Catherine S. McBreen is managing director of Spectrem Group, a strategic consulting firm specializing in the affluent and retirement markets.

In a new report, "Affluent Household Financial Decision-Making," Spectrem finds that affluent men and women do not see eye-to-eye on just who makes the family's financial decisions.

Spectrem reports that while 56% of affluent men say husbands make these decisions, just 20% of women agree. Meanwhile, the majority of affluent women (61%) say financial decision-making is a joint effort. McBreen discusses these findings in detail during the interview.

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Catherine S. McBreen is managing director of Spectrem Group, a strategic consulting firm specializing in the affluent and retirement markets.

In a new report, "Lifestyles of the Rich," Spectrem has found that the ultra-wealthy are a lot more like ordinary folks than we might imagine.

Examining those with a net worth of $5 million or more, not including primary residence, Spectrem tells us that the rich generally: have a very high savings and investment rate, attribute their wealth to "hard work," and spend their leisure time traveling, reading, golfing, exercising and gardening. McBreen discusses these findings in detail during her interview.

Catherine S. McBreen is managing director of Spectrem Group, a strategic consulting firm specializing in the affluent and retirement markets.

Spectrem recently released a study titled "Affluent Women." The study found that seminars, newsletters and website features offered to affluent women by their financial advisors have not been well-received. Seminars, for example, were rated as poor by 35% of the affluent women surveyed.

McBreen discusses these findings in detail during her interview, as well as talking broadly about the needs and preferences of affluent women.

For more information on podcasts seen on this site, please contact the company or individuals interviewed. See disclaimer here.

Tom Casey, a vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton specializing in information technology, discusses the importance of IT integration to merger success.

Casey explains why senior management tends to approach IT integration in a perfunctory, arms-length manner and makes suggestions for avoiding major IT integration mistakes.

For more information on podcasts seen on this site, please contact the company or individuals interviewed. See disclaimer here.

Gerald Adolph, senior vice president and head of the Mergers & Restructurings practice at Booz Allen Hamilton, describes the importance of merger communications to successful transactions.

Adolph provides some valuable, practical advice about just how to set up and administer such a merger communications program.

For more information on podcasts seen on this site, please contact the company or individuals interviewed. See disclaimer here.

George H. Walper, Jr. is president of Spectrem Group, a strategic consulting firm specializing in the affluent and retirement markets. 

Spectrem recently released a report titled "Brand Loyalty vs Advisor Loyalty: How to Change the Loyalty of Affluent Investors."  It found that 55% of affluent investors would follow their advisors if they were to leave and join a new firm.  That number is as high as 71% when the advisor is a financial planner.

In his interview, Walper discusses these findings along with other conclusions the report draws about affluent investors and advisor loyalty.

For more information on podcasts seen on this site, please contact the company or individuals interviewed.  See disclaimer here.

George H. Walper, Jr. is president of Spectrem Group, a strategic consulting firm specializing in the affluent and retirement markets. 

The firm recently released a report titled "2005 Mass Affluent Investor," which found that mass affluent investors -- those with $100,000 to $1 million of investable assets -- have a high level of exposure to real estate.  With 37% of their total assets tied up in real estate, this group appears at significant risk should the housing bubble burst.

In his interview, Walper discusses this finding along with other observations about mass affluent investors.

Tony Ettinger is founder, president and chief executive officer of Credit Based Capital, a merchant bank that specializes in credit-based businesses. 

Recently, Ettinger was the focus of an American Banker story in which he "described his vision of a mortgage and nonmortgage loan servicer that would specialize in identifying borrowers in trouble and work out a modification or repayment plan before they default."

In this podcast interview, Ettinger elaborates on the opportunity he sees today and his plans to build such a company.

Gerald Adolph, senior vice president and head of the Mergers & Restructurings practice at Booz Allen Hamilton, explains on Mergercast by Booz Allen Hamilton why mergers are more successful today than they were over the past decade, when one-half to two-thirds of them failed.

Adolph attributes the change to a jump in the number of consolidation deals (rather than strategic deals), better pre-merger planning, and greater oversight from key stakeholders.

For more information on podcasts seen on this site, please contact the company or individuals interviewed.  See disclaimer here.