The biggest player in B2C is the federal government, topping Amazon.com by half a billion dollars last year. Most of that was generated by Treasury's online sales of savings bonds, T-bills, etc." ~ Sm@rt Partner Magazine - June 2001

The Underserved/Confused Bond Investor

• No financial statement ever issued indicating value or status of savings bonds to the investor

• Bond owners forfeit millions annually by cashing-in their bonds at the wrong time

• Bond owners ignorant of interest rates/timing issues/tax consequences when redeeming

• Investors treat bonds as if they were all created equal

• Bond Investors have to search for values and interpret bond information

Market Size

• Widest Held Security in the World

• 55 million Americans own them  (1 in 3 households)

• 6 billion U.S. savings bonds in circulation

• 15 million Americans purchase savings bonds annually

• Three times more people own savings bonds than the largest US mutual fund company, Fidelity

• Over 40,000 organizations, companies, government agencies participate in Payroll Savings Plans (bond a month, bond a pay, systematic purchases)

Market Value

• Over $187 BILLION committed to a poorly performing, easily liquidated investment

• Over $7.5 BILLION have stopped earning interest and needs repositioning

• New sales for US Savings Bonds for 2000 were $5.2 billion
  

Market Conditions

• Savings bond sales are up 35% in 2001

• Government periodically offers new series of bond to increase sales, confuses investors

• I (inflation) bond (offered since Sept, 98') sales account for 49% of total 2000 sales

• Stock market volatility increases U.S. Savings Bond sales (safety, security)

Savings Bonds are Not a Bank Product

• Savings bonds compete with bank products - banks reluctant to help

• As banks merge, savings bond services diminish

• Banks now sending investors to private financial companies for assistance