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Rating:An ETF Manager Gains Two New Siblings Not Rated 0.0 Email Routing List Email & Route  Print Print
Wednesday, November 4, 2009

An ETF Manager Gains Two New Siblings

Reported by Neil Anderson, Managing Editor

Two companies just joined the AdvisorShares Investments family. On Wednesday Fund.com, AdvisorShares' parent, unveiled its complete acquisition of Whyte Lyon Socratic and its purchase of a $21.9 million participating preferred stake in Vensure Employer Services. The pair of deals also moved a new chairman, Whyte Lyon president Joe Bianco, to the top of Fund.com, succeeding Daniel Klaus. Watch for Fund.com to do more deals.

"Joe Bianco's tremendous management experience and prowess in mergers and acquisitions will be critical in propelling Fund.com's continued growth," stated Greg Webster, CEO of Fund.com.

The implications of the two deals for AdvisorShares -- a Bethesda, Maryland-based active ETF manager founded by Rydex alum Noah Hamman -- are not yet clear. Whyte Lion specializes in online education, while Mesa, Arizona-based Vensure is a professional employer organization that handles payroll, retirement plans and other HR and benefits services for other employers. Fund.com itself boasts a lead generation platform and a website with information on various investment vehicles.

Bianco, the new chairman of the board at Fund.com, told The MFWire that he "was intrigued by the ETF platform and by Vensure."

"What AdvisorShares is doing in the ETF marketplace is very exciting," Bianco said.

Bianco added that Whyte Lion "is just coming out" with its first offerings, focused on financial literacy.


Company Press Release

NEW YORK, Nov. 4 -- Fund.com, (OTC Bulletin Board: FNDM) a growing financial services company that creates actively managed ETFs, announced today that it has purchased an equity interest in Mesa, AZ.-based Vensure Employer Services, Inc., a professional employer organization that provides benefits and payroll administration, health and workers' compensation insurance programs, employee training and development services, and retirement benefits plans, such as 401k's, for small and medium businesses. The equity is represented by $21.9 million of participating preferred stock of Vensure.

The company also announced that it had purchased 100% of the capital stock of Whyte Lyon Socratic, Inc., a developer of online education programs for investors, debtors and professionals. As part of that transaction, Whyte Lyon's president Joseph J. Bianco was named chairman of the board of Fund.com.

Fund.com said that as a result of its investment in Vensure, employees of Vensure clients will receive Whyte Lyon online educational courses in managing their personal finances and retirement goals.

Vensure CEO Tom Lindsay said, "As employers increasingly realize that their employees need help in facing the complexities of today's financial issues in resolving their investing, borrowing and retirement issues, we believe that the addition of Whyte Lyon's online educational courses will give us a significant competitive advantage in marketing our employment services. As far as I know, we will be the only company offering these services."

CEO Greg Webster of Fund.com said, "Joe Bianco's tremendous management experience and prowess in mergers and acquisitions will be critical in propelling Fund.com's continued growth. In addition, we believe that Whyte Lyon Socratic's product portfolio will contribute to Vensure's services offering and help it attract new clients."

Fund.com's Webster added that Bianco, now a private investor and chairman of Educational Investors, Inc., served from 1990 to 1996 as the CEO of New York Stock Exchange-listed Alliance Entertainment, then the world's leading independent distributor of CD music. His business experience has spanned many industries: He founded and chaired British Performance Car Imports, Inc., the exclusive U.S. distributor of Lotus Performance Cars, which he sold to General Motors, and was chairman of Cognitive Arts, Inc., a leading creator of educational software. He graduated from Yale Law School in 1975; he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal.

About Fund.com
Fund.com through its AdvisorShares Investments LLC subsidiary is creating actively managed ETFs, such as the Dent Tactical ETF (NYSE: DENT), to take advantage of this rapidly growing ETF business. Fund.com also is an online content provider and lead generation platform for investment funds and other financial services providers. Its objective is to engage individual investors and to match their needs with interested fund product providers. The www.fund.com website is approachable to everyday investors and serves as an educational and research resource.

Forward-Looking Statements:
Statements in this press release regarding future performance and the potential advantages of the products and services provided by Fund.com, and any other statements about future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans, or prospects expressed constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact (including statements containing the words "will," "believes," "plans," "anticipates," "expects," "estimates," and similar expressions) should also be considered to be forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause actual performance or events to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements including the Company's limited operating history and economic conditions generally. Additional information on potential factors that could affect results and other significant risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time in Fund.com's periodic reports, including Forms 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, and other forms filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE Fund.com

PR/Media Relations: Stern & Co., Richard Stern, +1-212-888-0044, richstern@sternco.com 

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