STATE STREET RESEARCH LAUNCHES REDESIGNED RETAIL WEBSITE
BOSTON, MA, July 31, 2001- State Street Research recently re-launched its
retail Website, www.ssrfunds.com. Six months in
the making, the newly redesigned site offers a more robust suite of online
content tailored to financial professionals and retail investors alike.
The site integrates several changes and enhancements based largely on
feedback, suggestions and customer insights received in several focus
groups. Some of those changes include:
- An easier-to-navigate home page with real-time major market indexes
and daily fund prices
- Quarterly fund manager commentary
- Enhanced fund information with dynamic style boxes; risk/reward
groupings; and performance at-a-glance
- Password-protected account access in the Investor Center, with a
new, more easily navigated user interface
The Financial Professional portion of the Website has also been retooled and
includes:
- Enhanced market commentary
- A more regularly refreshed supply of business-building tips and
sales ideas
- A comprehensive materials resource center for viewing marketing
pieces and fund literature
- Access to local support
"We believe that this new design reflects what our site visitors told us
they were looking for, namely faster, easier access to in-depth fund
information and more tools to help the financial professional steer clients
to the most appropriate investment choice," said Kevin Wilkins, Executive
Vice President, Head of State Street Research Investment Services. "We can
easily build on this strong foundation with more value-added functionality
as our business evolves and our customers and financial professionals become
increasingly comfortable with the Web.
"The new site is a major step forward for State Street Research,"
said Louis Harvey, President, DALBAR, Inc. "It is well engineered to be
competitive and offers excellent navigation and clarity.
DALBAR, Inc., a Boston-based firm with offices in the United States
and Canada, has a long history of creating an awareness of excellence in the
financial industry by evaluating, rating and ranking industry efforts.
State Street Research & Management Company, with a money management history
dating back to 1924, is one of the nation's first investment management
organizations. The Boston-based firm is a subsidiary of MetLife, one of the
world's largest financial services companies. As of June 30, 2001, State
Street Research managed $49 billion in assets, of which over $31 billion
represented institutional clients and $18 billion represented mutual fund
and variable annuity portfolios. The firm manages money for 10 of the 15
largest U.S. corporate pension plans (as reported in the 2001 Money
Management Directory), union programs, public employee pension plans, mutual
funds for over 576,000 shareholder accounts, as well as individually managed
accounts for affluent investors. The firm's corporate Web site address is
www.ssrfunds.com.
