Press Release: January 10, 2002

WR Hambrecht + Co Initiates Coverage of Barra, Inc. (BARZ) with a Strong Buy Rating and $63 Target

San Francisco, CA, January 10, 2002—WR Hambrecht + Co today initiated research coverage on Barra, Inc. (BARZ) with a Strong Buy rating and a price target of $63. WR Hambrecht’s Financial Technology and Services analyst Stephen Laws cites Barra’s strong product base, dominant customer base, the opportunity for further customer penetration, the growing importance of risk management and the stock’s attractive valuation as key reasons for the rating. WR Hambrecht + Co offers all its research reports free and real time at www.wrhambrecht.com.

“We believe the Company has three distinct growth opportunities,” says Laws. “Barra can increase its market share by adding new customers, and we believe the company can further penetrate its current customers. With the company’s larger customers currently only 10-15% penetrated, we believe there is substantial room for growth. Additionally, the company’s new enterprise-wide TotalRisk solution should allow Barra to expand its presence in the largest 200 money managers.”

WR Hambrecht expects Barra to report revenue of $41.9 million for fiscal Q3:02 (Dec.) and earnings of $0.45 per share when the company reports its quarter results on January 23, 2002.

Barra, Inc. is a provider of risk management solutions to money managers and financial institutions.