Great American Financial Resources, Inc. Recognized by CIO Magazine as One of the CIO 100 Award Honorees

CINCINNATI, July 14  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CIO magazine has announced Great American Financial Resources, Inc. (GAFRI) as a recipient of the 2006 CIO 100 award. The annual award program recognizes organizations around the world that exemplify the highest level of operational and strategic excellence in information technology (IT). GAFRI's ability to standardize and simplify its infrastructure over the past five years has allowed it to cut IT costs in half while building a comprehensive solution for all supported lines of business and allowing the Company to grow and acquire business at a low incremental cost.

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According to Abbie Lundberg, Editor in Chief of CIO magazine, "Year after year, the CIO 100 award recipients serve as industry role models for business and IT excellence. This year's winners are particularly remarkable for their ability to translate IT innovation into business value and solid ROI."

"All our employees deserve credit for this accomplishment," GAFRI Chief Operating Officer Chuck Scheper says. "We've downsized from 63 major systems on multiple platforms with multiple toolsets to about 20 major systems on a standardized platform. And we've done this while sustaining the day-to-day processing of business, which is remarkable. Most importantly, we've developed the infrastructure we needed to accomplish our growth objectives."

According to GAFRI Chief Information Officer Jeff Wolverton, "Our benchmark studies have shown that we have achieved an IT cost structure that is less than half of the industry average."  In addition to substantial cost savings to the bottom line, some leading benefits of this accomplishment include GAFRI's improved ability to get new products to market, acquire and rapidly integrate blocks of business, and deliver IT solutions to internal and external customers.  Wolverton says, "We are now starting to reinvest some of our savings into additional strategic initiatives that will continue to set GAFRI apart in the marketplace."

The 2006 CIO 100 awards will be presented at the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego, California, on August 22 at the conclusion of the eighth annual CIO 100 Symposium(R) and Awards Ceremony.

About the CIO 100

The recipients of this year's CIO 100 award were selected through a three- step process. First, companies filled out an online application form detailing their innovative practices in both business and IT. Next, teams of CIO magazine editors and writers reviewed the applications in depth, looking for unique practices and substantial results. Finally, the teams met for a day- long meeting to debate the merits of each nominee and vote on the final 100. Once the top 100 honorees were selected, several honorees were chosen to receive an additional special award.

To provide a vision of ever-changing business trends, the focus of the CIO 100 changes annually. Complete coverage of the 2006 CIO 100 awards will be in the August 15 issue of CIO magazine and available online at http://www.cio.com/ on August 15.

About GAFRI

GAFRI is a Cincinnati-based insurance holding company with nearly $12 billion in assets.  The Company's subsidiaries include Great American Life Insurance Company, Annuity Investors Life Insurance Company, United Teacher Associates Insurance Company (headquartered in Austin, Texas) and Loyal American Life Insurance Company.  Through these companies, GAFRI markets traditional fixed, indexed and variable annuities and a variety of supplemental insurance products. 

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DATASOURCE: Great American Financial Resources, Inc.



CONTACT:  Mark F. Muething, Executive Vice President of Great American

Financial Resources, Inc., [phone] 



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

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