Huntington Seaside, California
Roughly 3,000 buyers and monetary advisors have descended on Huntington Seaside, California — a.ok.a. Surf Metropolis USA —for a monetary convention.
A monetary convention on a seaside? In Huntington Seaside, dwelling to 9 miles of shoreline and the world middle of seaside volleyball?
Yep. And I imply, it’s on the seaside.
And who’re attendees coming to see? They’re coming to see large stars.
They’re coming to see Methodology Man & Redman.
Wait, who? They’re coming to see hip-hop legends Methodology Man (Wu-Tang Clan) & Redman (Def Squad), who will carry out Tuesday evening.
They are not the one stars. There shall be monetary luminaries as properly. Jeremy Siegel from Wharton/WisdomTree. Jeff Kleintop from Charles Schwab. Emily Roland from John Hancock. Cliff Asness from AQR. Jeff Gundlach from DoubleLine. ETF and commodity maven Jan van Eck.
However that is a kind of conferences the place the social interplay is as essential because the content material.
Reinventing the monetary convention
Welcome to Future Proof, billed as “the biggest gathering of top-tier wealth administration professionals, CEOs, CTOs, COOs, and fast-growing monetary advisors.”
It is the brainchild of Barry Ritholtz, co-founder, chairman, and chief funding officer of Ritholtz Wealth Administration, and CEO Josh Brown – together with Advisor Circle, a product and occasion studio in monetary companies.
“Popping out of the pandemic, it was apparent to us that the normal monetary convention was previous its sell-by date,” Ritholtz informed me. “Everyone was uninterested in lectures and tedious panels forecasting the longer term in large windowless convention facilities. As an alternative, we imagined what it could be like if occasions had been extra social and interactive and helpful and (dare I say) enjoyable! That was how Future Proof took place.”
Yoga? It is so 2008 besides…
These of you accustomed to going to conferences with a Yoga class at 5:45 a.m. on the agenda (who goes to these issues?), put together for the New Hipness.
Straight Yoga? It is so 2008. Oh positive, there is a yoga class, however you may have a particular teacher. You will have:
Seaside Yoga: The Path to Mindfulness with a Goldman Sachs Teacher. Significantly? Goldman Sachs will train me the best way to do yoga? What’s subsequent? Acupuncture with Morgan Stanley? Chiropractic with Wells Fargo? Therapeutic massage remedy with JP Morgan?
Preserve dancing, you fools
Neglect yoga. There is a concerted effort to maintain everybody dancing and swimming, beginning with the FutureProof Kickoff Social gathering (“calm down, unwind and join”) and persevering with with:
Well being is Wealth: Browsing. “We invite you to affix us and embrace the joys of studying to surf!”
Dance Tradition: An Interactive Session. “Immerse your self within the rhythm, actions, and wealthy historical past of Salsa dancing!”
OK that is an enchancment, however I feel I might reasonably go to:
Battle of the Buds: Wine vs. Craft Beer. “Interact in a energetic and interactive debate as you discover the distinctive traits, taste profiles and meals pairings of each wine and craft beer.”
Now I am beginning to get . I will should squeeze that in between:
Mastering Pizza Dough: Strategies for any House Pizza Maker. “Be taught the secrets and techniques to reaching the best texture, taste, and elasticity as you discover completely different kneading, proofing and shaping strategies.”
Let’s Roll: The Artwork of Sushi Making. “This interactive session presents a singular alternative to unleash your creativity and refine your knife expertise.” Refine your knife expertise? OK…is likely to be safer to only go to Mastering the Grill: Barbecue Strategies.
Oh yeah. The monetary content material
Final yr’s convention attracted 2,000 attendees, about half largely younger RIAs (Registered Funding Advisors), a number of hundred lively dealer varieties, ETF sponsors and a smattering of distributors.
Not surprisingly, a lot of the content material is geared towards RIAs, with matters like, “The Private Model Blueprint: 5 Simple Steps to Entice Excessive-Worth Purchasers in 2023.”
For buyers, there’s the ever-present tech bull Dan Ives from Wedbush, with “5 Tech Predictions for 2024.”
DoubleLine’s Jeff Gundlach will return once more this yr, and can converse with my CNBC colleague Scott Wapner on Halftime Report on Tuesday.
I’ll average a panel on “International Macro Predictions” with Professor Siegel, Jeff Kleintop and Emily Roland.
Morningstar may even be out in drive, with stalwarts Christine Benz, Jeffrey Ptak, Ben Johnson and PitchBook’s Nizar Tarhuni speaking about every part from retirement to 401(ok) planning to the problem of market timing to non-public fairness investing.
Ritholtz Wealth Administration’s bloggers and podcasters Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson may even dispense recommendation.
However even amidst this ocean of content material over 4 days, the emphasis remains to be on private interplay. There’s quite a few “networking dinners” which, if they’re something like final yr’s, are large events for younger RIAs and buyers to get collectively and socialize.
And that’s the place a lot of the actual motion occurs. Final yr I met a 35-year previous RIA at considered one of these events on the seaside on a Monday evening. He had flown in along with his staff the day earlier than.
“I introduced all seven members of my staff,” he informed me. “It is a team-building factor. I’ll see a bunch of the audio system, however largely I am right here to fulfill different individuals who do what I do.”
And that appears to be the theme: “Assembly different individuals who do what I do.” RIAs. Younger buyers. Monetary stars. Bloggers. ETF sponsors. Hip-hop stars.
It is a unusual brew, however exhilarating.
Who is aware of what might occur? Perhaps Methodology Man will announce Wu-Tang Clan is happening tour and is launching an ETF.
Hey, a typical convention it isn’t.