Treasury securities to banks for 28-day periods in return for debt, including a range of mortgage-backed securities. That broke a month-long sell-off, sending the mortgage securities rallying strongly.

That set in motion a number of major buyers into the mortgage market.

In recent months, a number of big players have bought battered mortgage securities, including Marathon Asset Management, an $11.5 billion hedge fund manager specializing in distressed assets; Trust Company of the West, with $160 billion with assets under management, and Metropolitan West Asset Management, with $27 billion in assets, as well as UK-based investment boutique, Thames River.

PRIME TIME FOR SUBPRIME BONDS

"We're not finding any problems finding opportunity," said Tad Rivelle, chief investment officer at Metropolitan West Asset Management in Los Angeles.

The Alt-A mortgage securities, as well as the ones purchased by Gundlach, which are loans whose quality rests in the vast space between subprime and prime, and subprime mortgage-backed securities "are as rich an opportunity set as the corporate market was back in 2002 when the bubble burst in telecom," Rivelle added.

Bruce Richards, chief executive officer of Marathon Asset Management in New York, told Reuters recently that his firm has purchased more than $1 billion par value in residential real estate loans. Richards also said that he expects Marathon to buy another $1 billion or more this year.

Thames River Capital fund manager Ken Kinsey-Quick has moved long into some battered subprime assets after shorting the sector last year.

Kinsey-Quick, who runs around $2.3 billion in funds of hedge funds, said he had invested in the securities at the start of April because he thinks they are cheap.

For his part, Rivelle of MetWest will be looking at the Alt-A market, but for now he's been a purchaser of the safest part of a subprime bond that typically gets paid off in full, even in foreclosure.

"Even if there was a substantial and rapid rise in foreclosures and delinquencies in these deals, the rub is the servicer sells the property and generates some amount of cash in the process," Rivelle said.

This cash flow gets directed to these 'AAA' securities, causing them to be repaid at an accelerated rate, he added.

As for those bonds that Gundlach bought at 65 cents on the dollar: "They looked great at 65 and at 80, they look kind of fully priced against the fundamentals."

WAITING FOR THE FORCED SELLING

Truth be told, risks to investing now rather than later persist.

Downgrades of bonds backed by subprime loans by Moody's Investors Service, Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings continue apace as expectations of falling home prices have led rating companies to boost expectations on delinquencies.

Subprime loan default rates have more than doubled to 25 percent this year, and will climb above 30 percent by December as a worsening job market adds stress to homeowners already faced with unaffordable mortgages, according to Friedman Billings Ramsey Inc. research.

Credit Suisse on Tuesday boosted its forecast of subprime foreclosures over the next two years to 1.39 million from its October estimate of 730,000.

"We're certainly looking (at distressed assets), though we think that a lot more downgrades are coming that will result in substantial supply from forced sellers," said Julian Mann, a manager of mortgage- and other asset-backed bonds at First Pacific Advisors in Los Angeles, California.

Gundlach doesn't doubt that, saying, "The fundamentals in housing are still terrible. You better believe there will be downgrades coming."

At that point, he'll be looking to buy again, he said.

(Additional reporting by Dane Hamilton in New York and Laurence Fletcher in London)

(Reporting by Jennifer Ablan and Al Yoon in New York; Editing by Jan Paschal)

© Thomson Reuters 2008 All rights reserved

Aviva, however, dismissed talk of its interest in all or part of the unit, valued by analysts and bankers at up to 8 billion pounds ($15.8 billion) based on UK sector multiples.

"We have consistently said our priority is to maximize the value of existing businesses," Aviva Chief Executive Andrew Moss said. "It's very hard to see any compelling reason for us to go down that route and, frankly, I think value creation would be difficult for us."

The size of the acquisition, he told analysts on Friday, would make a deal "very hard".

Aviva had been named by analysts and industry bankers, but most expect a buyer to come from the ranks of European players such as Allianz (ALVG.DE: ), Zurich Financial Services (ZURN.VX: ), Generali (GASI.MI: ), Axa (AXAF.PA: ), Mapfre (MAP.MC: ) -- or even U.S. giant AIG (AIG.N: ) or U.S. investor Warren Buffett.

RBS Insurance's former boss, Annette Court, joined Zurich Financial in late 2006.

Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs have been lined up to run the auction, a source familiar with the situation said.

(Reporting by Clara Ferreira-Marques; Additional reporting by Simon Challis; Editing by David Hulmes)

© Thomson Reuters 2008 All rights reserved

“We’re delighted to be able to extend AIG Ambassador to attendees at this year’s RIMS Annual Conference,” said Steve Gold, President and Chief Executive Officer, AIG Domestic Accident & Health. “This complimentary sampling of AIG Ambassador’s concierge and travel assistance services should help provide attendees with a successful and stress-free experience in San Diego.”

RIMS 2008 commences on April 27th and will run until May 1st, 2008. Attendees will be able to access the AIG Ambassador service starting today through May 10.

For U.S.-based multinationals, the AIG Global Ambassador program is available as part of the AIG PassportSM service. AIG Global Ambassador includes Global Business Travel Accident Insurance and features the same travel solutions and services as AIG Ambassador.

For more information on AIG Ambassador contact 877-AIG-4114 or e-mail us at askus@aig.com.

Both products now include BestLink® for Excel®, A.M. Best’s award-winning, online data-retrieval tool, which enables users to download the latest financial and rating data for these schedules directly into their spreadsheets from the A.M. Best Web site. Financial data for Schedule F and Schedule S was made available via BestLink for Excel on March 24, 2008. Subscribers can use BestLink for Excel to identify all reinsurers to which a company is ceding business, and all insurers from which a reinsurer is assuming business.

For more information on Best's Schedule F or Best's Schedule S visit www.ambest.com/sales/schedulef or www.ambest.com/sales/schedules. To obtain information on BestLink for Excel, visit www.ambest.com/sales/bestlinkforexcel.pdf.  

PENNINGTON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Direct Group, a fully integrated direct marketing solutions provider, announced today that it has forged a multi-year strategic alliance with CognitiveDATA, Inc., the fastest growing marketing technology company in the United States and the leader in developing innovative, proprietary data quality technology. Together, the two companies will offer what truly represents a new category of technology-driven services in the direct marketing industry – campaign optimization – which will increase response rates at least 1 to 2 percent on every campaign and reduce costs related to both Undeliverable as Addressed (UAA) mail and limitations of the National Change of Address (NCOA) system.

As general economic and postal rate pressures continue to mount, the services powerfully address urgent needs in the direct mail marketplace for increased results and reduced costs, delivering postal efficiencies through uniquely effective data hygiene. At the same time, the campaign optimization services also provide a compelling way for direct marketers to be environmentally responsible by helping to address issues related to UAA mail. www.directgroup.net

About SV Investment Partners

SV Investment Partners, formerly known as Schroder Ventures US, is a New York-based private equity investment firm and is the equity partner of Direct Group. The firm specializes in buyouts and buildups of business services companies in the U.S. middle market in partnership with management. For more information about the company, visit www.svip.com.

About CognitiveDATA, Inc.

CognitiveDATA is a marketing technology company recognized as the thought leader of data quality technology. The company recently celebrated its six year anniversary by being named to the Inc. 500 list as the 208th fastest growing private company in the United States with a four-year growth rate in excess of 1,000 percent. The company currently has over 300 direct national marketing companies using its NCDM Award winning marketing response technology. The privately held corporation is headquartered in Little Rock, Ark., with sales operations in Dallas, Chicago, and New York. For more information, contact CognitiveDATA at 866-243-7883 or visit www.cognitivedata.com.

Silver Spring, MD - The National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) and MSN Money will release the results of their 2008 Consumer Financial Literacy Survey during a Congressional Briefing on Capitol Hill next week at the conclusion of Financial Literacy Month. 

WHO:    The National Foundation for Credit Counseling and MSN Money

WHAT:   Congressional Briefing to release results of the 2008 Consumer Financial Literacy Survey

WHERE:  Capitol Hill, Cannon House Office Building, Room 122  Washington, DC

WHEN:   April 29, 2008, 2:00 pm. to 3:00 p.m.

SPEAKERS:   Susan C. Keating, President and CEO, NFCC

Richard Jenkins, Editor in Chief, MSN Money

The purpose of this second annual survey, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, is to identify what Americans know about their finances and to assess their overall financial health. www.nfcc.org

The seven-week program — which is conducted twice a year — includes a week in Kansas City for orientation and five weeks in a host state for more specialized training. Host states for the spring program include Alabama, California, Colorado, Nebraska, New York and Washington. The program concludes with attendance at the NAIC Summer National Meeting in San Francisco, May 31 - June 2, followed by closing ceremonies in Washington, D.C., June 4 - 6. www.naic.org/press_home.htm