Word Document format

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACTS:

Fidelity Corporate Communications
617-563-5800
Jeanette Harrison-Sullivan, PFPC
508-871-9863
Holly Gibson Brady, Franklin Templeton
650-312-4701
Matthew Keenan, Putnam Investments
617-760-8368

FOUR MAJOR FINANCIAL SERVICES FIRMS JOIN FORCES TO LAUNCH INTERNET PORTAL

Fidelity®, Franklin® Templeton®, Putnam and PFPC Sign Letter of Intent

BOSTON -- January 17, 2001 -- Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Company, Inc., Franklin Templeton Investments, Putnam Investments and PFPC Inc., a member of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., announced today that they have signed a letter of intent to develop an industry-wide Internet portal.

The proposed portal is expected to offer investment professionals one-stop access to consolidated mutual fund account information, mutual fund transaction capabilities, processing and customer service. The portal, which has yet to be named, would aim to leverage the existing Internet platform of PFPC.

The portal would be a Web site with a single log-on. In addition to providing access to consolidated views of clients' holdings across all participating financial services firms, the proposed portal would also seek to offer investment professionals capabilities such as the ability to make purchases, exchanges and redemptions; facilitate new account set-up; and make account maintenance updates, including address changes and dividend option changes.

The four firms involved in this proposed project believe the Internet portal would allow investment professionals to capitalize on the Internet's potential for timely and convenient service delivery. Because the service allows investment professionals to streamline and expedite daily transactions, they would have more time to build client loyalty and maintain market differentiation.

It is anticipated that the portal will be owned by Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Putnam and PFPC. Terms remain to be finalized.

The parties to the proposed project expect the portal to be operational during the second half of 2001.

Company Backgrounds

About Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Company (FIIS): FIIS is a division of Fidelity Investments, one of the world's largest providers of financial services with custodied assets of $1.6 trillion, including managed assets of $956.7 billion. FIIS is a leading provider of investment management services to more than 4,500 financial institutions, including wirehouses, regional and independent broker/dealers, banks, trust companies and insurance companies. FIIS' total assets under management were $196.4 billion as of December 31, 2000. For more information, go to www.advisorxpress.com.

About Franklin Templeton Investments: Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE:BEN] is a global investment organization operating as Franklin Templeton Investments. Through its subsidiaries, Franklin Templeton Investments provides global and domestic investment, shareholder and distribution services to the Franklin, Templeton and Mutual Series funds and institutional accounts, as well as separate account management services. The San Mateo, CA-based company has over 50 years of investment experience and more than $226 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2000. For more information, please visit www.franklintempleton.com.

About PFPC: Providing a wide range of global fund services to the investment management industry, PFPC is the nation's largest full-service mutual fund transfer agent and second largest provider of mutual fund accounting and administrative services in the United States. A member of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., PFPC is a leading provider of retirement services, subaccounting, print mail services, shareholder services, custody, securities lending, integrated banking transaction services and alternative investment services. PFPC clients comprise some of the world's most successful financial services companies, including brokerage firms, pension and investment managers, insurance companies and banks. PFPC's affiliate, PFPC International Ltd., based in Dublin, Ireland, has served the international funds community since 1993. Contact PFPC by email at information@pfpc.com.

About Putnam Investments: Founded in 1937, Putnam Investments is one of the nation's oldest and largest money management firms. Putnam manages $370 billion for 12 million individual shareholder accounts and 1,000 institutional clients. Putnam has headquarters in Boston and offices in London and Tokyo. For more information, go to www.putnaminvestments.com.

# # #

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act with respect to the anticipated business of the proposed joint venture described herein, including statements regarding the expected development and benefits of products and services. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "would," "should," "could," "may" or any such words or similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, all of which could change over time, and the PNC Financial Services Group, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton and Putnam assume no duty to update forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements: the ability of the parties to complete development, introduce and implement the portal as planned; the degree to which investment professionals accept the services of the proposed joint venture; the loss of key personnel; changes in the competitive market in which the service will operate; the impact, extent, timing and cost of technological changes; risks associated with the commercial use of the Internet generally; undetected software bugs; possible product liability claims; possible inability to protect proprietary technology; and possible infringement claims. The proposed joint venture would be a start-up business and, as such, would have risks associated with the development of a new market, product development, and the recruiting and retention of employees.

Fidelity reserves the right to modify or withdraw the exchange privilege.

Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Company, Inc. 82 Devonshire Street, Boston, MA 02109.

125055