PHILADELPHIA, April 24, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and AXA Advisors, LLC have partnered to create a new executive education program for financial professionals. The inaugural session of The Wharton/AXA Retirement Planning Program included 50 AXA financial professionals who were selected from more than 6,000 individuals nationwide. The executive education program was developed to provide intensive training in advanced retirement planning for AXA Equitable financial professionals.
"The breadth of Wharton's academic expertise allowed us to bridge disciplines and create a fully customized approach," said Lorraine Truten, senior director for Wharton Executive Education's financial services practice. "Wharton and AXA Equitable have worked together to develop a curriculum spanning the future of Social Security and Medicare to investment allocation decisions facing retirees," she continued.
This year-long program commences with 5 intensive days of class sessions taught by 10 Wharton faculty members, led by Olivia S. Mitchell, the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Professor, and the executive director of the Pension Research Council at the Wharton School. Topics covered included:
-- Identifying, Mitigating and Insuring Retirement Risks
-- Qualified and Non-Qualified Plans and their Roles in
Retirement Planning
-- Medicare and Social Security - Dealing with Institutional
Risk
-- Asset Allocation and Diversification
-- Real Estate in the Retirement Portfolio
-- Estate Planning and Tax Issues in Retirement
"Wharton is extraordinarily engaged with AXA leadership," said Professor Mitchell, the academic director for the program. "Together we have developed a unique program focused on novel concepts and issues for the at-retirement marketplace." Participants will strengthen their retirement risk management and financial asset allocation techniques to best serve the planning needs of current and future clients.
"AXA is committed to providing our clients with the most comprehensive and current advice on a broad range of financial topics related to retirement," said Bill Degnan, senior vice president and head of AXA Equitable's At Retirement(sm) unit. "We chose Wharton as our partner because it is a leader in management development, research, education, and knowledge creation, and we wanted our financial professionals to have access to the best minds on these issues."
Wharton Executive Education has recently expanded its service offering with the Wharton Learning Continuum, a 9- to 12-month relationship that supports participants from before they enter the classroom to after they return to work. "AXA is making full use of our new model, by asking its financial professionals to define observable outcomes for themselves and reconvening the groups using our virtual classroom," said Vice Dean Jon Spector, the director of Wharton Executive Education. "The program has been designed to deliver a real impact to their business."
About Wharton Executive Education
Each year, Wharton Executive Education works with more than 8,000 business leaders on its campus in Philadelphia, at Wharton West in San Francisco, at overseas locations through various affiliations, and on site at companies around the world. The Wharton Learning Continuum is Wharton Executive Education's design process for delivering Impact Through Education(tm) -- supporting companies and individuals before, during and after the classroom experience to maximize business results.
About the Wharton School
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania-founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school-is recognized globally for intellectual leadership and ongoing innovation across every major discipline of business education. The most comprehensive source of business knowledge in the world, Wharton bridges research and practice through its broad engagement with the global business community. The school has more than 4600 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students; and an alumni network of more than 81,000 graduates.
About AXA Advisors, LLC
AXA Advisors, LLC is a leading provider of financial services for consumers and businesses, working with clients to help them define and meet their financial goals. AXA Equitable provides life insurance, annuities and other needs-based products and services for the financial services market. AXA Advisors and AXA Equitable are subsidiaries of AXA Financial, Inc., one of the premier U.S. organizations providing financial protection and wealth management, and had approximately $574.8 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2005. AXA Financial is a member of the global AXA Group, which was listed as the 13th largest company on Fortune's Global 500 list in 2004.
Media Contact
Michael McTigue, Director, Marketing Communications
Aresty Institute of Executive Education
(215) 898-7239
mctiguem@wharton.upenn.edu