The Advest Group, Inc. is a financial services holding company engaged, with its operating subsidiaries in securities brokerage, trading, investment banking, asset management, trust and other financial services. It commenced operations on January 1, 1977.

The Company is successor to a partnership which resulted from mergers of five New York Stock Exchange member firms organized between 1898 and 1919.

The Company's broker/dealer subsidiary, Advest Inc., was organized to succeed the business of the partnership, effective January 1, 1977. Since that date, a number of other operating subsidiaries in the brokerage and financial services industries have been established or acquired.

In addition to Advest, operating subsidiaries include:

• Advest Bank and Trust Company, a federal savings bank;
  

• Boston Advisors, an investment advisor; and
  

• Billings & Company, Inc., a real estate services company.

Advest is engaged in a broad range of activities in the securities brokerage, investment banking and asset management businesses. Specific services include retail brokerage, institutional sales, origination of and participation in underwritings and distribution of corporate and municipal securities, market making and trading activities in equities and fixed income securities, research, custody and asset management.

Advest has been classified by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Securities Industry Association as a "large regional" brokerage firm. "Regional" is a term commonly used in the securities industry to indicate that a firm's headquarters are located outside New York City.

Advest has retail clients in all fifty states with the largest concentration in the Northeast and Midwest regions and also services institutional accounts throughout the country.

Advest is a member of all major securities exchanges in the United States, the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC).

In addition, Advest is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a commodity trading advisor and a futures commission merchant and clears all option transactions through an independent third party broker.