Rick Burgess leaves Bankrate, Inc., to join thriving Internet Portal Business at Informa.

CALABASAS, CALIFORNIA (April 15, 2004) – announced today the hiring of Rick Burgess to head up business development for its Internet partner initiative.  Informa has greatly expanded this business over the past few years, attracting major Internet partners, including Yahoo! Finance, Intuit’s Quicken network, CNN.com, ABC, MSN, Motley Fool, MyFico.com, Edmunds.com, and Internet Broadcasting Systems (IBS). 

“The Informa family is pleased to welcome Rick,” stated Michael E. Adler, president and managing director of Informa Research Services.  “He has the experience and the drive to excel in this high-powered business line.”

Rick Burgess brings 15 years of sales, marketing, and business development experience to Informa.  Burgess most recently served as Director of Business Development for Bankrate, Inc., where he built strong business ties with major Internet properties and newspapers including AOL, Yahoo!, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.

Burgess was educated at Texas Christian University (class of ’93) where he majored in Advertising and Public Relations.  Prior to Bankrate, he led sales and marketing efforts for American Football Quarterly (currently named American Football Monthly) where his efforts helped establish an upstart magazine as the premier trade magazine for football coaches.

“Having dealt in consumer personal finance information for several years, I am now proud to bring Informa’s level of research and data, long the gold standard for Banks and other institutions, directly to consumers, “ said Burgess.  “By distributing Informa’s research throughout the Internet, in print, broadcast, and virtually anywhere consumers look for personal finance information, people will be empowered more than ever before when they shop for mortgages, auto loans, credit cards and other financial products.”

“If you can’t beat ‘em - join ‘em, seems to be what has motivated sales people to join Informa over the past few years,“ mused Adler.  “Rick is the fifth salesperson to join us from a direct competitor in as many years.  Great sales people still need great products and first-class support staff to feel good about what they are selling.  Informa is proud to offer superior products and support to Rick and the new clients he will bring on board.”


About Informa Research Services, Inc.

Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Calabasas, CA, Informa Research Services, Inc., provides the financial industry's most extensive array of market research and decision-support information.

Conducting daily surveys of the retail and business products offered by more than 10,000 financial organizations nationwide, Informa Research Services, Inc., currently supports the product pricing decisions of more than 2,500 clients, representing all 50 states and including the top 25 financial institutions. This electronically transmitted competitive pricing intelligence effectively generates profitable responses to continual market changes, enables clients to effectively position deposit and loan products within local markets, maximizes interest income, and manages interest expense. Informa is the premier provider of fee and feature studies used to determine the competitiveness of fee-based services. In-depth studies are also available on cash management services, trust products, mystery shops, and other specialized services.

Informa Research Services, Inc., is a division of London-based Informa Group plc (LONDON:INF). Collectively, the business units of Informa Group plc sell to more than 121,000 delegates and 80,000 subscribers, generating annual revenues of over $283 million.