FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Heywood Sloane
Bank Insurance & Securities Association
(610) 989-9047 ext 17
heywoods@bisanet.org

BISA Announces 2009 Awards of Excellence Winners

Hollywood, FL — March 8, 2010: At its 2010 Annual Convention Awards ceremony in Florida BISA announced the winners of the 2009 BISA Awards of Excellence. The Awards of Excellence program consists of four annual awards; the Executive of the Year, and three Program of the Year Awards, one for Large Institutions, another for Regional Institutions, and a third for Community Based Institutions. In addition the BISA Raiken-Sender Lifetime Achievement Award is presented periodically at the discretion of the Board to individuals who have contributed to the industry in a substantial way, and consistently done so over a number of years. Nominations are provided by member firms, but may include program exemplars of 'best practices,' regardless of BISA membership. The BISA Board determines the award winners each year based on numerous factors. For executives they include the quality and success of their program and the extent of the individual's contributions to the success of their institution and the industry. Awards for Program of the Year may be given for a securities, insurance, or combined program that demonstrates the consistent and effective implementation of a set of best practices within the industry.

The 2009 awards for Program of the Year were presented by Sam Guerrieri, Senior Vice President, Retail Banking, of M&T Bank.

The 2009 Award of Excellence for Large Institution Program of the Year was won by Synovus Securities, Inc. Synovus Securities is one of the nation's most decentralized bank companies, operating 30 chartered banks and 332 offices in the South. Its approach is unlike many other bank brokerage programs because of its well balanced business mix of brokerage and managed accounts and its focus on providing clients with investment management solutions. Synovus Securities like its parent, prides itself on listening to its customers. It has historically been a top quartile performer and has maintained positive sales productivity during a year when the average sales productivity for the industry was significantly negative. The Award was accepted on behalf of Synovus Securities by Robert Varner, Executive Vice President.

The BISA Board chose to spotlight Astoria Federal Savings for its GIS Investments and Insurance program. It is successful because of the high level of integration of the Investment and Insurance program into the bank and the true sense of partnership and mutual accountabilities that exists between the bank and the Investment and Insurance program, translating into top quartile household penetration levels. The platform program produces revenue per LBE that is in excess of 3 times the industry average. The award was accepted by Frank Berkowitz on behalf of the firm.

The Community Based Institution Program of the Year was awarded to Kern Schools Federal Credit Union. Kern Schools has grown well, despite the troubling economy of the past two years, due to its effective business model. It has distinguished itself segmenting its market and structuring its staff to effectively provide high service standards at all levels. The Program was also able to help the credit union manage its asset-liability structure with the introduction of a brokered CD program that also helped retain satisfied clients. The award was accepted by Larry Braley on behalf of Kern Schools.

This year, the "Executive of the Year" award was given to John D Vaughan Jr., President and CEO of BB&T Investment Services, Inc. He started in Corporate Banking, and later took charge of the Retail Investment Program at Southern National. With the merger of Southern and BB&T, he assumed the leadership of the merged investment program and grown it to approximately 300 advisors. His ability to lead BB&T Investment Services, as BB&T grows organically and by acquisition, while consistently setting and maintaining the right culture for success, represents a model for the industry. His expectation that successful advisors should respect both their internal clients, those they work with, and their external clients, those they serve, represents just one of the many examples of "Best Practices" his approach and leadership provides the industry.

The Bank Insurance and Securities Association (BISA) ) is the Association of choice for firms and financial professionals who wish to successfully engage in providing integrated financial services including investments and insurance through depository institutions. Its mission is to support member firms and financial professionals within depository institutions by building a community and providing forums to enhance their professionalism, knowledge, and productivity to help them best serve their clients with a broad array of financial solutions.

For additional information about the Annual BISA Awards of Excellence, the qualifications of winners, and the selection process go to www.bisanet.org/awards/index.html.