7:15 AM - 8:00 AM
45 Min(s) | Networking Breakfast | |
8:00 AM - 8:10 AM
10 Min(s) | Day Two Welcome Conference Co-Chairs:
Kara Julian, Managing Director, Head of Consulting Group, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management
Brad Jung, Managing Director, Head of North America, Advisor and Intermediary Solutions, Russell Investments | |
8:10 AM - 9:00 AM
50 Min(s) | Keynote Presentation
The 2024 Elections: Legislative & Regulatory Outlook
Counting down to Election Day, MMI’s favorite Washington insider delivers a nonpartisan, comprehensive review of Washington DC legislation and regulation affecting investors, financial advisors, and business leaders. Based on his 30+ years of experience in financial services and political analysis, Jeff Bush offers unique insights to better understand the changing landscape emanating from the nation’s capital – and the potential impact on investment, wealth transfer, and retirement planning strategies.
Jeff Bush, Principal, The Washington Update | |
9:00 AM - 9:20 AM
20 Min(s) | President’s Update
Craig Pfeiffer and MMI’s Chair and Chair-Elect discuss strategic areas of focus and key initiatives on behalf of member firms and the investment advisory industry.
Craig Pfeiffer, President and CEO, Money Management Institute
Anne Steer, Head of Distribution, Congress Asset Management; Chair, MMI Board of Governors
Brendan Clark, CEO, Clark Capital Management Group; Chair-Elect, MMI Board of Governors | |
9:20 AM -
9:30 AM
10 Min(s) | Gateway Partner Update
First Tee: Building Game Changers Through the Game of Golf
Christopher Waters, Director, Head of Asset Manager Relations, Adhesion Wealth
Jayden Law, First Tee Alumnus; Winston-Salem State University, Class of 2025 | |
9:30 AM -
10:10 AM
40 Min(s) | The New Rules of Advisor Engagement
Advisors have never been more time and attention challenged – which means it is tougher than ever for asset managers to get through to them to build and nurture relationships. Our diverse panel of experts discuss what asset managers are doing to effectively harness data, finetune their sales enablement strategies, and better connect marketing and sales efforts. You will also hear how wealth managers are leveraging asset manager partners to support firm campaigns and encourage broader relationships with the advisor salesforce beyond dropping a ticket.
Moderator:
Anita Heisl, Chief Engagement Officer, 4U Platform
Panelists:
Justin Hansen, Managing Director, Global Strategic Accounts, MFS Investment Management
Rob Miles, Managing Director, Head of National Sales, Truist Wealth | |
10:10 AM - 10:40 AM
30 Min(s) | Networking & Refreshment Break | |
10:40 AM - 11:30 AM
50 Min(s) | DISTRIBUTION TRACK
Facing Off with Advisor Mega Teams
New research from Cerulli Associates finds advisor “mega teams” with at least $500 million in assets under management control 42% of the total advice market. These practices – whether independent RIAs or branch-based brokers – are an attractive opportunity for asset management firms, but they have unique needs and expectations. This session explores the distinguishing traits of mega teams, what they are looking for from asset manager partners, and how managers are organizing their sales and service efforts for success in this lucrative market. Moderator:
Lee Kowarski, Head of Distribution Solutions, SS&C Technologies
Panelists:
Kimberly Gilleland, Executive Director, Senior Practice Management Consultant, Morgan Stanley
Pete Hill, Managing Director, Head of RIA Channel, Americas Wealth, State Street Global Advisors
Amanda Lambert, Internal Sales Director, Invesco
INVESTMENT SOLUTIONS TRACK
Beneath the Hood: The New Features Powering Managed Account Personalization
With portfolio personalization becoming an expectation, join us for a look at some of the specific new features being added to managed accounts to not only enhance investment performance, but also to provide comprehensive and tailored financial solutions. Our expert panel will provide a deep dive into capabilities like tax management on both active and passive strategies, option overlays to reduce risk and create income, and lifetime income solutions.
Moderator:
Randy Bullard, Global Head of Wealth, Charles River Development
Panelists:
Rob Battista, Senior Vice President, Head of Advisory Solutions, Vestmark
Dan Gutman, Vice President, Future Growth, Prudential Financial
Andy Hicks, Option Strategist, U.S. Wealth Advisory, BlackRock
LEADERSHIP TRACK
Seeing How We Think: Insights for Building Strong Connections
Our brains are wired in ways that lead us to particular preferences and interpretations of the world. Understanding your thinking preferences, as well as the thinking preferences of others, can have profound implications on personal effectiveness in the areas of client interaction, team dynamics, and presentations. Using the Neethling Brain Instrument™ (NBI), a neuroscience-based measure of thinking preferences, this session introduces a framework for understanding your mental processes and how they influence your relationship development. Learn how to increase your understanding of how you interpret information, leverage your thinking preferences, and adapt them to better connect with team members and clients. Kati Livingston, Managing Partner, CMS Associates; Graduate Program Instructor, Harvard University Sponsored by Amundi US
ELECTIVE How TAMPs are Accelerating Growth in the Independent Wealth Space
As the independent advice channel continues its outsized growth, turnkey asset management platforms (TAMPs) are playing an increasing role helping independent advisors grow, scale, and better serve their clients. Industry trends, advisor complexity, and investor preferences are rapidly evolving and becoming more pronounced. How can TAMPs and TAMP partners harness opportunities to offer a differentiated wealth management experience? Join us for a robust discussion exploring how TAMPs, asset managers, and fintech solution providers – working together – can offer enhanced levels of service and outcomes to drive growth in the independent advisory sector. Moderator:
David McNatt, Executive Vice President, Investment Solutions, AssetMark Panelists:
Barrett Ayers, President and CEO, Adhesion Wealth
Brendan Clark, CEO, Clark Capital Management
Cheryl Nash, President, APL, InvestCloud | |
11:40 AM - 12:30 PM
50 Min(s) | DISTRIBUTION TRACK
The Wealth Manager View: Striking the Right Balance Between Products and Partnership
This session provides a home-office view into the vision and priorities of leading wealth management firms heading into 2025. Hear directly from this panel of senior executives about their areas of focus and how asset managers can plug into them. Learn how they weigh product versus partnership considerations, what each side needs to be mindful of when approaching the other, and the importance of striking the right balance for collective success. Moderator:
Ben Doob, Managing Director, Head, ISS Market Intelligence
Panelists:
David Giffen, Managing Director, Head of Advisory Program Management and Governance, UBS
Matt Goulet, Head of FundsNetwork, Fidelity Investments
Daren Pippio, Senior Vice President, Advisory Strategy and Development, Raymond James
LEADERSHIP TRACK
Active Listening and Ethical Persuasion
Who doesn’t want to become more persuasive and build deeper business relationships? Join Jack Sharry, a highly accomplished leader in sales, marketing, relationship management, technology, and advisory, for this highly interactive discussion. Jack will share fundamental principles and lessons to make every conversation – whether professional or personal – more productive. Learn how to identify opportunities, listen for commitment, achieve alignment, and tell compelling stories. These critical skills will help you form and strengthen relationships, achieve your objectives, and become a stronger leader. Jack Sharry, Executive Vice President, Chief Growth Officer, LifeYield
ELECTIVE
MMI Investment Advisory Pulse Deep Dive: What’s Behind the Numbers?
This session is an interactive follow-up to the general session presentation, “Great Expectations.” Tim Kresl facilitates a spirited discussion with two industry leaders on the future of the industry as reflected in this year’s MMI membership research. Using the wrong assumptions in assembling your growth strategy can have significant consequences downstream. Join us to learn more and get ahead of the curve. Tim Kresl, Principal, Distribution Insight, Broadridge
Jim Neuwirth, President, 8 Acre Perspective
Matt Huss, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Head of Product and Platform Solutions | Wealth Management Solutions, Ameriprise Financial
Tom Kiley, Senior Vice President, Head of RIA Sales, Calamos Investments
ELECTIVE RIA Consolidators: M&A Trends and the Impact on Asset Manager Distribution
Consolidation in the U.S. registered investment advisor (RIA) industry has continued at a rapid pace over the last several years, often backed by private investment, as RIA firms leverage external capital to expand services, attract advisors, and provide succession solutions. Acquirers of advisory practices are now faced with the need to scale these businesses, which is resulting in the centralization of investment, technology, and other operational functions – and increasing the number of central investment offices that asset managers need to address. Join this session for a lively discussion of how RIA consolidators and enterprise RIAs are evolving to create scale through centralization, how they are evolving their service set to attract advisors and investors, emerging asset manager coverage models, and the future state of RIA consolidation. Moderator:
Stephen Caruso, Associate Director, Wealth Management, Head of RIA Research, Cerulli Associates
Panelists:
Tom Bauer, Divisional Sales Manager, T. Rowe Price
Kurt Nye, Managing Partner, Chief Investment Officer, MAI Capital Management
Blake Wood, Head of Platform Strategy, Envestnet | |
12:30 PM - 1:20PM
50 Min(s) | Networking Luncheon | |
1:20 PM - 2:10 PM
50 Min(s) | DISTRIBUTION TRACK
The Asset Manager View: Structuring a Future-Ready Distribution Organization
Amid fierce competition for distributor shelf space and advisor attention, this session takes a close look at the evolution of distribution teams in terms of allocation of headcount and where firms are placing their bets. Our panel of sales leaders will tackle such topics as team-based selling, generalist/specialist approaches, the efficacy of hybrids, National Accounts coverage models, trends in compensation, and more. Hear directly from experts with practical experience as to what’s working and what’s not.
Moderator:
Neil Bathon, Managing Partner, FUSE Research Network
Panelists:
Suzanne Casey, Co-Head, Wealth Client Group, Northern Trust Asset Management
Kara Grehan, Head of Strategic Accounts, BNY Investments
Brian Schappert, Senior Vice President, Co-Head of U.S. Intermediary Distribution, American Century Investments
INVESTMENTS SOLUTIONS TRACK
Optimizing Product Offerings Amidst the Industry Shift to UMA/UMH
As the industry continues its decades-long pursuit of the UMA/UMH structure, how should asset managers and wealth managers be thinking about discrete investment vehicle types and how/where they will fit going forward? Two senior investment solutions executives survey the current advisory product landscape – ETFs, mutual funds, SMAs, alternatives, custom asset allocation models, direct/custom indexing, retirement income solutions, etc. – and share their perspective on future considerations, opportunities, and pain points. Eve Cout, Managing Director, U.S. Wealth Advisory, BlackRock
Stephen Patrickakos, Managing Director, Head of Traditional Investments, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
ELECTIVE
Blending Data and Content to Deliver Personalized and Effective Campaign Results
Join this session for a look at the biggest trends, opportunities, and case studies for marketing and digital heading into 2025. Learn what asset management marketers are doing to get ahead of the curve and drive meaningful experiences for a changing client base. Key discussion topics will include effective content idea generation, getting segmentation and client journeys right, advancing AI-powered personalization, and KPIs that resonate with leadership. Leave with ideas to more effectively engage your audiences, differentiate your firm, and drive growth in a competitive landscape.
Kelly Vives, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Allspring Global Investments
Paul Zettl, Executive Vice President, Head of Global Marketing, Chief Marketing Officer, Cohen & Steers
Sam Iles, Senior Partner, Head of Ventures & Innovation, Head of Brand, Marketing & Creative Services, Alpha FMC
Organized by the MMI Marketing Community
ELECTIVE
The Future of the Model Marketplace
With technology platforms, asset managers, and fast-growing advisory firms all scrambling to out-service, out-perform, and out-grow their peers, join this session for a lively discussion of innovation in the model marketplace. Topics will include how advisory firms select a marketplace, the impact of fees, the importance of optionality and functionality, coopetition of platforms, and more.
Moderator:
Doug Fritz, Founder and CEO, F2 Strategy
Panelists:
Alex Hagmeyer, Co-Chief Investment Officer, ALPS Advisors, SS&C Technologies
David Robinson, Executive Vice President, Head of Strategic Relationships, SMArtX Advisory Solutions
Abhishek Sharma, Senior Vice President, Head of Trading Technology, LPL Financial | |
2:20 PM - 3:10 PM
50 Min(s) | INVESTMENT SOLUTIONS TRACK
Unlocking Opportunities: Bringing Alternative Investments to the Retail Marketplace
According to MMI’s recent Investment Advisory Pulse Survey, there is a strong expectation among members that alternatives will play an increasingly important role in client portfolios over the next two years. But unlocking retail access to private markets will require industry collaboration to overcome operational challenges and educational hurdles. Come hear from key industry leaders focused on making the democratization of alternative investments a reality. Moderator:
Cheryl Nash, President, APL, InvestCloud
Panelists:
Steve Houston, Managing Director, Head of Enterprise Relationship Management, iCapital
Carmen Lai, Managing Director, Head of Product Origination, Development and Management, Alternative Investments, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management
Jake Walker, Partner, Chief Operating Officer, Client & Product Solutions, Apollo Global Management
LEADERSHIP TRACK
Communicating to Connect: An Improvisation Skills Workshop
Want to be a better listener, communicator, and collaborator? This ‘hands-on’ session walks participants through a series of simple improv exercises designed to help you hone the key communication skills you need as a leader – active listening, thoughtful responses, and decisiveness. Using concepts that have been taught at MIT, Duke, Stanford, Harvard, Google, Unilever, and NASA, you will learn immediately actionable skills to reframe potential problems, ask more probing questions, be more decisive, think better on your feet, and enhance your empathy. This session promises to be fun, but don’t worry – there’s no pressure to be funny! Lori Murphy, Vice President, Strategic Relationship Management, Hartford Funds
Ryan Sullivan, Vice President, Managing Director, Applied Insights, Hartford Funds
ELECTIVE Oh Behave! Behavioral Science for FAs and Those Who Love Them
How do our clients, employees, and partners think about money, planning, and work? Why do we and those we serve make so many irrational decisions, and what can we do about it? Jeff Kreisler – Head of Behavioral Science for JP Morgan Private Bank and author of the international bestseller Dollars and Sense – shares the practical and entertaining insights of behavioral science for the financial services industry. His two-pronged approach explores techniques for advisors to better connect with their clients and reveals techniques for industry leaders to empower their teams to adopt those techniques of connection. Join us as Jeff exposes the hidden forces that drive our choices, incentivize our actions, and motivate our engagement. He will then offer practical tools to reframe our options and, ultimately, make better decisions, have deeper relationships, and dare to dream – and live – better lives. Jeff Kreisler, Head of Behavioral Science, JP Morgan Private Bank; Founding Editor, PeopleScience Organized by the MMI Technology & Digital Advice Community
ELECTIVE
The Evolving Role of National Accounts: Tips and Trends
As home offices continue to assert more control over the investment process, National Accounts teams are responsible for navigating increasingly complex challenges and opportunities. In this session, National Accounts leaders from different size firms share perspectives on how they are evolving their teams and processes to effectively face off with distributors in different channels. Join this timely discussion for tips on how they structure their teams, establish initiatives, and measure success. Moderator:
Vadim Levin, Head of National Accounts & Sub-Advisory, Congress Asset Management
Panelists:
James Dunham, Director of Financial Institutions and National Accounts, William Blair Investment Management
J.P. Galvin, Executive Director, Strategic Relationships, Bahl & Gaynor
Samantha Magnuson, Senior Director, National Accounts | Strategic Relations, Columbia Threadneedle Investments
Organized by the MMI Distribution & Sales Community | |
3:10 PM - 3:40 PM
30 Min(s) | Networking & Refreshment Break | |
3:40 PM - 4:10 PM
30 Min(s) | The Private Equity Playbook in Wealth and Asset Management In recent years, there has been a noticeable uptick in private equity (PE) investments within the wealth and asset management sectors. Major PE firms are not only acquiring RIA practices and platforms but are also taking stakes in prominent independent and regional broker-dealers as well as asset managers. What’s behind this surge in interest? Two industry insiders, with deep expertise and direct involvement in high-profile deals, share their insights into the factors driving PE's growing focus on wealth and asset management—and how it could transform the industry. Larry Roth, Managing Partner, RLR Strategic Partners
Aaron Roome, Managing Director, Head of Market Structure & Wealth, Financial Institutions Investment Banking, Wells Fargo | |
4:10 PM - 4:40 PM
30 Min(s) | Executive Fireside Chat
Craig Pfeiffer, President and CEO, Money Management Institute
Tim Gokey, CEO, Broadridge | |
4:40 PM - 5:10 PM
30 Min(s) | MMI/Barron’s Industry Awards Presentation
The Annual Conference provides a lens into some of the incredibly innovative work being done across our industry to deliver better outcomes for financial advisors and investors. Join us as we announce and celebrate the winners of the 2024 MMI/Barron’s Industry Awards, recognized by their peers for demonstrating innovation and leadership in the investment advisory solutions industry over the past year. Samantha Greenstein, Senior Vice President, Director of Member Engagement, Money Management Institute
Beth Finegan, Senior Director, Strategic Partnerships, Wealth and Asset Management, Barron's Industry Awards Steering Council Co-Chairs:
Kimberly Beck, Head of Field and Client Marketing, Janney Montgomery Scott
Josean Fernandez, Director of National Accounts, Ariel Investments | |
5:10 PM - 5:25 PM
15 Min(s) | Day Two Wrap-Up | |
5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
2 Hour(s) | Night Two Reception: Charlotte Social
The Sheraton & Le Méridien Charlotte Hotel Complex
The Solutions Center, our bustling exhibit hall, provides the perfect venue for our Night Two reception. We’ll provide cool drinks, tasty food, and good company! Join us for a laid-back evening of conversation and networking with your industry friends and colleagues. | |
