Symetra Financial Awards Major IT Outsourcing and BPO Contract to ACS

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,

[phone], or ; or Lesley Pool, Senior Vice

President/Chief Marketing Officer of Affiliated Computer Services Inc.,

[phone], or 



Web site:  http://www.acs-inc.com/

Web site:  http://www.symetra.com/

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