FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BNCCorp: A Bank Insurance Leader, According to Study

Wayne, PA — September 11, 2006: BNCCorp is a small bank with a big insurance punch. Its insurance brokerage unit contributed $1,942,000 in net income to the company in 2005, almost half (47 percent) of the bank holding company’s profits.

The Bismarck, North Dakota-based company is unique among bank companies in maintaining such a high ratio of insurance income to overall net income, according to the 2006 edition of Who’s Who in Bank Insurance.

The publication, a study of the top 100 banks in insurance, is distributed to member firms by the Bank Insurance & Securities Association (BISA). The 2006 edition will be published in November. There it identifies eight bank companies that drew 10 percent or more of net income from insurance in 2005 (see table).

BNCCorp (assets: $726 million), which owns BNC National Bank, operates 21 banking offices in Arizona, Minnesota, and North Dakota. Along with banking and wealth management, insurance is one of ‘three core segments’ at the company. The insurance unit had 138 employees at the beginning of 2006—almost as many as the banking segment’s 163 employees. Insurance prominence can be traced to the company’s 2002 acquisition of Milne Scali & Company, Inc. a large insurance brokerage headquartered in Phoenix.

BNCCorp got into insurance brokerage for two basic reasons, according to bank CEO Gregory Cleveland: 1) to stabilize earnings through a recurrent source of income, and 2) the opportunity to cross-sell alternative services. With regard to first, things have worked out "just as we thought," he told Who’s Who in Bank Insurance. As for the second (i.e., cross-selling), it’s been a "mixed bag," with "certain successes," much like other banks—but things are still not where they want them to be. They have had more success selling insurance services to bank customers than selling banking services to insurance agency customers, Cleveland told the publication.

Who’s Who in Bank Insurance aims to tell the "story behind the numbers of the top 100 banks in insurance," according to the study’s author, Andrew Singer. To this end, it presents in-depth interviews with many banks about their insurance operations. It also conducts extensive statistical analysis based on Federal Reserve reports, SEC filings, and the firm’s own surveys. The book is published by The Bank Insurance Market Research Group (Mamaroneck, NY), which provides market research and investment sales data to the bank and insurance industries. Data is based on in-depth surveys of depository and insurance entities augmented by analysis of government data.

The Bank Insurance & Securities Association (BISA) is the nation's leading trade association dedicated to serving the needs of those responsible for marketing securities, insurance and other investment and risk management products through commercial banks, trust companies, savings institutions, and credit unions. The membership includes financial institutions of all sizes, their broker/dealer, insurance, and mutual fund subsidiaries, and firms providing products and/or services to support these operations.

NOTE: Credentialed members of the press may obtain additional information by calling BISA at 610-989-9047 or Andrew Singer at 914-381-7475.