When:
July 22nd, 2004  Request Transcript

Speaker: Stephen Ross President SR Advisory Services

Session Description: 

                                                            
The global financial services industry is continually under pressure to adapt to new market forces that chip away at their bottom lines. Identifying new revenue streams and cost efficiencies will be key to sustaining growth in today's competitive environment. In fact, more and more banks are investing in wealth management to attain new fee-based revenues from their higher-value customers. As an aging population of high net-worth individuals and baby boomers near retirement, the opportunity for banks to offer new, relevant services, such as philanthropy, will expand. The presentation titled "Banking on Philanthropy" will include the following:

* Insight into the key trends driving increased adoption of technology-supported philanthropic services offered by banks.
* An assessment of two leading philanthropic services -- Donor-Advised Fund and Private Foundation -- gaining traction in the industry.
* A case study on one financial services firm's third-party technology investment and implementation project.
* A future view of this space and the key requirements necessary to support the imminent growth in the philanthropic services industry.

This program is appropriate for senior financial executives with responsibility for Wealth Markets, Retail Marketing, Private Banking, Channel Development, Market Research and Strategy Teams.

Attendance Fee:

$275 per institution plus $50 per telephone line used

About Stephen Ross and SR Advisory Services

Stephen Ross founded SR Advisory Services in 2004 following the sale of AlignIT where he was the Director and co-Founder of The AlignIT Group's Financial Services Practice. As a business strategist and technology advisor for the financial services and technology industries, Mr. Ross brings over 15 years of experience to Ross Associates. Throughout his career, Mr. Ross has analyzed business problems and designed technology solutions that helped firms achieve their desired business goals and return on investment. With an extensive knowledge base and industry expertise, he has advised business and information technology decision-makers on the best-fit strategies and technology investments to support their firms' unique business models, giving them an edge over the competition. With a solid foundation of combined industry, technology, entrepreneurial, and relationship-building expertise, Mr. Ross will help clients of Ross Associates catapult their businesses over that of the competition.

Prior to joining The AlignIT Group, Mr. Ross worked as an analyst at Meridien Research where his breadth of research coverage included corporate and retail banking, wealth management, securities and investments, and insurance with a focus on client-centric and multi-channel strategies and technologies. In addition, he was involved in consulting projects that helped clients gain a particular understanding of key trends, challenges, and opportunities, impacting the course of their business strategies. Two such studies assessed the defined contribution/401k marketplace and the business and technology requirements necessary to offer advice online; and the impact on small business customers of mergers and acquisitions as well as the resulting information technology integration.

Prior to joining Meridien, Mr. Ross spent a considerable part of his career in banking, conducting in-depth analysis and devising solutions to identify trends and metrics that drove critical business decisions at the executive level. He has performed analyses that have identified retail branch best practices, potential corporate credit exposure risks as part of Y2K, and branches for divestiture. In addition, Mr. Ross took a lead role in designing the former BayBank's first corporate banking relationship management desktop application to identify potential risks and new opportunities associated with business customers.

Mr. Ross has been widely quoted in the financial and technology media including American Banker, US Banker, American Bankers Association, Information Week, Wall Street & Technology, CIO Forum, Peppers & Rogers, and A.M. Best.

Mr. Ross holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics and earned his Master of Business Administration degree from the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College.