Sammons Financial Group Selects XAware to Expand Annuity Channel Integration


XAware deploys Annuity XCelerator(TM) to connect carrier to broker/dealer network

Colorado Springs, CO - May 1, 2006 -­ XAware, Inc., an enterprise software company specializing in Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) solutions, announces a successful deployment of its Annuity XCelerator(TM) product for Sammons Financial Group's (SFG) insurance subsidiaries. This product connects the annuity business of SFG's insurance subsidiaries to their broker/dealer network by using the insurance services group of the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC).

SFG's insurance subsidiary, Midland National Life Insurance Company, manages all aspects of annuity operations for the insurance companies owned by SFG, which also includes North American Company for Life and Health Insurance. The newly-deployed system allows automatic distribution of timely annuity contract information to broker/dealers, improving their ability to service end-customers. This is SFG's second engagement with XAware, and extends the original system to include dissemination of commission information.

"Easy access for our broker-dealer community is a high priority for SFG," says Paul Swenson, vice president of IT for Midland. "The XAware SOA-based solution for agent integration improves channel performance and loyalty as market demands shift. XAware delivered as promised, completing the DTCC transactions implementation and testing in less than 30 days. XAware's Annuity XCelerator lowers the cost of integration and provides a standards-based open architecture that allows SFG to grow distribution channels faster and cheaper than traditional proprietary strategies. XAware offers a catalog of reusable business services that provide an open, agile platform to easily integrate, automate, and deploy key agent transactions and processes, reducing both implementation and maintenance costs while increasing reuse of services for our broker-dealer community."

XAware's Annuity XCelerator product connects carriers to the DTCC to facilitate post-issue processing of annuity contracts. The product acts as a secure, standards-based gateway between the carrier and its broker/dealer network. The gateway integrates a carrier's internal systems with the DTCC to process a wide range of transactions including dissemination of asset pricing, financial activity reporting, positions and valuations, commission reports, customer account transfers and others. The Annuity XCelerator is built using XAware's Business Service XCelerator technology, incorporating reusable services developed specifically for the insurance industry. The resulting application is highly configurable and readily integrated with a carrier's internal systems.

Sammons Financial Group

Sammons Financial Group is an insurance holding company whose insurance subsidiaries provide life insurance and annuity products nationwide to more than 1 million policyholders. The insurance subsidiaries of SFG include Midland National Life Insurance Company, West Des Moines, Iowa; and North American Company for Life and Health Insurance, Chicago, Illinois. Midland provides support for all of SFG's subsidiaries annuity businesses at its Annuity Division in West Des Moines. Midland develops and distributes annuity products through more than 70,000 independent agents and independent marketing organizations in 49 states and the District of Columbia. Midland's Annuity Division is responsible for production, product development, management and operations as it relates to annuities for both Midland and North American. With more than $10 billion under management and in excess of 250,000 policy owners to service, SFG and its insurance subsidiaries have become one of the largest annuity concerns in the United States with annual sales exceeding $2 billion. SFG's insurance subsidiaries have in excess of $29 billion in total assets. For more information about the insurance subsidiaries, visit their Web sites at www.nacolah.com or www.mnlife.com.

XAware

XAware, Inc. is a privately held enterprise software company that provides complete services solutions for the modeling, manufacturing, monitoring and management of service-oriented architecture (SOA). XAware enables success for the business SOA model by bridging the gap between business processes and IT. This XML-based bridge is the Business Services Layer which is comprised of logical assemblies of IT data services and conditional processing. These business services can then be choreographed and re-choreographed to provide new business processes and give companies the agility necessary to keep up with today's ever changing business environment. XAware Business Service XCelerators, logically grouped catalogs of related and integrated business services, have been designed for and with insurance companies, financial market leaders and government agencies around the globe. For more information on XAware, visit www.xaware.com or call 719-884-5400.

Media Contacts:
Kirk Kaynor
XAware, Inc.
Tel: 719.884.5414
kkaynor@xaware.com

Jil Goebel/Jessica Seybold
Origin Communications
719-785-9900
jil.goebel@origincom.com
jessica.seybold@origincom.com

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