WFT Rate Continues at 5.54%

Earlier this year, we unveiled a new logo and marketing campaign for the Wisconsin Funeral Trust. A few new features were added in efforts to make a good product even better and the WFDA Master Trust continued to offer an advantageous rate of return. We have maintained a product that reflects our core values of safety and security, helped build your business, and addressed your needs and the needs of the families you serve.

The new logo and marketing campaign ushered in a new era for the Wisconsin Funeral Trust with the goal of creating the best preneed option in the industry. The marketing campaign was designed to reach out to funeral directors who had not yet taken advantage of the trust while simultaneously rewarding new and current users with a highly competitive rate of return. We are proud to announce the results of the successful campaign and report on the continued strength of the Wisconsin Funeral Trust.

During the first 9 months of the year, the Wisconsin Funeral Trust welcomed over 15 new funeral homes to the program. Fueled by these new members, as well as a renewed interest by existing member firms, overall deposits into the Wisconsin Funeral Trust have increased by over 25% compared to last year. In fact, contributions to the trust have exceeded $1 million in each of the past five months. Finally, the number of individual trusts that comprise the Master Trust passed the 10,000 mark for the first time. All of these elements have strengthened the position of the Wisconsin Funeral Trust and have helped achieve our core values of safety and security.

Behind the scenes, the Wisconsin Funeral Trust has been strengthened by recent investment decisions and policy changes. While the overall economy has been quite volatile, the Wisconsin Funeral Trust has benefited during this time of economic turmoil.

• First, the FDIC has raised their insurance limits on deposits from $100,000 to $250,000. This is an important factor as the Wisconsin Funeral Trust utilizes a number of different banks from across the country to hold deposits in its investment portfolio. This change has resulted in a direct strengthening of the cash deposits in the Wisconsin Funeral Trust.
• Second, as traditional banks have needed to raise deposits, they have started to offer higher rates on CDs. While CD rates in Wisconsin have only inched upwards from 2.89% to 3.24% over the past 6 months (Wisconsin average for 3 year CDs as of September, 2008), rates in other parts of the country have increased to over 4.5% for a 3 year CD. The Wisconsin Funeral Trust has been taking advantage of these higher rates and the security they offer.
• Lastly, with the new cash inflows into the Wisconsin Funeral Trust, we are well-positioned to continue to benefit from of the current economic conditions by building our reserves and planning for the future.