Our History
C F Effron Company was created after spending 25 years in the corporate banking, insurance and investment worlds and recognizing that there is little or no understanding among these disciplines. This creates confusion within these worlds which ultimately translates into corporate and consumer gaps in understanding financial services. On a personal note, I learned this first hand when my father died very young and the family realized that although there were life insurance proceeds, they would not be enough to educate five children and sustain a mother that had stayed at home and raised the family. Given this personal history and my experience in the business world, I founded the company to bridge the gaps in financial services, bringing understanding and opportunity to corporations and ultimately consumers. This is the motivation that continually inspires me to provide innovative and effective consulting to our clients.
Our Team
Carmen F. Effron, MBA, CLU, ChFC, FLMI
Carmen Effron is the founder and president of C F Effron Company LLC. C F Effron Company provides strategy and management consulting as well as customer experience research to numerous banks, credit unions, insurers, and reinsurers both domestically and abroad. Ms. Effron also works with a network of associate firms in developing top executive teams for complex projects using best-in-class measurement as well as innovative and scientific data collection techniques. Ms. Effron is a certified Innovation Games® facilitator. In company and board workshops she uses these games to not only solve everyday problems, but also to help create the big ideas which may become major market transformations. One of the firm’s competitive advantages is the use of advanced evaluative tools. Through the use of these tools, firms can turn numbers into knowledge, creating integrated and actionable strategies. For many years the focus of the C F Effron Company has been the intersection of banking, insurance, and investments.
Previously, Ms. Effron was Chief Executive Officer of BankBoston Executive Benefits and president of BankBoston Insurance Agency (now Bank of America). In that capacity, Ms. Effron created the strategic plan managed and had full P&L responsibility for all the bank’s insurance related programs. As the sales and marketing leader of a 24-member executive redesign team, she provided thought leadership to reengineer strategy, products, processes, and operations of the bank. Her oversight resulted in a revenue impact of $88 million, process and cost reduction of $188 million, and a 40% rise in sales productivity.
As president of NatWest Bank's U.S. domestic insurance operations prior to their acquisition, Ms. Effron was responsible for planning, development, and implementation of the bank's corporate initiatives to distribute insurance products. Ms. Effron spent five years in the European market working for the American International Group's European Life Division asDirector of the Financial Institution's Strategic Business Unit. Ms. Effron also managed the marketing division and corporate communications for the U.K. insurance subsidiary of the French company, Groupe des Assurance Nationale. Her broad based financial services background includes management responsibility for the Northeast sales and marketing division of General Reassurance Corporation and as a personal money manager for Merrill Lynch.
Ms. Effron is a founding board member of the Bank Insurance Securities Association (BISA), past president of the Financial Institutions Insurance Association, past board member and a founder of the ABA Insurance Association. Ms. Effron was, prior to their acquisition, an advisory board member of SaveDaily.com, a leading provider of low-cost mutual fund investing platforms used by financial institutions. She is a six year board member of the prestigious Atlantic Theater Company of NYC which was founded by David Mamet and William H. Macy. She is the past chair and member of the advisory board for the University of Connecticut NEAG School of Education. She is currently an advisory board member of ChangeCreateTransform, WorldCare International, and the Primora Global American subsidiary, PrimoraHealth.
Ms. Effron received her BA and MBA degrees from the University of Connecticut and was inducted into the UConn School of Business Hall of Fame in 2011, one of 150 people honored to-date out of 50,000 graduates. In 2013, Ms. Effron received the Connecticut Small Business Institute for Excellence in Commerce award. Ms. Effron is a frequent public speaker whose opinions and insights are often quoted in the financial services press.
When relaxing she can be found on the ski slopes, at the beach rollerblading, or trying to improve her golf and tennis.
Carmen Effron is the founder and president of C F Effron Company LLC. C F Effron Company provides strategy and management consulting as well as customer experience research to numerous banks, credit unions, insurers, and reinsurers both domestically and abroad. Ms. Effron also works with a network of associate firms in developing top executive teams for complex projects using best-in-class measurement as well as innovative and scientific data collection techniques. Ms. Effron is a certified Innovation Games® facilitator. In company and board workshops she uses these games to not only solve everyday problems, but also to help create the big ideas which may become major market transformations. One of the firm’s competitive advantages is the use of advanced evaluative tools. Through the use of these tools, firms can turn numbers into knowledge, creating integrated and actionable strategies. For many years the focus of the C F Effron Company has been the intersection of banking, insurance, and investments.
Previously, Ms. Effron was Chief Executive Officer of BankBoston Executive Benefits and president of BankBoston Insurance Agency (now Bank of America). In that capacity, Ms. Effron created the strategic plan managed and had full P&L responsibility for all the bank’s insurance related programs. As the sales and marketing leader of a 24-member executive redesign team, she provided thought leadership to reengineer strategy, products, processes, and operations of the bank. Her oversight resulted in a revenue impact of $88 million, process and cost reduction of $188 million, and a 40% rise in sales productivity.
As president of NatWest Bank's U.S. domestic insurance operations prior to their acquisition, Ms. Effron was responsible for planning, development, and implementation of the bank's corporate initiatives to distribute insurance products. Ms. Effron spent five years in the European market working for the American International Group's European Life Division asDirector of the Financial Institution's Strategic Business Unit. Ms. Effron also managed the marketing division and corporate communications for the U.K. insurance subsidiary of the French company, Groupe des Assurance Nationale. Her broad based financial services background includes management responsibility for the Northeast sales and marketing division of General Reassurance Corporation and as a personal money manager for Merrill Lynch.
Ms. Effron is a founding board member of the Bank Insurance Securities Association (BISA), past president of the Financial Institutions Insurance Association, past board member and a founder of the ABA Insurance Association. Ms. Effron was, prior to their acquisition, an advisory board member of SaveDaily.com, a leading provider of low-cost mutual fund investing platforms used by financial institutions. She is a six year board member of the prestigious Atlantic Theater Company of NYC which was founded by David Mamet and William H. Macy. She is the past chair and member of the advisory board for the University of Connecticut NEAG School of Education. She is currently an advisory board member of ChangeCreateTransform, WorldCare International, and the Primora Global American subsidiary, PrimoraHealth.
Ms. Effron received her BA and MBA degrees from the University of Connecticut and was inducted into the UConn School of Business Hall of Fame in 2011, one of 150 people honored to-date out of 50,000 graduates. In 2013, Ms. Effron received the Connecticut Small Business Institute for Excellence in Commerce award. Ms. Effron is a frequent public speaker whose opinions and insights are often quoted in the financial services press.
When relaxing she can be found on the ski slopes, at the beach rollerblading, or trying to improve her golf and tennis.
Beth Schlater, CFA - Associate
Frequently referred to as "the engineer “. Beth has a track record of being able to crack the most conceptually difficult problems and create breakthroughs for companies in ways they understand. Beth holds a Charted Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and has over 10 years’ experience assisting companies determine objectives, set, and then achieve their goals. Her strengths involve business process analysis including operational changes, software streamlining and organizational structure. In addition, project planning improvements executed using a multi-level approach; interactive team meetings and workshops, setting/assessing goals, structural planning software and real time client reporting. Prior to consulting, Beth worked for International Heritage Funds (bought by Franklin Funds), Goldman Sachs, and Scudder, Stevens and Clark, specifically in the Insurance Asset Management division.
Frequently referred to as "the engineer “. Beth has a track record of being able to crack the most conceptually difficult problems and create breakthroughs for companies in ways they understand. Beth holds a Charted Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and has over 10 years’ experience assisting companies determine objectives, set, and then achieve their goals. Her strengths involve business process analysis including operational changes, software streamlining and organizational structure. In addition, project planning improvements executed using a multi-level approach; interactive team meetings and workshops, setting/assessing goals, structural planning software and real time client reporting. Prior to consulting, Beth worked for International Heritage Funds (bought by Franklin Funds), Goldman Sachs, and Scudder, Stevens and Clark, specifically in the Insurance Asset Management division.
Andrea J. Simon, Ph.D. - Associate
Andrea J. Simon Ph.D., corporate anthropologist, is president and founder of Simon Associates Management Consultants (SAMC), a woman-owned business and consulting company focused on helping companies to change. Dr. Simon partners with C F Effron on special projects that allow us to collaborate on culture change initiatives, a core capability of C F Effron’s expertise. She brings her financial services background and expertise as a cultural anthropologist to the “Bridging the Cultural Divide” research and consulting work that is so critical to the financial services and insurance industries today.
With over twenty years of experience as a senior executive with financial services and healthcare institutions and her academic research as an anthropologist studying change, Dr. Simon’s helps companies discover new ways to see, feel and think about their business, their customers and about changing markets. She is particularly effective at understanding how to align the needs of customers with the culture of an organization, providing proprietary tools to help leadership and staff better utilize resources and overcome obstacles to change. Using a proprietary ChangeMap™ process, SAMC helps companies develop their change strategy and implement it effectively. Dr. Simon is also a certified facilitator in Innovation Games® and in the University of Michigan Organizational Cultural Assessment Instrument™ (OCAI).
Our approach uses ethnographic techniques to help company leaders find new markets, change their customer experience, reinvent their business models, transform their organizational structure, create innovative new products and services, or significantly alter their brand positioning in the market. Often, we support the implementation of new initiatives and in many instances we become the marketing and brand-development team for the client, ensuring integration between vision, strategy and execution.
Dr. Simon‘s work has received awards and recognition. She has been a tenured professor at Ramapo College in New Jersey, and a visiting professor at Washington University in St. Louis. She has appeared on Television, in Business Week and the Washington Post discussing her approach to change and produced two television series for CBS Sunrise Semesters.
Dr. Simon received her undergraduate degree from Penn State, and her Ph.D. from City University of New York. She has received a Post-Doctoral Grant from the National Endowment of the Arts at University of Pennsylvania and completed a program in finance from Wharton Business School.
Dr. Simon’s board positions include being a Member of the Independent Living and Independent Health Care; The Hudson Valley Philharmonic; Rockland Center for the Arts; Board of Governors, Good Samaritan Hospital; Board of Trustees, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton College; Vice-President and Board of Trustees, Eva’s Village; and Vice-Chairman and Board Member, The Harvey School.
Andrea J. Simon Ph.D., corporate anthropologist, is president and founder of Simon Associates Management Consultants (SAMC), a woman-owned business and consulting company focused on helping companies to change. Dr. Simon partners with C F Effron on special projects that allow us to collaborate on culture change initiatives, a core capability of C F Effron’s expertise. She brings her financial services background and expertise as a cultural anthropologist to the “Bridging the Cultural Divide” research and consulting work that is so critical to the financial services and insurance industries today.
With over twenty years of experience as a senior executive with financial services and healthcare institutions and her academic research as an anthropologist studying change, Dr. Simon’s helps companies discover new ways to see, feel and think about their business, their customers and about changing markets. She is particularly effective at understanding how to align the needs of customers with the culture of an organization, providing proprietary tools to help leadership and staff better utilize resources and overcome obstacles to change. Using a proprietary ChangeMap™ process, SAMC helps companies develop their change strategy and implement it effectively. Dr. Simon is also a certified facilitator in Innovation Games® and in the University of Michigan Organizational Cultural Assessment Instrument™ (OCAI).
Our approach uses ethnographic techniques to help company leaders find new markets, change their customer experience, reinvent their business models, transform their organizational structure, create innovative new products and services, or significantly alter their brand positioning in the market. Often, we support the implementation of new initiatives and in many instances we become the marketing and brand-development team for the client, ensuring integration between vision, strategy and execution.
Dr. Simon‘s work has received awards and recognition. She has been a tenured professor at Ramapo College in New Jersey, and a visiting professor at Washington University in St. Louis. She has appeared on Television, in Business Week and the Washington Post discussing her approach to change and produced two television series for CBS Sunrise Semesters.
Dr. Simon received her undergraduate degree from Penn State, and her Ph.D. from City University of New York. She has received a Post-Doctoral Grant from the National Endowment of the Arts at University of Pennsylvania and completed a program in finance from Wharton Business School.
Dr. Simon’s board positions include being a Member of the Independent Living and Independent Health Care; The Hudson Valley Philharmonic; Rockland Center for the Arts; Board of Governors, Good Samaritan Hospital; Board of Trustees, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton College; Vice-President and Board of Trustees, Eva’s Village; and Vice-Chairman and Board Member, The Harvey School.
Thomas C. Kane- Associate
Tom Kane is the founder and Managing Director of KaneCarlton, LLC. Mr. Kane has 35 years of financial services experience and specializes in helping clients review and revise business models for the sale and distribution of wealth management services. Mr. Kane partners with Carmen Effron on special projects that allow a financial institution to optimize results within the brokerage, asset management and trust business lines. This includes advising executive managers on topics including optimal organizational structure, interdepartmental integration, building competitive distinction through a positive , consistent client experience, streamlining distribution models, goal setting formulas, incentive and referral plan design, recruiting top talent and a host of other transformative counsel and work product aimed towards maximizing outcomes.
Before entering the consulting field, Mr. Kane founded and was President and CEO of Cardinal Wealth Services, Inc. the full service subsidiary of Cardinal Financial Corporation, a publically traded bank holding company operating community banks in Northern Virginia. Previously, Mr. Kane held the title of Senior Vice President and director of Investment Sales for Crestar Securitites Corportion and Crestar Bank, a large mid-Atlantic regional bank. Before his departure, Mr. Kane grew his staff from five to just under 100 employees in 6 years. The revenue grew from $600,000 to $17 Million annually.
From 1979 to 1991, Mr. Kane held a variety of different positions with National Permanent, FSB, Citibank, Citibank Investment Services and Invest Financial Services. Mr. Kane was a retail banker, financial consultant and regional sales manager.
Mr. Kane frequently contributes to Bank Investment Consultant Magazine, BISA OneSource and speaks at many industry events. Notable examples are; Raymond James FInancial Institution Division's Executive Management Symposium, the PROCU annual convention, BISA's annual convention and the Virginia, Wisconsin, New York, North Dakota and Minnesota Bankers Associations. He is the author of Wealth Biz Buzz, a thought-provoking blog helping wealth management executives make informed decisions and he is the founder and manager of the LinkedIn Group- Bank Investment Asdvisors, Managers and Executives.
Tom Kane is the founder and Managing Director of KaneCarlton, LLC. Mr. Kane has 35 years of financial services experience and specializes in helping clients review and revise business models for the sale and distribution of wealth management services. Mr. Kane partners with Carmen Effron on special projects that allow a financial institution to optimize results within the brokerage, asset management and trust business lines. This includes advising executive managers on topics including optimal organizational structure, interdepartmental integration, building competitive distinction through a positive , consistent client experience, streamlining distribution models, goal setting formulas, incentive and referral plan design, recruiting top talent and a host of other transformative counsel and work product aimed towards maximizing outcomes.
Before entering the consulting field, Mr. Kane founded and was President and CEO of Cardinal Wealth Services, Inc. the full service subsidiary of Cardinal Financial Corporation, a publically traded bank holding company operating community banks in Northern Virginia. Previously, Mr. Kane held the title of Senior Vice President and director of Investment Sales for Crestar Securitites Corportion and Crestar Bank, a large mid-Atlantic regional bank. Before his departure, Mr. Kane grew his staff from five to just under 100 employees in 6 years. The revenue grew from $600,000 to $17 Million annually.
From 1979 to 1991, Mr. Kane held a variety of different positions with National Permanent, FSB, Citibank, Citibank Investment Services and Invest Financial Services. Mr. Kane was a retail banker, financial consultant and regional sales manager.
Mr. Kane frequently contributes to Bank Investment Consultant Magazine, BISA OneSource and speaks at many industry events. Notable examples are; Raymond James FInancial Institution Division's Executive Management Symposium, the PROCU annual convention, BISA's annual convention and the Virginia, Wisconsin, New York, North Dakota and Minnesota Bankers Associations. He is the author of Wealth Biz Buzz, a thought-provoking blog helping wealth management executives make informed decisions and he is the founder and manager of the LinkedIn Group- Bank Investment Asdvisors, Managers and Executives.
Janet Huetteman - Associate
Janet Huetteman is a branding and customer experience consultant who uses proprietary tools and metrics to help design exceptional branded experiences and guide organizations to deliver against these platforms consistently and cohesively. Janet is currently an Assistant Professor of Marketing/Management at Lasell College, and has taught for many years in the NYU Graduate Program and Fairfield University School of Business. C F Effron Company partners with Janet on special marketing, research and branding projects. Her background in management consulting as well as her expertise as a Six Sigma graduate adds important additional consulting capabilities.
Janet’s has a wide range of skills to serve clients including leadership facilitation and coaching, change management, Six Sigma quality, branding, custom research, global marketing and communications. She has been in management consulting since 1995, helping companies such as GE, Raytheon Company, Ricoh Corporation, First Union (now Wells Fargo), Fairfield County Bank, Wahlstrom Group (IPG), Sacred Heart University, Fairfield University, and various non profits and small businesses in emerging growth markets.
As a consultant to GE, Janet led the global change initiative to enhance the strategic contribution of 500+ marketing and communications professionals worldwide. This included the development and facilitation of global best-practice sharing and training events, e-learning and on-line collaboration, as well as publishing toolkits, such as the MarComm Toolkit, the Executive Team Toolkit, the on-line Six Sigma Toolkit for Marketing, and the on-line Acquisition Integration Framework.
Before consulting, Janet held a series of marketing and communications management positions with GE. At GE Investments, she spearheaded the direct-to-consumer launch of the GE Funds, building the broker/dealer network, and supporting asset-management sales efforts to institutions and plan providers. At GE Supply, Janet led the brand positioning, advertising, public relations, and direct marketing efforts for 100+ retail branches. She began her career with GE Corporate in 1989 to support the company-wide “boundaryless” sales initiative. Prior to GE, Janet held management positions in advertising, publishing and marketing research.
Janet earned her MBA in Marketing at the Dolan School of Business, Fairfield University and is a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma International Honor Society. She received her B.A. from Boston College in Psychology, Marketing and Fine Arts. She is a frequent guest speaker at client forums and organizations, such as the AMA and MENG for marketing executives, SCORE small business counseling, and the FINE networking group for entrepreneurs.
Janet Huetteman is a branding and customer experience consultant who uses proprietary tools and metrics to help design exceptional branded experiences and guide organizations to deliver against these platforms consistently and cohesively. Janet is currently an Assistant Professor of Marketing/Management at Lasell College, and has taught for many years in the NYU Graduate Program and Fairfield University School of Business. C F Effron Company partners with Janet on special marketing, research and branding projects. Her background in management consulting as well as her expertise as a Six Sigma graduate adds important additional consulting capabilities.
Janet’s has a wide range of skills to serve clients including leadership facilitation and coaching, change management, Six Sigma quality, branding, custom research, global marketing and communications. She has been in management consulting since 1995, helping companies such as GE, Raytheon Company, Ricoh Corporation, First Union (now Wells Fargo), Fairfield County Bank, Wahlstrom Group (IPG), Sacred Heart University, Fairfield University, and various non profits and small businesses in emerging growth markets.
As a consultant to GE, Janet led the global change initiative to enhance the strategic contribution of 500+ marketing and communications professionals worldwide. This included the development and facilitation of global best-practice sharing and training events, e-learning and on-line collaboration, as well as publishing toolkits, such as the MarComm Toolkit, the Executive Team Toolkit, the on-line Six Sigma Toolkit for Marketing, and the on-line Acquisition Integration Framework.
Before consulting, Janet held a series of marketing and communications management positions with GE. At GE Investments, she spearheaded the direct-to-consumer launch of the GE Funds, building the broker/dealer network, and supporting asset-management sales efforts to institutions and plan providers. At GE Supply, Janet led the brand positioning, advertising, public relations, and direct marketing efforts for 100+ retail branches. She began her career with GE Corporate in 1989 to support the company-wide “boundaryless” sales initiative. Prior to GE, Janet held management positions in advertising, publishing and marketing research.
Janet earned her MBA in Marketing at the Dolan School of Business, Fairfield University and is a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma International Honor Society. She received her B.A. from Boston College in Psychology, Marketing and Fine Arts. She is a frequent guest speaker at client forums and organizations, such as the AMA and MENG for marketing executives, SCORE small business counseling, and the FINE networking group for entrepreneurs.