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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Corporate Communications (617) 563-5800
PRUDENTIAL EQUITY GROUP, LLC SELECTS NATIONAL FINANCIAL AS BROKERAGE CLEARING PROVIDER

BOSTON, July 13, 2004—National Financial, a Fidelity Investments company, today announced that it has established a strategic institutional relationship with New York-based Prudential Equity Group LLC to provide brokerage clearing services to support the company's institutional equity business.

National Financial will provide Prudential Equity Group with a comprehensive clearing platform. Prudential Equity Group currently executes trades on behalf of more than 2,000 institutional clients through its offices in the United States, Europe and Japan.

“As a global financial services organization serving some of the most sophisticated institutional clients, we were looking to establish a strong relationship with a clearing firm that could provide outsourcing solutions across our entire operation,” said Michael Shea, president, Prudential Equity Group.

“We are pleased that Prudential Equity Group has chosen to outsource its institutional business with National Financial," said Norman Malo, president, National Financial. "With our broad range of institutional solutions, open architecture, flexibility, and commitment to investing in the business for the long-term, we are well-positioned to support Prudential Equity Group's institutional equity desk.

“We continue to invest in the technologies, products and services that institutional and full-service clients need to meet their distinct business needs. Prudential's decision to select National Financial further validates our capabilities in serving these important markets,” Malo said.

About Prudential Equity Group, LLP

Prudential Equity Group, LLC is a unit of Prudential Financial. It provides independent, objective equity research, sales and trading to domestic and international institutional clients. Prudential Financial companies, with approximately $454 billion in total assets under management as of March 31, 2004, serve individual and institutional customers worldwide.

About National Financial

National Financial provides broker/dealers, ranging from institutional and full-service firms to independent contractors, banks and discount brokers, with clearing and execution products and integrated productivity tools to help enhance firm profitability, drive business growth and forge deeper customer relationships. National Financial also offers an online brokerage platform, compliance support, middle-office outsourcing, consolidated record keeping tools, fee-based solutions, and retirement and high-net-worth products, all supported by dedicated client service professionals. The company currently provides clearing services for 282 financial institutions representing nearly 3.3 million client accounts and approximately $333.4 billion in assets, as of May 31, 2004. For more information about National Financial, please visit www.nationalfinancial.com.

About Fidelity Investments

Fidelity Investments is one of the world's largest providers of financial services, with custodied assets of $1.9 trillion, including managed assets of $1.0 trillion as of May 31, 2004. Fidelity offers investment management, retirement planning, brokerage, human resources and benefits outsourcing services to 18 million individuals and institutions as well as through 5,500 financial intermediaries. The firm is the largest mutual fund company in the United States, the No. 1 provider of workplace retirement savings plans, one of the largest mutual fund supermarkets and a leading online brokerage firm. For more information about Fidelity Investments, visit www.fidelity.com.

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Prudential Equity Group LLC is an independent company and is not affiliated with Fidelity or National Financial.

National Financial Services LLC, Member NYSE, SIPC.
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