Press Release

Centerpiece Software Upgraded

New Version of Centerpiece Delivers Advanced Fixed Income Tracking and Reporting; Eases Manual Entry of Portfolio Data

San Francisco, CA, May 23, 2002 - Performance Technologies, Inc. (PTI), an investment management office software company and subsidiary of The Charles Schwab Corporation, today released Centerpiece(R) 5.5, a new version of the Windows(R)-based portfolio management system providing advanced fixed income tracking and analytics, as well as an array of productivity tools to ease manual entry of portfolio data.

Centerpiece, specifically designed for and available to independent investment advisors working with PTI and Schwab Institutional, is a portfolio management system that combines accounting, client reporting and performance tracking in a networked application.

Centerpiece 5.5 enhancements provide advisors with new tools and software wizards to improve the accuracy and effectiveness of their management and analysis of client portfolios. It supports the most sophisticated fixed income managers while providing tools to make data entry easier, faster and more intuitive.

New Centerpiece 5.5 Fixed Income Features:

• Analysis and Reporting -- More easily analyze and report with added flexibility on portfolios of fixed income investments
• Calculate price sensitivity and risk measures (convexity and yield-to-worst);
• Generate amortization and accretion schedules (effective yield or straight line methods);
• Track current and historical bond ratings;
• Support floating rate and stepped coupon bonds;
• Quickly and easily create custom reports that sort and graph fixed income assets by maturity date, credit rating, or interest rate.
• Data Entry -- Increase productivity using data entry tools
• Transaction Writer, a powerful tool that uses software wizards to help advisors generate transactions across multiple client portfolios -- wizards include bond maturity, interest payments, management fees, return of principal and more;
• An enhanced FT Interactive Data interface that allows advisors to download bond ratings (S&P, Moody's, Fitch), yields, call schedules, pre-refund dates and other salient data.

"These advanced fixed income tools add to Centerpiece's broad set of features developed to help advisors run their back office operations more effectively," said John A. Norwood, President of Performance Technologies. "Centerpiece 5.5 is the next step in our ongoing development of products and services that help fuel advisors' continued success."

Centerpiece 5.5 enhancements will save advisors time and enable them to better manage their clients' fixed income portfolios. Kevin Wilson of Asset Advisor Corporation, a Centerpiece 5.5 beta tester with $435 million under management, noted "Over 30% of our clients' holdings are in fixed income securities and the new features of Centerpiece will save us many hours every month in processing our data. The new tracking and reporting capabilities give me a clearer picture of our fixed income holdings, helping me to make better decisions for my clients."

Centerpiece currently offers more than 70 professional, customizable report formats, custom graphics, comprehensive tax reporting, batch printing, data importing and reconciliation, portfolio modeling and rebalancing, and seamless integration with more than 40 data sharing interfaces.

Upgrades of Centerpiece 5.5 are available to clients via download on the PTI Web site, or by requesting an upgrade disk at 800-528-9595. Advisors working with Schwab Institutional interested in ordering Centerpiece or requesting more information can call 800-528-9595, option 2.

Performance Technologies, headquartered in Raleigh, NC, has been a leading developer and provider of investment management office software and services for the past 15 years. Performance Technologies currently serves investment advisors and financial planners who conduct business with PTI and Schwab Institutional.

Schwab Institutional is a leading provider of operational and trading solutions for independent, fee-based investment advisors and financial planners. The approximately 6,000 investment professionals it serves represent $243 billion of the $858 billion in customer assets custodied at Schwab, as of March 31, 2002. Schwab Institutional is a division of Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. ("Schwab"), Member NYSE/SIPC. Schwab is a subsidiary of The Charles Schwab Corporation.

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