Birmingham, AL (July 6, 2009)—John O. Allen, Jr. has been awarded the Accredited Investment Fiduciary® (AIF®) designation from Fiduciary360. The AIF designation signifies a thorough knowledge of fiduciary responsibilities and is the mark of commitment to a standard of investment fiduciary excellence that demonstrates a thorough understanding of prudent practices for investment advisors, managers and steward.

John O. Allen, Jr., a native of Winston Salem and a resident of Charlotte and Asheville, is a Senior Vice President and Trust Officer for The Trust Company of Sterne Agee, Inc. in Charlotte. Allen specializes in taxation, financial planning and investment services. John has thirty years of experience in trust, investment management, taxation, financial planning, retirement plan administration and private banking. He is an honors graduate of Furman University; The Southeastern Trust School at Campbell University; and the ABA Graduate Trust School, America’s most acclaimed graduate trust school.

Founded in 1901, Sterne Agee is one of the oldest and largest privately owned brokerage firms in the country. Sterne Agee has headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama and offices in 23 states. Sterne, Agee & Leach, Inc., is Member NYSE/FINRA/SIPC. The Trust Company of Sterne Agee, Inc. is a subsidiary of the Sterne Agee family of companies, a non-depository trust company, and is authorized to offer trust and investment management services in the states of North Carolina, Arizona, Idaho, and Alabama.

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Fi360, based near Pittsburgh, Pa., is the first full-time training and research facility for fiduciaries and conducts training programs at universities throughout the United States and abroad. In addition to the AIF, fi360 also offers the Accredited Investment Fiduciary Analyst™ designation, making those who earn the designation the only recognized professionals trained to perform fiduciary assessments, which measure how well investment professionals are fulfilling the fiduciary duties required of them by the applicable investment legislation, case law, and regulatory opinion letters.

Fi360 promotes a culture of fiduciary responsibility and improves the decision making processes of investment fiduciaries—individuals who manage money for others—through Training, Tools and Resources based on the defined Practices for investment fiduciaries. Fi360 provides investment education and training programs and awards the Accredited Investment Fiduciary® (AIF®) and Accredited Investment Fiduciary Analyst™ (AIFA®) professional designations. It develops sophisticated Web-based toolkits and reporting, including the innovative Fiduciary Score™ and the Fund Family Fiduciary Rankings™ for trustees and investment professionals and provides information for the collective knowledge and ongoing support for the investment community through resources such as a blog, an articles database and its national conference. For more information, visit www.fi360.com. .

For more information, contact:
Leah McKinney, Senior Vice President
205.949.3564
LMckinney@sterneagee.com