Mary Ann soukup contributes to industry education

ATLANTA, GEORGIA, UNITED STATES – February 23, 2009 – Mary Ann Soukup has made a valuable contribution to education
for the financial services industry by volunteering as a textbook reviewer for the second edition of LOMA’s Foundations of
Customer Service. In her role as text reviewer, Mary Ann contributed her expertise and a great deal of time to an extensive review
of the course outline and chapter drafts.

“The industry experts who volunteer their time to review LOMA textbooks play a crucial role in ensuring the accuracy and relevance
of our courses,” notes Kathy Milligan, FLMI, ACS , ALHC, Vice President of LOMA’s Education and Training Division, “The members
of this text review panel included not only customer service experts, but also representatives from many other functional areas, such
as information technology, new business, insurance administration, broker/dealer operations, legal and compliance, claim administration,
and accounting. Through their suggestions, advice, and varied perspectives, the reviewers made many important contributions to the
course’s content and presentation.”

Miriam Orsina, FLMI, PCS , AAPA, ARA , PAHM, LOMA senior associate and co-author of the text, states, “Mary Ann was an excellent
reviewer and I thoroughly enjoyed working with her. She provided insightful comments that helped us improve many different sections of the
text. Her experience with customer service was valuable to the development of interesting examples and figures. Also, her enthusiasm for
the project was greatly appreciated by the LOMA staff.”

By sharing her time and expertise, Mary Ann helped LOMA meet the educational needs of current and future industry employees. Only
through the volunteer efforts of expert reviewers is LOMA able to offer high quality, cost-effective materials on a timely basis.

According to Mary Ann, “The review process reinforced for me the importance of customer service. Without the ability to provide good
customer service, our customer base could be greatly reduced, which would have a direct negative impact on company operations. Also,
because all employees interact with internal customers, external customers, or both on a daily basis, Foundations of Customer Service
can be an excellent skill development tool for employees across the company.”

The textbook provides a comprehensive introduction to the knowledge, skills, and perspective every person in a financial services company
needs to know to work effectively with internal and external customers. The text incorporates input from industry experts to reflect current
industry practices and standards for the customer service activities of insurance companies, banks, investment companies, securities
brokerages, finance companies, and other financial institutions. The second edition updates the text, expands the customer service technology
information, and adds information on customer privacy issues.

Foundations of Customer Service, Second Edition, is assigned reading for LOMA’s globally recognized Associate, Customer Service ( ACS )
Program. ACS is a self-study, examination-based program for professional, managerial, and staff employees who interact with internal and
external customers. Many ACS designees further their knowledge of customer service by earning LOMA’s Professional, Customer Service
designation.

About LOMA
Established in 1924, with 1,200 plus member companies in over 80 countries, LOMA is committed to a business partnership with its world-wide
members in the insurance and financial services industry to improve their management and operations through quality employee development,
research, information sharing and related products and services.  For more information, visit: www.loma.org.