The UCLA Anderson School of Management today announced a gift of $150,000 from Wachovia Corporation (NYSE:WB) to provide direct support for the UCLA Anderson Forecast. This is the Forecast's largest gift to date and will help fund the regional and quarterly conferences, which deliver to business leaders critical information and insights regarding current and future business conditions.
Wachovia Bank will serve as the host sponsor of the UCLA Anderson Forecast's Orange County Economic Outlook for 2007. This event will take place Friday, October 13, 2006 in Irvine, CA. Distinguished speakers will examine the global U.S., and Orange County economies, as well as take an in-depth look at real estate and employment in Orange County. Wachovia Bank will also sponsor the 2007 San Diego regional UCLA Anderson Forecast conference and the June 2007 UCLA Anderson quarterly Forecast conference on real estate.
"Wachovia Bank is proud to sponsor the prestigious UCLA Anderson Forecast conferences," said Pete Jones, Western Banking Group executive. "Wachovia Bank is making a significant investment in California and the understanding behind the data provided by the UCLA Anderson Forecast serves as a critical decision making tool for us. We look forward to building a strong relationship with an organization whose economic forecasts are nationally recognized for their insight at the national, state and local levels."
Founded in 1952, the UCLA Anderson Forecast is one of the longest running independent forecasting groups in the country, providing outlooks for California and the nation. Award-winning for its accuracy, the UCLA Anderson Forecast often breaks with consensus in its quarterly forecast reports, which feature projections for major economic indicators, including GDP, employment, unemployment, inflation, and interest rates.
"The UCLA Anderson Forecast is very appreciative of Wachovia's generous gift and support," said Edward Leamer, director of the UCLA Anderson Forecast. "Our ability to provide timely and relevant information to the California business community depends on the support of organizations like Wachovia."
Details of the UCLA Anderson Forecast Orange County Conference and more information on the UCLA Anderson Forecast can be found at http://uclaforecast.com/.
About Wachovia
Wachovia Corporation (NYSE:WB) is one of the nation's largest diversified financial services companies, providing a broad range of retail banking and brokerage, asset and wealth management, and corporate and investment banking products and services. Including the Golden West merger, Wachovia has retail and commercial banking operations in 21 states with 3,400 retail banking offices from Connecticut to Florida and west to Texas and California. In addition, two core businesses operate under the Wachovia Securities brand name: retail brokerage with 740 offices in 49 states and in Latin America, and corporate and investment banking in selected industries nationwide. Other nationwide businesses include mortgage lending in 39 states and auto finance covering 46 states. Globally, Wachovia serves clients through more than 40 international offices. Online banking is available at wachovia.com; online brokerage products and services at wachoviasec.com, and investment products and services at evergreeninvestments.com. Based on June 30, 2006, pro forma data, Wachovia has combined assets of approximately $700 billion and as of Sept. 29, 2006, a combined market capitalization of $107 billion.
About UCLA Anderson Forecast
UCLA Anderson Forecast is one of the most widely watched and often-cited economic outlooks for California and the nation, and was unique in predicting both the seriousness of the early-1990s downturn in California, and the strength of the state's rebound since 1993. Most recently, the Forecast is credited as the first major U.S. economic forecasting group to declare the recession of 2001. Visit UCLA Anderson Forecast on the Web at http://uclaforecast.com.
