2024 AGENDA COMING SOON!
Check back often for updates!
See below for 2023 AGENDA...
PRE-CONFERENCE - January 29, 2023
3:00pm-6:00pm
Pre-Conference Registration:  stop by the conference registration desk outside the Grand Ballroom to check-in and get your name badge & conference materials
DAY 1 - January 30, 2023
7:00am-8:00am
Breakfast and Registration
7:00am-5:30pm
Booths open
8:00am-8:05am
Welcome to Day 1 - housekeeping items & logistics

Bryan Sweet

8:05am-8:30am
Industry & Disruption   
Randy Carver, Carver Financial
8:35am-9:35am
The Champions Code: Building Relationships Through Life Lessons of Integrity and Accountability from the Sports World to the Business World. Ross' program is all about the DNA of what makes champions in sports so unique and how that relates to business. It’s based on a series of books he wrote in which he was able to interview more than 1,000 professional athletes and coaches that all had one thing in common — they were all members of championship teams. In his research he concluded that the same metrics and characteristics that were common among champions in sports, were also common among peak performers in business. There are reasons certain teams win consistently, whereas others don't... and Ross explains why. It's based largely on the "Good to Great" concept of how the best companies are able to separate themselves from the rest of the pack through servant leadership, by creating a culture of excellence, by developing deeper relationships, and by giving extraordinary customer service. Ross weaves sports stories, about the DNA of champions, along with stories of companies who he has worked with around the world — and shares best practice ideas on ways to overcome disruption, while ultimately building stronger relationships. At the core of his message is the simple fact that we like to do business with people who we trust, who we like, and who just “get it” — CHAMPIONS.

In an engaging, provocative, and visually entertaining style, Ross will use inspirational stories and poignant life lessons from the world of sports to show attendees how to:
• Create a “culture of excellence” by giving extraordinary customer service...
• Generate momentum by utilizing the "currency of karma"...
• Follow their moral compasses to win "the right way," with respect, ethics, and integrity...
• Be better leaders and create more "buy-in" by embracing change and failure...
• Evolve from "order takers" to "trusted partners" by enhancing the quality of their relationships...

Ross Bernstein, best-selling author & hall of fame business speaker
9:35am-10:00am
BREAK
10:05am-10:50am
Embrace Fear. What is the number one thing that stops you and your team from taking risks and elevating your performance? FEAR. Fear is widely recognized as the primary limiting factor in human success. Due to certain cognitive and behavioral realities, fear can never be defeated. However, Navy SEALs have mastered the ability to operate with fear by learning how to psychologically embrace it in order to utilize the innate motivational qualities within it.


David Rutherford, Vice President | National Speaker & Performance Coach at First Trust
10:55am-11:40am
Differentiating Your Practice to Attract the Ultra-High Net Worth.
What would your practice look like if you could not only replicate your most ideal clients, but create an experience made for only top tier clients and prospects, that no other advisor is providing? In today’s world where there so much noise in the marketplace, it is no longer enough to be just a wealth advisor. High net worth individuals want more than someone who informs. They crave leaders in the wealth planning world whose goal is to inspire. After years of speaking with ultra-successful people from across the globe, 5 common themes have continued to pop up when it comes to building a life beyond wealth. Join Brittany as she shares how you can position yourself as not only a stand-out in the advisor community, but as the ONLY option for your most ideal clientele.


Brittany Anderson, Partner & President at Sweet Financial Partners, Co-Founder of Dare to Dream Enterprises
11:40am-11:45am
Gold Sponsor Introduction
Transamerica
11:45am-12:45pm 
Lunch and Networking
12:50pm-1:40pm
A Changed Mind - How to Rewire Your Brain & Re-engineer Your Reality. You are what you think in every area of your life. Solving your current problems and elevating your business, health, wealth, or relationships to a new level isn’t achieved by a new strategy. It’s achieved through a changed mind. But being self-aware isn’t enough. To truly be both successful and happy you must learn how to use your mind to rewire your brain. By combining neuroscience, emerging transformational technologies, and a practical understanding of spiritual and wisdom teachings, David provides a step-by-step framework for reclaiming control of your nervous system and elevating it to a new level of human potential and evolution.

David Bayer, author, speaker & CEO of David Bayer Transformational Programs
1:45pm- 2:30pm
Step Into the Metaverse. As the digital assets transformation accelerates towards the mainstream, one area that has attracted a heightened level of buzz are NFTs. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, combine real world utility across multiple use cases often with financial and social opportunities for owners and issuers. Despite their popularity, many advisors remain unclear not only of what NFTs are today but, more importantly, of the endless possibilities that exist in the future for this area of the larger digital assets ecosystem. NFTs, with their unique attributes, have the potential to merge tokenization, art, real estate, music, and gaming as examples with additional brand and community building qualities. Join Matt Bartlett, VanEck’s Head of NFT Community and Web3, for an educational overview including a look at the current environment and why NFTs are just scratching the surface of their adoption and impact.

Matt Bartlett, Head of NFT Community & Web3 at VanEck
2:30pm- 2:55pm 
BREAK
3:00pm- 3:45pm
Growing Your Value to Women Investors.  One of the best opportunities for expanding your business may be in plain sight - prospecting to women. Women are major financial decision makers, and they control an increasing proportion of wealth and income in the United States. Gain insights on the distinct investment challenges women face to better understand their needs and help them reach their goals.

• Why women clients matter to your practice and the importance this market plays today and in the future given women’s increasing control over household spending, investing, and many aspects of financial decision-making
• How to partner and communicate effectively to your clients about their unique challenges and opportunities
• How to engage women as clients and specific actions you can implement today to connect, attract, and retain this target group in your practice to grow your assets

Cathy Saunders, Head of Corporate Sustainability and Public Policy at Putnam Investments
3:50pm-4:35pm
Capture, Connect, Score.  Come learn about the most unfair of all unfair advantages today in the hyper competitive world of client acquisition. Just 10 years ago everyone was feasting on cheap and easy leads from Facebook but those days are mostly gone. Now, a new process and a new toolset is required to sneak behind the lines of the big tech platforms and your competitor’s bug budgets to reach your ideal prospective client just when they need you the most, without paying a dime to Google or Facebook.

There were a few moments in history where we all paused what we were doing to watch something truly remarkable happening. Moments where we believed something new was possible: Ronald Reagan’s speech in Berlin, Elon Musk and SpaceX landing a reusable rocket back on planet earth, and now Chuck Boyce revealing the secret to unlock the access point to as many ideal prospects as you can handle.

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about Intent Based Leads and how it can be a massive unfair advantage for your business.

Chuck Boyce, co-founder & CEO of Aggregate  
4:40pm-5:40pm
Referrals Without Asking.  The proven system to grow sales with gratitude and 10x your sales team referrals on a consistent and predictable basis. John's engaging message will share his proven Gift·ology Marketing System that, if followed, will 10x your referrals. He also shares the common pitfalls most companies fall prey to as they look to deepen client relationships, inspire employees, and pursue Dream 100 prospects.

John Ruhlin, founder and author of Giftology 
5:40pm-5:45pm
Wrap Up of Day 1 
6:30pm-9:00pm
Welcome Reception + Dinner
Reception sponsor:  First Trust

DAY 2 - January 31, 2023 
7:00am-8:00am
Breakfast
7:00am-5:30pm
Booths open
8:00am-8:10am
Welcome to Day 2 
8:10am-8:55am
Mindset and Leadership Shifts. Enhancing your practices involves a willingness to grow. Focusing on your strengths, the strengths of your team, and the strengths of your clients enriches everyone. Enjoy finding out the secret sauce of how to bring yourself and others into the future - through mindset shifts and strengths! Learn strategies other 1% advisors are using in their businesses through their work with Colleen and her organization.

Colleen Bowler, founder of C&J Innovations and coach for the Strategic Coach program
9:00am-9:45am
Current Trends and Topics for Succession Planning for RIAs, Broker/Dealers, and Hybrids.  Ted is a partner and Chair of Walter | Haverfield’s Business Services group, which includes more than two dozen business and transactional lawyers. Ted will discuss the material points that you need to consider when formulating a succession plan for your RIA, BD, or Hybrid. Topics will include navigating mergers & acquisitions, setting up your own RIA, and essential succession planning strategies. Ted will explain the art and science of valuations and answer your most pressing questions. Ted joined Walter | Haverfield as a partner in 2016. Prior to joining Walter | Haverfield, he practiced law at Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aranoff. He was formerly a financial consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in New York City and also worked in the general counsel office of KLA-Tencor Corporation in Silicon Valley, California. In 2022, Ted was recognized by Best Lawyers and from 2015-2019 he was selected to Ohio Super Lawyers Rising Stars list.

T. Ted Motheral, partner at Walter | Haverfield LLP
9:45am-10:15am
Break
10:20am-11:05am
Bridging the Risk-Reward Gap with Protective Investments. Protective Investments are a class of financial solutions designed to help advisors bridge the risk-reward gap between conventional stocks and bonds. Structured notes may be used to generate both growth and income with protection, so it's no surprise that more advisors are increasingly turning to protective investments as a way to smooth the ride for anxious investors and help improve client outcomes.

Historically, the note market has had many barriers to entry, including high costs, lack of transparency, and inefficiency. Those days are behind us. Today, the worldwide note market is valued at roughly $7 trillion, and Halo offers advisors access to highly-customizable products with competitive pricing and transparent fees. 

Halo Investing Co-Founder and President Jason Barsema will be discussing how more and more advisors are using notes as a signature piece of their value prop, helping add AUM while building more resilient client portfolios.
  
Jason Barsema, Co-Founder & President of Halo Investing
11:10am-11:55pm
The Future of Financial Advice Meetings. Create human connections in a new world, how meeting flow and value impact outcomes. Winning meeting behaviors, measuring your performance and improving meeting quality. 

Jim Callan, Founder & CEO of Econiq
11:55am-12:00pm
Breakfast Sponsor Introduction
FDC Plan on Purpose - Brad Connors
12:00pm-1:00pm
Lunch & Networking
1:05pm-1:50pm
Behavioral Finance:  Client Engagement Strategies for Volatile Markets. Oftentimes at the beginning of a client relationship, logic and long-term goals drive the financial planning conversations. Inevitably, market volatility, the 24-hour news cycle, and social media, will impact that initial investor confidence. In the Behavioral Finance: Client Engagement Strategies for Volatile Markets presentation, we discuss three topics:

• impact of emotions on client conversations and how they impact financial decisions
• historical market perspectives to help investors understand market behavior in a clear and compelling manner
• client engagement strategies to instill confidence in their long-term
financial plans


Robert Milliman, Senior Vice President, National Sales Manager-IBD Channel at First Eagle Investments
1:55pm-2:45pm
The Future of Asset Management:  Direct Indexing (CE offered)
Investors are increasingly looking for personalized solutions that can be tailored to their investment needs in areas such as tax sensitivity, income, wealth concentration, and values alignment. These goals can be met using a customizable approach called direct indexing, increasingly seen as a key strategy in the future of asset management. Direct indexing assets have had a compound annual growth rate of more than 50 percent in recent years and are set to grow faster than ETFs. This session will cover the evolution of the asset management industry and the role of the financial advisor, direct indexing and the associated benefits, and case studies that illustrate how direct indexing can be a solution to address a wide range of common investor situations.

Merrie Zhang, senior client portfolio manager for the Quantitative Equity Solutions group at Goldman Sachs
2:45pm-3:15pm
Break
3:20pm-4:05pm
Living Your Best Life as an Advisor. You spend all your time and energy making sure your clients live their best life, what about you? How do you manage your practice in a way allowing you to live your best life.

Scott Jarred, CEO of Invst
4:10pm-4:55pm
Principal Business Owner Insights: Preparing business owners for every stage of the business lifecycle. This presentation provides insights into the importance of knowing the value of an owner’s business and explains how clients and advisors can benefit.

As a result of attending this session, participants will learn:
• Who fits the profile and how they can benefit
• Why it’s important to understand a business owner’s top priorities
• How a business is valued
• The significance of protecting the value of an owner’s business

Kevin Hansen, CFP®, CRPC®, Director of Retirement Solutions Principal Financial
4:55pm-5:00pm
Cocktail Hour Introduction
Ethos ESG
5:00pm-5:05pm
Wrap Up of Day 2
Bryan & Randy
6:00pm-7:30pm
Cocktail Hour 
Sponsored by: Ethos ESG
7:30pm
Night on your own or by-invitation-only sponsor dine-arounds

DAY 3 - February 1, 2023
7:00am-8:00am
Breakfast
7:00am-12:00pm
Booths open
8:00am-8:05am
Welcome to Day 3
8:05am- 8:50am
Using Technology to Scale Estate Planning, Attract More Clients and Increase Revenue. According to recent research by Spectrum, 91% of clients want estate planning advice from their advisors but very few advisors offer this as a service as it is time-consuming and therefore difficult to scale.

In this session, financial advisor and wealthtech CEO, Andrew Altfest, CFP, MBA, will share how advisors can leverage a combination of technology and AI to overcome this challenge. Specifically, he will cover:

- How using AI in estate planning highlights gaps and opportunities in your client’s plans
- Real-life examples of how advisors can assist clients
- Why estate topics are a great way to engage with your client’s children
- How new technology can help advisors scale and automate estate plan reviews
- The best ways to Engage attorneys as COIs and referral sources
- See a demo of the cutting edge new tech tool, FP Alpha’s Estate Snapshot


Andrew Altfest, Founder and CEO of FP Alpha
8:55am-9:40am
The Evolution of Advisor’s Alpha®: People with Portfolios.
Current trends in investment advice—including regulation, fees, and technology-enabled competition—likely will continue to shape the contours of the industry and mold client satisfaction.

As Vanguard’s Advisor’s Alpha research has suggested, for the typical advisor, the path to greater client satisfaction and asset growth should lead to an underappreciated destination—relationship management.

A focus on relationship management takes time and commitment and requires advisors to streamline some aspects of financial planning or wealth management and reallocate the time saved to the clients who increasingly demand and value it.

Ultimately, clients determine the value of advice, and, as our Advised Investor Insights™ research reveals, they clearly value and reward an advisor they highly trust with referrals and loyalty.

To differentiate themselves from their competitors—both robo and human—advisors should embrace the fact that relationship management is not “customer service” but, rather, the crucial element of peerless financial advice.

Michael DiJoseph, CFA, Senior Strategist at Vanguard Investment Advisory Research Center
9:40am-10:00am
Break

10:05am-10:55am
The New Rules in Growing Wallet Share. A behavioral study on the emotions driving client decisions. (CE offered)
Behavioral finance theory helps advisors navigate their clients through the emotional and practical aspects of investing. We’re learning, however, that understanding your clients’ emotions can also help you gain a larger share of their assets. This program focuses on the findings of two national surveys of high-net-worth clients working with advisors.

Takeaways:
It’s clients’ emotions that drive wallet share decisions. These emotions typically are revealed in five distinct persona types.
• We’ll explain how you can identify your clients’ personas.
• We’ll share the emotional factors that may be driving the behavior of each persona.
• And, we’ll share unique strategies to use – based on persona – to help you build trust and a greater share of their wallet.


David Partain, SVP, Global CMO for FlexShares — the Northern Trust Exchanged Traded Funds Group
11:00am-11:45am
Opportunities in Disruptive Innovation – Reaching the Next Generation of Clients. Innovation is not only the key to long-term growth, but it is also a concept that is quite relatable to the next generation of clients. Despite its potential, innovation can take longer for the mass market to adopt. Perception is key and investors should focus on promising areas of disruptive innovation, including those missed or underrepresented by traditional investment styles. This program will discuss a series of critical technologies in the disruptive innovation categories that comprise the major innovation platforms, how they may lead to growth, and ultimately help you better relate to that next generation of clients.
Ryan Hodapp, CFA, CAIA, Vice President at Resolute Investment Managers (ARK Investment Specialist)
11:45am-11:55am
Closing Remarks from your hosts
12:00pm-1:00pm
Break down booths
Contact us at ewasymposium@gmail.com or call (800) 658-2507
Hosted by Top Producers International, LLC 
Fairmont, MN 56031 United States