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Media Contact: Elizabeth Hodges
(704) 383-5188

Investor Contact: Alice Lehman
(704) 374-4139

March 22, 2005
Wachovia Retirement Services Sponsors First 100 Advisors in Pursuit of Designation for Retirement Sales and Services Professionals

Charlotte, NC — Wachovia Retirement Services announced today that it is the first firm to sponsor investment professionals in the PLANSPONSOR Retirement Professional (PRP) designation program, a 4-week curriculum that has been specially designed for financial professionals.

"Wachovia is committed to the advancement of financial advisors so they can grow and retain their retirement plan business. We are pleased to be the first firm to sponsor advisors to complete the PRP certification program," said Joseph F. Ready, director of Wachovia Retirement Services. "This program enables experienced retirement advisors to enhance their ability to help clients make more informed choices for their retirement plans."

In the highly competitive retirement plan marketplace, financial advisors who provide retirement plan services for plan sponsors are challenged to distinguish themselves by offering the highest quality expertise possible. The growing complexity of issues, such as fiduciary liability and fee transparency, has made competing for retirement plan business more challenging than ever before. The advent of PLANSPONSOR’S PRP designation marks an important step in the advancement of service quality for plan sponsors.

The designation will help advisors:
Gain additional insights into plan sponsors’ expectations in order to recognize business trends, better serve clients and build their practice.
Better identify and understand the economic and regulatory forces that influence the retirement plan market.
Gain industry insights by networking with other retirement plan professionals.
PLANSPONSOR Institute, the education arm of PLANSPONSOR Magazine, has established the PLANSPONSOR Retirement Professional (PRP) designation as the industry benchmark for measuring retirement sales and service expertise.

About Wachovia Retirement Services
With more than $68 billion in assets under administration as of December 31, 2004, Wachovia Retirement Services, a business unit of Wachovia Bank, N.A., offers a wide array of retirement products. Wachovia is committed to providing fully bundled defined contribution, defined benefit and non-qualified retirement plans that exceed customer expectations. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Wachovia Retirement Services has more than 4,100 plans and more than 1.1 million participants and pensioners. For more complete information about Wachovia Retirement Services please visit http://www.wachovia.com/401k or call 800-917-9343.

Wachovia Corporation (NYSE:WB) is one of the largest providers of financial services to retail, brokerage and corporate customers, with retail operations from Connecticut to Florida and west to Texas, and retail brokerage operations nationwide. Wachovia had assets of $493.3 billion, market capitalization of $83.5 billion and stockholders’ equity of $47.3 billion at December 31, 2004. Its four core businesses, the General Bank, Capital Management, Wealth Management, and the Corporate and Investment Bank, serve customers primarily in 15 states and Washington, D.C. Its full-service retail brokerage firm, Wachovia Securities, LLC, serves clients in 49 states and five Latin American countries. Global services are offered through 33 international offices. Online banking and brokerage products and services also are available through Wachovia.com.

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