Firms Continue to Push Comprehensive Financial Planning, a Team Approach to Client Service and Increased Training; Industry to Face Significant Consolidation in the Year Ahead

New York - January 15, 2003 - The evolution of the broker’s role will hasten in 2003. With Wall Street firms suffering from plunging profits, salary cuts and layoffs will continue to plague the industry. According to a report presented in the January issue of PRIMEDIA’s Registered Rep. magazine, the source of information for investment professionals, the transformation from a transactional broker into a kind of chief financial officer for the client will accelerate.

“The broker has to be a person who can handle every aspect of a client’s financial life – managing everything from investments to insurance to estate planning to mortgage banking. While selling investments will still be a critical element of the broker’s day-to-day responsibilities, the future of the industry will continue to move towards comprehensive financial planning,” said David Geracioti, editor-in-chief of PRIMEDIA’s Registered Rep. magazine.

• The rise and success of the front-line broker and a dramatic decline in the investment banking business
• A limit on the total number of clients per broker and the investment of more money and labor per client
• The implementation of a team approach to client service in order to spread out responsibilities
• The reduction of the broker’s responsibility for finding the most specific investments, thus shifting as many clients as possible to some form of managed money or other packaged product in order to mitigate risk
• More investment in training to ensure that new brokers are fully qualified to handle questions of all types from their clients
• The use of new technology and tools that allow brokers to become more adept at overall financial planning
• A focus on pursuing wealthier clients who are most likely to provide repeat business for the firm
• Significant consolidation among brokerage firms (possibly of about 20 percent) as the industry looks to compensate for an oversupply of brokers

The January issue of PRIMEDIA’s Registered Rep. magazine is currently available and additional information about its 2003 brokerage industry forecast can be found at www.registeredrep.com.

About PRIMEDIA’s Registered Rep. magazine

Registered Rep. is the preferred magazine of retail investment professionals. Each monthly issue reaches more than 93,000 loyal subscribers who control trillions of dollars of assets for more than 30 million investors. These powerful financial advisors are licensed to sell a broad range of investment products and rely on Registered Rep.'s rich portfolio of timely features, articles, departments and columns. Registered Rep. is part of PRIMEDIA’s Financial Services Group that also includes Trusts & Estates, National Real Estate Investor and Shopping Center World. These are among the 90 PRIMEDIA Business Magazines and part of PRIMEDIA (NYSE: PRM), the world's largest targeted media company. More information about Registered Rep. can be found at www.registeredrep.com.

PRIMEDIA is the new tradition in media. With 2001 sales of $1.6 billion from a unique combination of traditional and new media properties, it is the leading targeted content and integrated marketing solutions company in both the consumer and business-to-business sectors. The Company is the #1 special interest magazine publisher in the U.S., with more than 250 titles such as Seventeen, Automobile, Motor Trend, New York, Fly Fisherman, American Baby, Telephony and American Demographics; the #1 producer and distributor of specialty video with 18 satellite and digital video product lines, including Channel One Network; and the #1 news and information group on the Internet, led by About.com. PRIMEDIA's stock symbol is: NYSE: PRM. More information about the Company can be found at www.primedia.com.

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Media Contacts: Leslie Glazer, 212-446-1870

lglazer@sloanepr.com

Noelle Wojciehowski, 212-462-3658

nwojciehowski@primediabusiness.com