HighMark and SEI Join Forces on Marketing Strategy Incorporating Award-Winning Website

HighMark and SEI Join Forces on Marketing Strategy Incorporating Award-Winning Website

OAKS, Pa., Dec. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The HighMark Funds' new website, created in a collaboration between HighMark and SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC), is the winner of the Web Marketing Association's 2004 "Best of Industry" award in the mutual fund category. Judges of the annual competition gave http://highmarkfunds.com/ top ratings across seven criteria ranging from content and design to interactivity and innovation.

A global supplier of integrated operating solutions for investment management organizations, SEI provides HighMark with mutual fund operating services along with strategic consulting, technology, and infrastructure services.

"Our partnership with HighMark reflects SEI's philosophy of addressing the totality of each client's needs. In other words, what does the fund group require to succeed?" said Ross Ellis, SEI's Global Fund Services Product Manager. "In taking a fresh look at HighMark's overall marketing and distribution strategy, we saw ways their website could do more to enhance the client experience and segment communications for various types of investment professionals and clients."

To guide development of HighMark's new website, SEI conducted a comprehensive audit covering twenty strategic and functional areas, from branding to ease of use. SEI's development process drew on its Maxweb Fullsite product, a suite of tools enabling a complete online strategy that coordinates all the elements of electronic and offline communication.

SEI also brought in Blattner Bruner, one of the country's leading Internet marketing firms and winner of eight awards in the Web Marketing Association's 2004 competition, as its development partner. "We believe that combining our industry knowledge with top creative talent is the way to produce a best-of- class website," commented Ellis. Finally, SEI conducted a full legal and compliance review of the site before filing it with the National Association of Securities Dealers. SEI's services include ongoing monitoring of all communication channels and continued site development based on user feedback.

"Our new site is substantially more cost-effective, both in getting our messages across and in allowing us to update many site components in-house," said Peggy Marco, Vice President and Marketing Manager at HighMark Capital Management. "Most important, it's a major advance in creating the kind of client and intermediary experience we want HighMark to be known for."

About HighMark

HighMark Funds is a nationally recognized family of mutual funds with more than $7 billion in assets. HighMark offers a wide range of mutual funds and asset allocation portfolios to individuals, businesses, non-profits, and endowments, as well as qualified and non-qualified retirement plans.

About SEI

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) is a leading global provider of asset management and investment technology solutions. The company's innovative solutions help corporations, financial institutions, financial advisors, and affluent families create and manage wealth. As of the period ending September 30, 2004, SEI administers over $275 billion in mutual fund and pooled assets, manages over $109 billion in assets, and operates 22 offices in 12 countries. For more information, visit http://www.seic.com/.

Media Contact Company Contact
Caralyn Gilotti Dana Grosser
Braithwaite Communications SEI Investments
215-564-3200 x12 610-676-2459
cgilotti@braithwaitepr.comdgrosser@seic.com


Source: SEI Investments

CONTACT: Caralyn Gilotti, Braithwaite Communications, +1-215-564-3200
x12, cgilotti@braithwaitepr.com, for SEI Investments; or Dana Grosser, SEI
Investments, +1-610-676-2459, dgrosser@seic.com

Web site: http://highmarkfunds.com/

Web site: http://www.seic.com/


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