Lockton Companies will utilize BenefitPoint's leading edge internet-based technology to help continue its leadership position within the highly competitive employee benefits industry. Lockton assists clients in all areas of health and welfare plans, including plan design, funding and administration. With all of the firm's data residing on a common platform, workflows throughout the supply chain will be greatly simplified and streamlined -- from Lockton's insurance carrier suppliers, to the firm's numerous offices, to their employer clients and ultimately to the employee consumer. This will help Lockton's professionals spend less time managing data and more time in their highly valued advisory and consulting roles.

"We chose the BenefitPoint solution because it enables our people to achieve their highest possible level of efficiency and productivity, said Don Brain, President of Lockton's Employee Benefits Group. "It reduces paper work and frees our associates to spend their time on what our employer clients need most: expert consulting and quality customer service. It is really those functions that have made Lockton Companies what it is today, and the BenefitPoint solution will give us a powerful tool that will help us continue to exceed our clients' expectations."

"The addition of Lockton Companies to our broker network is a very exciting endorsement from an influential market leader in the insurance industry," said Brian W. Bair, co-founder and chief marketing officer of BenefitPoint, Inc. "Our solution was designed to empower the insurance distribution channel, and we are encouraged to gain such tremendous support from an industry player of Lockton's stature. As more and more major market players like Lockton begin conducting business via the BenefitPoint platform, general connectivity within the industry is increased and the distribution channel becomes more efficient."

About Lockton Companies
Lockton Companies began as a small business operated by Jack Lockton and his parents out of the family home in 1966. Since then, Lockton locations have multiplied from a single office in Kansas City to seven offices located across the U.S.; the firm now has offices in Kansas City, Los Angeles, Dallas, St. Louis, Denver, Chicago, and New York. During the 1980s and 1990s, the company demonstrated excellent performance, and is now the largest independently owned brokerage firm in the United States. Since 1980, Lockton's staff (broker/consultants) has grown in number from 20 to more than 1,500. The firm has increased its revenues from $2 million in 1980 to more than $175 million today; and annual premium placements have grown to several billion dollars. Lockton Companies is privately held.

About BenefitPoint, Inc.
BenefitPoint, Inc., delivers the leading Internet-based employee benefits infrastructure for the distribution and management of group insurance and financial products. As the central nervous system of the employee benefits industry, BenefitPoint provides a complete set of B2B services enabling benefits professionals to manage the entire group health insurance and benefits lifecycle. Building on the existing industry relationships among carriers, brokers, employers, and employees, the BenefitPoint solution combines the efficiency of the Internet with the established distribution model of the insurance industry to eliminate paper (saving everyone time and money), to make it possible to deliver more products and services (giving everyone more choices), and to make better information available (enabling everyone to make better decisions).

Releasing its first solution in February 2000, BenefitPoint has received widespread industry adoption from regional and national insurance carriers as well as from more than 120 of the leading U.S.-based brokerage and consulting firms. The company, headquartered in San Francisco, CA, can be reached at 415.277.5600 or at www.benefitpoint.com. BenefitPoint, Inc. is privately held.