Mercer and Marsh are industry leaders in helping employers evaluate, purchase, and manage health care and group benefit coverage for their employees. Mercer primarily advises large employers, while Marsh focuses its services on small and mid-size organizations.

BenefitPoint's Internet-based platform will support Mercer and Marsh in the management and exchange of the client data and carrier information used in designing and purchasing employee benefit programs. By converting the exchange of this information and data to standardized formats, BenefitPoint's Internet platform will streamline complex transactions for participating insurance carriers, brokers, consultants and employers.

As part of the agreement, which is subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions, Marsh will transfer proprietary technology to BenefitPoint for use by all its customers. Mercer will contribute intellectual capital reflecting its expertise in benefit plan design and data analysis. Both companies will become shareholders of BenefitPoint.

The combination of Marsh's and Mercer's capabilities with BenefitPoint's Internet-based technology is expected to set an industry standard in health and group benefits evaluation and purchasing. In subsequent development phases, the BenefitPoint platform will host tailored online services that individual employees can use to select and access their personal benefits.

William M. Mercer, part of the Mercer Consulting Group, is the world's leading human resource consulting firm. Its Web site address is www.mercerhr.com.

Marsh is the world's leading risk and insurance services firm. The company's Web site address is www.marsh.com.

Both companies are units of Marsh & McLennan Companies (MMC), a global professional services firm with annual revenues exceeding $10 billion. MMC is also the parent company of Putnam Investments, one of the largest investment management companies in the US. Approximately 57,000 employees in the MMC organization provide analysis, advice, and transactional capabilities to clients in over 100 countries. Its stock (ticker symbol: MMC) is listed on the New York, Chicago, Pacific, and London stock exchanges. Its Web site address is www.mmc.com.

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 for 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 already 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.

 
BenefitPoint is a trademark of BenefitPoint, Inc. All other company and products names mentioned here are trademarks of their respective owners.

Forward-looking Statement
This press release contains certain statements relating to future results, which are forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements may include, without limitation, discussions concerning revenue and expense growth, cash flow, capital structure, cost savings and efficiencies expected from the integration of Sedgwick Group plc , as well as market and industry conditions, interest rates and foreign exchange rates. Actual results may differ from those contemplated as a result of certain risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to changes in general worldwide and national economic conditions, competitive conditions and pricing pressures, the integration of the risk and insurance services and consulting businesses of Sedgwick Group plc (including the achievement of synergies and cost reductions) or other adverse consequences from that transaction, level of worldwide and national equity and fixed income markets, changes in interest rates, movements in premium rate levels in the global property and casualty insurance markets, the impact of natural catastrophes, mergers between client organizations, prospective and retrospective changes in the tax or accounting treatment of the Company's operations and the impact of tax or other legislation and regulation in the jurisdictions in which the Company operates, the uncertainties of litigation, as well as other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Please refer to Marsh & McLennan Companies' Annual Report on Form 10-K for "Information Concerning Forward-Looking Statements," its reports on Form 8-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.

MMC is committed to providing timely and materially accurate information to the investing public, consistent with our legal and regulatory obligations. To that end, MMC and its operating companies use their Web sites to convey meaningful information about their businesses, including the posting of updates of assets under management at Putnam, and from time to time, Marsh Inc.'s view of insurance market conditions. Monthly updates of assets under management at Putnam will be posted on the first business day following the end of each month, except at the end of March, June, September and December, when such information will be released with MMC's quarterly earning announcement. Investors can link to MMC and its operating company Web sites through www.mmc.com.