Symetra Financial Awards Major IT Outsourcing and BPO Contract to ACS REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Symetra Financial, formerly Safeco Life & Investments, announced today that it has awarded a major information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing (BPO) contract to Affiliated Computer Services Inc. (ACS), a premier provider of business process and information technology outsourcing solutions. Under terms of the five-year agreement, ACS will provide complete IT infrastructure services for Symetra Financial, as well as a full range of cross-functional and BPO solutions. These solutions include data center, distributed computing, data network, voice communications, service desk, print/mail and image processing services. The outsourcing of Symetra Financial's IT infrastructure follows the sale of Safeco Life & Investments by Safeco Corp. on July 31, 2004, to a group of private investors led by White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. The transition of services to ACS began on Oct. 28, 2004, with the full migration targeted for completion by July 31, 2005. ACS will provide technical support from its data center in Hillsboro, Ore., and account operations support in Redmond, Wash. "Symetra Financial was looking for a provider that would facilitate a smooth transition from a shared IT environment to outsourced services. We also wanted to improve our ability to be agile in supporting business initiatives," said Troy Olson-Blair, chief information officer for Symetra Financial. "Among the benefits we gain by working with ACS are improved technology, enhanced IT capabilities, improved business processes, and an enhanced ability to focus on our core business components." "This contract is an excellent example of ACS's unique ability to provide both IT infrastructure and critical back-office functionality," said Lynn Blodgett, group president of ACS Commercial Solutions. "It affirms why so many clients turn to us to support their BPO and IT needs -- because ACS excels at delivering best-in-class service, capability and performance." As a leading IT outsourcing provider across numerous industries, ACS operates several large mainframe and midrange data centers, manages numerous networks, and administers desktops around the globe. Despite growing market competition, ACS continues to experience tremendous growth in its IT solutions and BPO business. Symetra Financial, formerly Safeco Life & Investments, is a group of affiliated insurance and financial services companies, including Symetra Life Insurance Co. Symetra Life Insurance Co. (est. 1957), formerly Safeco Life Insurance Co., has grown to a company with approximately 2 million customers, over 1,200 employees, and more than $21 billion in GAAP assets as of June 30, 2004. The company works in partnership with over 20,000 agents and advisors providing annuities, life insurance, group employee benefits, and retirement plans to customers throughout the United States. For more information, visit Symetra Financial's web site at http://www.symetra.com/. ACS, a Fortune 500 company with more than 43,000 people supporting client operations in nearly 100 countries, provides business process and information technology outsourcing solutions to world-class commercial and government clients. The company's Class A common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "ACS." ACS makes technology work. Visit ACS on the Internet at http://www.acs-inc.com/. DATASOURCE: Symetra Financial CONTACT: Jim Pirak, Vice President, Marketing, of Symetra Financial, +1-425-376-8284, or ; or Lesley Pool, Senior Vice President/Chief Marketing Officer of Affiliated Computer Services Inc., +1-214-841-8028, or Web site: http://www.acs-inc.com/ Web site: http://www.symetra.com/

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