FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 6, 2004

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
Robert Cox
512-404-5128

                   FINANCIAL INDUSTRIES CORPORATION ANNOUNCES
              SALE OF NEW ERA AND ACTUARIAL CONSULTING SUBSIDIARIES

AUSTIN,  Texas --  (BUSINESS  WIRE) - January  6, 2004 --  Financial  Industries
Corporation ("FIC") today announced that it has sold the New Era companies which
it had previously  acquired in May 2003,  pursuant to a Stock Purchase Agreement
dated as of December 31, 2003 (the "December New Era Stock Purchase Agreement").
The companies were sold to BCDP Holdings,  LLP, which was established by five of
the  individuals  who had an  ownership  interest  in one or more of the New Era
companies prior to FIC's purchase of those companies  (Scott Bell, Mike Cochran,
Wayne Desselle,  Chris Murphy and John Pesce). The companies that were sold are:
(i) Total Consulting Group, Inc. ("TCG"), (ii) JNT Group, Inc. ("JNT") and (iii)
three companies collectively referred to as "Paragon" - Paragon Benefits,  Inc.,
The Paragon Group,  Inc., and Paragon National,  Inc. The December New Era Stock
Purchase Agreement provides that the consideration for the transaction is $1.00.

"Soon after these companies were purchased they began to fall behind projections
for  revenue  and  income,  which  has  required  FIC to make  significant  cash
infusions,"  said Gene Payne,  CEO of FIC. "The Board  re-evaluated  the New Era
Companies and concluded  that they are not a good business  venture in which FIC
should  continue.  This is one of  several  steps  being  taken by our  Board of
Directors  to  reposition   FIC  to  concentrate  on  the  growth  of  its  core
businesses," he added.

Also, at the time of the sale, Messrs. Bell, Cochran, Desselle, Murphy and Pesce
each resigned their employment with the Company's FICFS subsidiary. In addition,
each such individual entered into an agreement  releasing FIC and FICFS from all
obligations  under his  five-year  employment  contract  with FICFS and from any
claims he may have  under the May,  2003  purchase  agreements  under  which FIC
originally  acquired the New Era companies  (including any claims to the 155,597
restricted  shares of FIC common stock held in escrow  under those  agreements).
Under  the  agreements,  each of the five  individuals  received  a  payment  of
$10,000.

FIC expects that the sale of the New Era companies will contribute a loss in the
amount of  approximately  $5.0 million to its  financial  results for the fourth
quarter of 2003 before the impact of taxes.  FIC has not  determined the amount,
if any, of tax benefit related to this loss on sale.

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In  a  separate   transaction,   FIC  announced  that  it  sold  Actuarial  Risk
Consultants,  Inc.  ("ARC"),  an  actuarial  consulting  subsidiary  that it had
established in December 2002. The sale of ARC was to George M. Wise, III, who is
currently Vice President and Chief Financial  Officer of FIC. The  consideration
for the transaction was $10,000.  In addition,  Mr. Wise and FIC entered into an
amendment to Mr. Wise's employment  agreement.  The amendment  provides that the
term of the agreement now ends on March 31, 2004,  instead of December 31, 2005.
Mr. Wise has agreed to continue  as Chief  Financial  Officer of FIC until March
31, 2004.  The amendment also reduces Mr. Wise's  compensation  and provides for
specified severance payments.

Also,  in  connection  with  the sale of ARC to Mr.  Wise,  FIC  entered  into a
consulting  agreement with ARC.  Under the terms of the  agreement,  FIC and its
insurance  subsidiaries  may (but are not obligated to) obtain up to 2,000 hours
of actuarial consulting services from ARC during the period from January 1, 2004
to December 31, 2005. The agreement provides that actuarial  consulting services
provided by either Mr. Wise or Cory Zass (the  President  of ARC) will be billed
to FIC at a significantly discounted rate.

Statements regarding the effects and results of the transactions, agreements and
other matters  described in this press release,  including  expected losses,  as
well as any other statements that are not historical facts, are  forward-looking
statements  that involve certain risks,  uncertainties  and  assumptions.  These
include,  but are not limited to, final accounting  results,  third party claims
and other factors  detailed in the  company's  filings with the  Securities  and
Exchange  Commission  (SEC),  which  are  available  free of charge on the SEC's
website  at  www.sec.gov.  Should  one or more of these  risks or  uncertainties
materialize,  of should underlying  assumptions prove incorrect,  actual results
may vary materially from those indicated.

Financial Industries Corporation, through its various subsidiaries,  markets and
underwrites individual life insurance and annuity products. The Company's Nasdaq
symbol is FNIN. For more  information on FIC, go to  http://www.ficgroup.com  on
the Internet.

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