As 2020 gets underway, we here at Advicent are already looking forward to an incredible slate of industry conferences and tradeshows over the coming months. As the excitement continues to build for the conference season to kick off, we wanted to reflect on the exciting experiences from 2019.
Here are some of team Advicent’s conference highlights from last year:
T3 Advisor
We started out the year with one of our biggest conferences of 2019 at the T3 Advisor conference just outside of Dallas, TX from January 29 to February 1. Known as one of the leading practice management and technology conferences for advisors, Advicent CEO Angela Pecoraro took this opportunity to highlight a sea change occurring in the financial planning practice and how the new era of NaviPlan would address these market trends.
In her presentation “Embrace the third wave of financial planning,” Angela identified a new wave of financial planning that the practice has entered where goals-based and cash flow planning methodologies are merging alongside greater planning freedom and planning now being done at numerous digital touchpoints.
This presentation, and branding found across the conference, unveiled a new look for Advicent that coincided with the overhaul of the NaviPlan user interface. To learn more about the design enhancements brought by the NaviPlan 19.0 release, click here >
Of course, we needed to celebrate this new path forward and the first big FinTech conference of the year with a killer party. To do so, we enlisted the help of ‘90s legend Vanilla Ice for a throwback themed function. Check out some of the highlights below:
For more information on the third wave of financial planning and what to expect of the practice moving forward, read our whitepaper >
Morningstar Investment Conference
Held just south of our home in Milwaukee, WI from May 8-10 was the Morningstar Investment Conference in Chicago, IL. This conference brings together some of the financial industry’s top minds to recognize lessons from the past, understand what is happening in the market right now, and look to what is on the horizon for the industry.
Advicent senior director of product management Paul Raisanen caught up with AssetTV at the conference to discuss the increasingly important role that data is playing in the financial planning process. Watch the full video below:
CIFP Conference
After seeing how big of a fan favorite he was, we knew we had to bring Vanilla Ice back for another round in Canada at the CIFP conference from June 2-5 in Vancouver. Angela again presented on the third wave of financial planning to this audience of esteemed financial services professionals.
In|Vest
In July, team Advicent headed to the east coast for the 2019 In|Vest conference in New York City from July 15-17. Hosted by SourceMedia, the company responsible for various industry publications such as Financial Planning, In|Vest brought together members of the wealth management community to discuss digital FinTech disruptions in the areas of investing, saving, and advice.
As part of the conference, In|Vest holds a demo competition judged by a panel of financial services experts that included Dani Fava of TD Ameritrade, Tricia Haskins of Fidelity, and William Trout of Celent.
Chief technology officer John Heinen and vice president of financial planning Tom Burmeister took to the stage to demo the API and Guided Retirement functionality of NaviPlan. Watch the demo video below:
Advicent was one of 18 groups to demo at In|Vest 2019 and received the second highest score from the panel of judges.
Wealth/Stack
September brought an exciting new conference to the FinTech community as InsideETFs and Ritholtz Wealth Management teamed up to introduce Wealth/Stack, a conference designed to bridge the gap between technology, investment management, and practice management.
Knowing how legendary this conference could be, we dove in head-first as the first official sponsor Wealth/Stack and opting to throw an official after party featuring hip-hop icon DJ Skribble. Advicent COO Tony Stich joined Ritholtz Wealth Management CEO Josh Brown to chat about the upcoming event.
Turns out, our prediction was right on with the popularity of this first-year event. Originally expected to host 500 attendees, Wealth/Stack brought in more than 700 financial services professionals. It was held in Scottsdale, AZ from September 8-10.
Along with our booth, we leveraged the event to feature a demo of NaviPlan in the Wealth/Stack showcase – a rapid-fire demo series where FinTech companies presented their technology to the crowd. Tom Burmeister gave a walkthrough of our financial planning technology, which you can watch via the Periscope link below courtesy of industry insider Tina Powell:
After Tom’s demo, Tony joined a stacked panel of FinTech experts discussing the user experience of financial technology with CNBC’s Jim Pavia moderating.
After the busy day for Advicent concluded, we switched into party mode to throw our “Light Up the Vault with NaviPlan” party at the Mint – a former bank turned nightclub. Check out our recap video and Twitter moment featuring highlights of the night below:
FPA Annual Conference
In October, we headed north to Minneapolis, MN for the FPA Annual Conference 2019, which is the largest global gathering of CFP® professionals and thought leaders in financial planning.
Tony took to the stage for his presentation A Decade of Disruption: Looking Backward and Forward at the Modern FinTech Landscape. This introduced our Decade of Disruption thought leadership narrative, which you can learn more about in this whitepaper.
T3 Enterprise
At the end of October, we traveled to Ft. Lauderdale, FL for the T3 Enterprise conference which is an annual gathering of enterprise financial professionals interested in discovering the best technology solutions for their organizations.
Tony again presented on the Decade of Disruption and used the opportunity to announce a new set of NaviPlan APIs that enable organizations to implement self-directed financial planning experiences for their advisors and their clients. Learn more about this announcement below:
Tony also had a chance to catch up with AssetTV’s Jenna Dagenhart to discuss how the past decade has transformed financial advice and how these disruptions will shape the future of the industry. Check out the full video below:
Schwab IMPACT
Team Advicent headed west once again for Schwab IMPACT from November 4-7 in San Diego, CA. The conference brought together thousands of clients, exhibitors, and thought leaders to the largest and longest-running annual conference for independent investment advisors.
Tony sat down with Matt Ackermann of InvestmentNews at the conference to further discuss how the past decade has changed FinTech and how firms can remain competitive in the next 10 years of disruptions. Check out the full video below:
The conference ended on a high note with a closing night party at Petco Park featuring a concert from One Republic. We enjoyed the company of our friends throughout the financial community at the NaviPlan lounge on site. The scenes inside the Padre’s ballpark were astonishing, as captured below by Justin Wayne:
MarketCounsel Summit
The conference season came to a close with the 2019 MarketCounsel Summit held from December 9-12 in Miami, FL. As the industry’s yearly capstone event, the MarketCounsel Summit brings together leadership from throughout the financial community for a forum on how to elevate the role of the independent advisor.
Tony was able to again catch up with InvestmentNews’ Matt Ackermann to close out an exciting year of events.
Though 2019 was a blast for everyone here at team Advicent, we are already stirring with excitement for what lies ahead in 2020. To stay up to date on where Advicent will be headed soon, check out our events page and follow Advicent on Twitter and LinkedIn.