$2.8 Million Donated to The American College to Establish the State Farm Center for Women and Financial Services

BRYN MAWR, Pa., Jan. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Working women and business owners will soon have access to a wealth of new information on handling finances as a result of a recent generous donation from State Farm® Insurance.  The donation will enable The American College, the nation's premier educator of financial services professionals, to create a new Center for Women and Financial Services.  As the first academic center of its kind, this focal point of research, education and knowledge will serve as the nation's leading authority on the economic issues and opportunities of American women, both as consumers and providers of financial products and services.  The $2.8 million donation to fund the Center is the largest single corporate gift ever received by The American College.

"The State Farm Center for Women and Financial Services will be an enormous step forward toward better understanding the greatest economic force in the world – America's women.  This is a major commitment by a world-class financial services company to the creation of groundbreaking, cutting-edge research," said Professor Mary Quist-Newins, ChFC®, CLU®, CFP®, holder of the State Farm Chair in Women and Financial Services at The American College.

Quist-Newins continued: "By conducting research and disseminating compelling information and education, the State Farm Center for Women and Financial Services at The American College will grow to be an important advocate for the economic security of American women.  In addition, the Center can help financial organizations better understand and appreciate the value that women bring to the industry as producers and leaders."

"No one else has the collective scholarly assets or the depth of knowledge of the financial services industry to carry out this important mission. The resources devoted to the establishment of the State Farm Center for Women and Financial Services will enable this institution to deepen our understanding of the issues associated with American women and money, including recruitment, retention and the advancement of women in the financial services industry.  Our unique pragmatic approach to education will provide consumers and professionals with data that can 'cross the bridge' from theoretical knowledge to being real-world, practical, useful information," stated Larry Barton, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer at The American College.    

"The American College's commitment to studying and identifying the unique financial needs of women supports State Farm's history of providing a comprehensive suite of services for all customers," said Bob Trippel, Senior Vice President, Agency and Marketing, at State Farm.  "We're excited to partner with an institution that reflects State Farm's values, and we are confident that this initiative will have a positive impact in terms of helping women and their families strengthen their financial futures."

The women's market for financial services is diverse and complex.  Representing nearly 52 percent of the population, American women are already one of the world's most powerful economic forces.  Forty five percent of American millionaires are women and by 2030 it is widely projected that roughly two-thirds of the nation's wealth will be in the hands of females.

Despite this, the financial needs of women continue to be underserved.  The gender gap still exists in terms of wages and woman often have lower lifetime earnings.  Combine this with greater longevity, the probability of singlehood, chronic and disabling health conditions, as well as lower levels of financial literacy and you have a population at risk.  According to the U.S. Department of Labor, women are twice as likely as men to live below the poverty line during their retirement years.  

The financial services community needs to do more to help this population.  A 2008 State Farm survey found that two out of three female respondents didn't trust financial services professionals.  In addition, a survey of 12,000 women conducted by the Boston Consulting Group found that financial services was rated the lowest in satisfaction when compared to 33 other product/service categories.

The State Farm organization has a long history of supporting women's issues.  In 2007, State Farm established a Chair in Women and Financial Services at The American College.  This faculty appointment was the first research chair of its kind devoted exclusively to the study of women and their financial concerns.  Today, the Chair is responsible for generating research and creating educational content that helps financial professionals better serve women's needs.  

Through the establishment of this Chair, in two years, The American College was able to release the results of research designed to unearth the causes of the income disparity between male and female producers. The study known as, "The American College Benchmark Producer Research 2009," discovered that while earnings increase among financial advisors of both genders throughout their careers, they do so to a lesser degree for women.  

The additional personnel and resources that will be made available to The College through the establishment of the Center will help the institution to generate even more new knowledge and increase awareness of the pressing challenges confronting the ability of America's women to achieve financial security.  

About State Farm®:  State Farm insures more cars and homes than any other insurer in the U.S., is the leading insurer of watercraft and is also a leading insurer in Canada. Our 17,800 agents and more than 66,000 employees serve 81 million policies and accounts - more than 79 million auto, fire, life and health policies in the United States and Canada, and nearly 2 million bank accounts. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 34 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit statefarm.com® or in Canada statefarm.ca®.

The American College is the nation's largest non-profit educational institution devoted to financial services.  Holding the highest level of academic accreditation, The College has served as a valued business partner to banks, brokerage firms, insurance companies and others for over 84 years.  The American College's faculty represents some of the financial services industry's foremost thought leaders.  For more information, visit TheAmericanCollege.edu

SOURCE The American College