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That's a wrap! 2023 Future Proof Festival

September 10-13, 2023

For the second year running, we were thrilled to be an official sponsor of the Advisor Circle Future Proof Festival, held September 10-13 in Huntington Beach, CA. Joining thousands of forward-thinking financial professionals across the industry.

Future Proof is an entirely outdoor, immersive wealth festival that has redefined what it means to attend a wealth-focused industry event. This four-day transformative festival was unlike anything else, and our team enjoyed networking with a wide array of financial professionals, testing their surfing skills, and learning about the latest about top industry disruptors.

What went down at Future Proof?

No conference can quite match the energy and vibrancy of Future Proof. We enjoyed attending networking events and key speaker sessions in the beautiful outdoor setting of Huntington Beach, surrounded by sandy beaches and swaying palm trees.

Catch some highlights in the video below.

Standing out from the crowd

Our team was at the Festival from start to finish at our seaside cabana where we did something you could only do at a conference as unique as Future Proof – we featured a virtual surfboard simulator. And boy, was it a hit!

Tons of attendees rode the “wave” of innovation with the hopes of taking the top spot on our leaderboard, with many coming back time and time again to try to improve their score. The honor went to Aaron A., who ended the week with 488 points.

Surfing aside, we’re thankful for the opportunity to connect with hundreds of our peers while offering real-time demonstrations of our solutions. We were happy to share our robust rebalancing and trading capabilities designed to help RIAs scale efficiently while managing complex portfolios.

Session lowdown

With a focus on innovation, disruption and fun, there’s no shortage of takeaways from this year’s event.

Our team attended many notable sessions throughout the conference, and heard many people speak on what it takes for advisors to deliver a superior client experience and achieve their growth goals. Time and time again, speakers emphasized the importance of differentiating yourself as an advisor from the competition.

To do this, said author and marketer Samantha Allen during the Organic Growth Tactics session, advisors need to share what makes them unique — aka, their buffalo. What she meant by that was that buffalo are unique to South Dakota (Samantha’s home state), so they’re used in tourism campaigns often. Following South Dakota’s example, advisors who want to stand out need to find what makes them unique and advertise it to their target audience.

During his session, Francis Kinniry, Head of Advisory Research Center for Vanguard, pointed out that smaller firms especially need to embrace technology to stand out from the crowd. The bigger firms are already doing it, and neglecting to incorporate technology will put your firm in jeopardy of falling behind, he said.

Our favorite speaker session

It’s no surprise our favorite speaker of the Festival was our own President of the Americas, Jennifer Valdez, who took the stage on Tuesday afternoon for a panel alongside:

The panel discussed how financial advisors can “decode” financial planning for their clients through technology and modern solutions.

In discussing the challenges many Americans face in accessing financial advice, Jennifer referenced our recent research on the widening advice gap in the U.S. and how embracing tech solutions is the key to closing it.

All three panelists emphasized the importance of staying focused on the end-client experience by providing clients with the technology and services they’ve come to expect from financial partners. Technology, when incorporated into an advisory firm strategically, has the power to be a dynamic and engaging tool.

Breakthru

New this year, Future Proof offered a one-to-one meeting program called Breakthru, which our team took full advantage of. Throughout the four-day event, Breakthru facilitated thousands of 15-minute introductory meetings between attendees and vendors.

For anyone interested in attending these meetings, both parties had to opt-in and agree to a meeting time. With an entire acre of meeting space set aside specifically for these introductions, this was the perfect opportunity to get to know other attendees in a relaxed and inviting atmosphere.

Thanks to this program, we were able to have productive and meaningful conversations with numerous attendees.

Future Proof is a one-of-a-kind industry event that our team looks forward to every year, due to it’s incredible speakers and opportunities to network with other passionate professionals.

We’re already excited to see everyone at Future Proof 2024 next year!