National Bank Discount Brokerage Inc. Enhances its Website

Montreal, 2 April 2001 - 

The clients of National Bank Discount Brokerage Inc. who trade online are now better equipped than ever before when it comes to making their investment decisions thanks to new services added to the company’s InvesNET website.

Further to a partnership concluded between Morningstar© and National Bank Discount Brokerage, the latter’s clients can now access one of the primary sources of information on mutual funds in Canada. Morningstar© provides detailed information on over 3,000 mutual funds as well as tools for tracking the performance of different segments of the mutual fund industry. National Bank Discount Brokerage Inc. also gives its clients direct access to Advice for Investors©, a major financial research tool, which provides a host of information on more than 4,500 Canadian companies, including profiles, historical performances, deferred quotes, comparative charts and market capitalization.

According to Yves G. Breton, President of National Bank Discount Brokerage Inc., these new services will give greater freedom to clients who choose to do their trading online. "For clients who want to make their investment decisions without the assistance of a broker," Mr. Breton noted, "having quick and easy access to clear, detailed information is a top priority. With the addition of these new services, we can give our clients one of the best offerings in the discount brokerage industry."

New functions for greater efficiency

The following functions have also been added to the InvesNET site to facilitate certain routine transactions:

• multi-account access, which enables investors to access all their accounts, and those to which they have access but do not hold themselves, using a single user code and password;
• the possibility of transferring mutual funds within a given family;
• an improved virtual portfolio giving clients an even better overview of their portfolio: fundamental data, bid/ask prices and My portfolio, which shows the portfolio’s total market value and variations.

National Bank of Canada is an integrated group whose mission is to provide comprehensive financial services to consumers, small and medium-sized enterprises and large corporations in its core market, while offering specialized services to its clients elsewhere in the world. The National Bank offers a full array of banking services, including all the investment banking services required by large corporations. It is an active player on international capital markets and, through its subsidiaries, is involved in securities brokerage, insurance and wealth management as well as mutual fund and retirement plan management. The National Bank has assets of over $75 billion and, together with its subsidiaries, it employs some 16,600 people. The Bank's shares are listed on The Toronto Stock Exchange.

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