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15 December 1999
Lend Lease and NINEMSN.COM.AU Join Forces
The Lend Lease Group and Australia's most popular Internet portal, ninemsn.com.au, today announced the terms of an agreement which is expected be a major force in Australian e-commerce.
The partnership links the functionality of ninemsn.com.au and Lend Lease's online investment service, Your Prosperity, to create a complete and unique online investment service.
The agreement gives Australian investors the widest choice of online investment options. Investors can opt to purchase their own managed funds or portfolio investment services via Your Prosperity or to access MLC's range of retail products and services.
The Your Prosperity transaction engine will be integrated into the ninemsn.com.au funds research process to allow an online investor to create a "shopping basket" of funds in which they wish to invest. Investors then link to Your Prosperity's application section, taking the basket with them to make their investments.
The agreement makes Lend Lease one of only two preferred partners in ninemsn's "funds" and "life insurance" categories. ninemsn's arrangement with Lend Lease is a partnership and both parties will work continually to add strength to this arrangement.
Lend Lease Executive Director David Clarke said the partnership would see Lend Lease expand its customer base and was a part of the company's long term financial services growth strategy.
"This deal with Australia's most successful online network will give our online financial services distribution a significant boost and is pivotal to realising our vision of being the pre-eminent wealth solutions provider in the Australian marketplace," Mr Clarke said.
"The agreement offers an enormous opportunity to win new customers and build market share. This partnership has brought together leaders in their fields and offers the sort of expertise and synergies needed for an e-commerce venture to be successful."
ninemsn.com.au CEO Steve Vamos said the agreement brought together two very strong partners to offer customers great products and distribution capabilities.
"ninemsn's goal is to provide our customers with the best choice of services and tools available on the web. This alliance is a significant development for the network as we are bringing one of the best fund management and life insurance services in the market to our users."
Mr Vamos said he shared the Lend Lease Group's commitment to responding to the needs of a rapidly evolving e-commerce marketplace.
"We have reached a long term agreement which enables us to deliver to our customers a single point of access to greater investment choices," Mr Vamos said.
"The Internet is the ideal solution for Australians looking for easier and cheaper ways to create and control diverse investment portfolios. The development of the new investor funds manager site enables us to meet growing customer demand for a more productive online experience."
Your Prosperity Chief Executive John Reid said as a preferred partner of ninemsn, Your Prosperity now had a new distribution channel for retail and wholesale managed funds.
"The partnership provides a unique opportunity to tap into a predominantly young, internet-savvy group of people, keen to take control of their investments - a prime audience for Your Prosperity," Mr Reid said.
Mr Reid said it was for this reason that www.yourprosperity.com.au had been transformed into an "online investment supermarket" providing a range of choices to meet the diverse needs of investors.
"The initiative exemplifies the Lend Lease Group's commitment to continually creating new e-commerce functions and options to meet the diverse needs of a maturing online market.
"A major part of that commitment is to provide the best of what's on offer. To achieve this, Your Prosperity has forged strategic partnerships with some of Australia's leading Internet service providers to develop what we believe is the most extensive online investment site in Australia."
ENDS
For more information please contact:
ninemsn
Jude Stupples
Public Relations Manager
(02) 9383 6114
0411 710 402
Your Prosperity
Trevor Cook
Jackson Wells Communications
(02) 9904 4333
0414 954 223
MLC
Tim Pie
Public Relations Manager
(02) 9964 3971
0411 409 107media
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