Hey {{ first_name | Neighbor }}. True story. Two women talking. One person dead. "I'm invited to a memorial in New York at Frank E. Campbell,” says the first woman. "I'm so sorry,” says the second. “What is Frank E. Campbell?" The first pauses. This should be self evident.

"It's kind of like the Studio 54 of funeral homes."

Thanks to Fred Herz for the anecdote above. If you’ve heard something fantastically Upper Middle recently please share. It’s always a joy.

Welcome to new readers. There are 2,723 new folks joining us for this issue, which makes us so excited we’re gonna throw an ergonomic desk chair through a window.

Being tan is embarrassing the same way as shopping is embarrassing.

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Upper Middle’s 2025 Interesting Times Survey is our attempt to understand how the members of the oatmilk elite are reacting to current economic turmoil. Data will be shared with survey participants and, as always, with members.

SYMBOLS ❧ Signals We Send

FINANCIAL BRANDING

When surveyed, 66.7% of Upper Middle readers associated Goldman Sachs with wealthy investors, but only 28.1% associated it with discerning investors – second to JPMorgan Chase. A 10.9% point gap in wealth and discernment scores indicated that Morgan Stanley is perceived as the discerning choice for the merely well-to-do [1]. Wells Fargo, BoA, and Citi are less associated with discernment or wealth, suggesting esteem is inversely proportional to marketing budgets.

1) Goldman Sachs

4) Bank of America

2) JPMorgan Chase

5) Wells Fargo

3) Morgan Stanley

6) Citi

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