[To our current students and alumnae, we are pleased to co-host the first in a series of events targeted specifically towards women. We hope you can join us. -John Lyon, Director, Wharton West]

The "mass affluent" – it’s a tantalizing demographic group that many financial service providers covet. But who are they, what do we know about them, and how can we reach them effectively? Our panel of star marketers will share their deep understanding of this unique group as well as the strategies their companies have employed to engage it.

Register: http://fwasf.org/event2005sept15.asp

Event Details
Who: The Financial Women’s Association of San Francisco
What: Industry Leadership Series – “Marketing Financial Services to the Mass Affluent Segment”
When:  Thursday, September 15th, 2005
5:30pm – 6:15pm. Networking and tours
6:15pm – 7:30pm. Program. Beverages and hors d’oeuvres will be provided.
Where: Wharton School of Business, West Coast Campus
On the 5th floor of the historic Folger Building
101 Howard Street at the corner of Spear Street, San Francisco, CA
Cost:  $20 for FWA members, Wharton students and alumni; $35 for non-members and guests. Walk-ins are an additional $5 for both members and non-members or guests if space is available.  
For more information about the Wharton School: www.wharton.upenn.edu/mbaexec

While awareness of this segment dates back to the 1970s, it has recently gained more attention. Current examples abound of companies that were previously seen solely as luxury brands, such as Mercedes Benz, offering lower priced luxury goods to target this segment. With an estimated 22 million mass affluent households today in the United States, this group is growing and becoming one of the most lucrative consumer demographics for product marketers to target. However, mass affluents don’t respond to the strategies that work for high net worth (ultra premium) or conventional offerings.  This represents a significant marketing challenge.

Join us in San Francisco on Thursday, September 15, 2005 for this insightful panel discussion to learn more about this segment and how it is changing the modern consumer landscape. Panel participants include Jean Blomberg, Senior Vice President of City National Bank, Paul Peterzell, Vice President of Charles Schwab & Company, and Jennifer Schulz, Vice President of Visa USA.

This program is co-hosted by The Wharton School of Business, West Coast Campus. The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania established its San Francisco campus in 2001 allowing access to Wharton’s academic programs, research and alumni on both the East and West coasts.  San Francisco campus initiatives include Executive Education, alumni outreach, faculty research and most prominently, The Wharton MBA Program for Executives.  Wharton's two-year, weekend, residential MBA Program for Executives offers the same degree as Wharton's traditional full-time MBA, built on the same rigorous curriculum, and taught by the same world-class faculty.

About the Speakers

Jean Blomberg, Senior Vice President, Private Banking Services Manager, City National Bank ? Jean manages City National's Private Banking Services in the East Bay and Palo Alto, overseeing a team of private banking and wealth management professionals. Based at City National’s Walnut Creek Regional Center, Ms. Blomberg assists clients with a broad range of specialized banking services including estate and financial planning, trust services, money management, jumbo mortgage, loan requests and legal services banking.

Ms. Blomberg joined City National Bank in 2002 from Silicon Valley Bank, where she spent nearly 10 years, most recently as National Managing Director of private banking. She  also is a guest lecturer at several Bay Area colleges, including the University of California, Berkeley. Ms. Blomberg is past president of FWA, and has been named by the San Francisco Business Times as one of the Bay Area’s 100 Most Influential Women in Business.

Paul Peterzell, Vice President Research & Marketing Analysis, Charles Schwab & Company ? As a member of the Charles Schwab marketing team, Paul heads the research team that supports strategic initiatives such as pricing strategy, client segmentation, marketing effectiveness and identification of new product and services.  Prior to his current position, he  served as vice president of marketing and business development for Charles Schwab’s Electronic Brokerage enterprise, where he was responsible for evaluating online customer needs and behavior to drive strategy, creating marketing campaigns, and developing products.  Previously, he was a director of planning and analysis in Schwab Institutional.

Prior to joining Schwab 1993, Peterzell spent ten years with First Interstate and Nestle, where he held a variety of marketing and marketing research positions.  Paul earned his Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of California at Berkeley. He reports to Schwab's Chief Marketing Officer, Rebecca Saeger.

Jennifer Schulz, Vice President Consumer Credit Products, Visa USA? Jennifer oversees the strategic direction and management of Visa’s consumer credit product platforms including the Visa Traditional, Visa Traditional Rewards and Visa Signature products, as well as the Visa Incentive Network platform. Her team manages product protocol and cross-platform initiatives designed to drive Member profitability, while consulting with consumer credit Issuer financial institutions to create cardholder and merchant value.  

Prior to joining Visa in 2004, Jennifer was a strategic management consultant at DiamondCluster International, Inc. and director of marketing and membership for the University of Michigan.  She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan.