Santa Barbara, CA - January 6, 2005

Tim Mahota, Chief Compliance Officer for Partnervest Financial Group LLC, was awarded the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) Staff Recognition Award for his outstanding service in the Association and as a leader of the National Labor and Employment Law Committee. Mr. Mahota's contributions to the ACC and the legal profession this past year included leading the Committee in providing multiple outreach programs and over 7 webcasts on issues such as HIPAA, Fair Labor Standards Act, California Employment Law and Shareholder Approval of Equity Compensation Plans. Mr. Mahota was also instrumental in setting forth key input into new Federal overtime regulations and providing multiple outreach programs. Mr. Mahota is a national speaker on the topic of financial services regulation, ERISA and employee benefits. He also provides guidance on privacy requirements and has co-authored “EU Data Protection: A Compliance Guide for U. S. Companies.” Mahota served on the U.S. Department of Labor's ERISA Advisory Council by appointment of the United States Secretary of Labor and was an attorney with the Securities and Exchange Commission (Division of Enforcement) and at the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (a U.S. Agency enforcing ERISA). Mahota participates in numerous professional securities organizations and is licensed by the National Association of Securities Dealers as a general securities principal, municipal securities principal, options principal, and as a general securities representative. Mahota received a BA from John Carroll University, a JD from Ohio State University, and an LLM in Securities Regulation and a Certification in Employee Benefits Law from Georgetown University Law Center.


About the ACC
The Association of Corporate Counsel is the in-house bar association serving the professional needs of corporate attorneys. The association promotes and encourages advancements in standards of corporate legal practice. Since its founding in 1982, the association has grown to more than 16,000 members in more than 50 countries who represent 7,000 corporations, with 45 Chapters and 12 Committees serving the membership. Its members represent 49 of the Fortune 50 companies and 98 of the Fortune 100 companies. Internationally, its members represent 45 of the Global 50 and 83 of the Global 100 companies.


About Partnervest Financial Group
Partnervest Financial Group LLC, headquartered in Santa Barbara, California, is a privately owned full-service financial services, technology and consulting company. Partnervest and its wholly owned subsidiaries, Partnervest Securities, Inc. (Member NASD/SIPC), Partnervest Advisory Services LLC, a Registered Investment Advisor, and Partnervest Insurance Services LLC, an Insurance Agency, provide the full spectrum of financial services and products, as well as back-office operations, compliance, and business consulting services. Partnervest Technology Group provides multi tiered applications and an ASP model for account aggregation, electronic imaging, portfolio reporting, reconciliation, and integration management of financial service databases. For further information, contact Partnervest at (888) 991-9969 or at www.partnervest.com.