A growing number of Canadians have been making the September trip to Huntington Beach since Future Proof's first iteration in 2022.Art Wager/iStockPhoto / Getty Images
Most advisors have heard of Future Proof, the conference/festival on a California beach where a panel about tax alpha can be followed by a workshop on how to make your own sea salt scrub.
A growing number of Canadians have been making the September trip to Huntington Beach since the event’s first iteration in 2022.
A U.S. conference focused on the future of advice (this year’s themes include building a firm that outlives its founder, the AI-native firm and the human advisor’s edge) has obvious appeal to Canadian advisors, who often peer across the border for a glimpse of what’s coming here.
Even an escalating trade war may not dampen their enthusiasm. As The Globe’s Mariya Postelnyak reported this week, corporate travel to the U.S. increased in August, running counter to declining leisure trips.
Kendra Thompson, founder and principal of Toronto-based consulting firm Epok Advice and a Globe Advisor columnist, will be among the Canadian attendees this year. We caught up with her ahead of the Sept. 14-17 conference to find out what she’s looking forward to.
Why are you going to Future Proof?
Future Proof has become the place to see where the wealth management industry is going. It helps that it’s held on a beach boardwalk rather than a stuffy ballroom, and the speed-dating networking sessions, which attendees book in advance, help people connect quickly across multiple markets and targets.
What are you most excited about this year?
Almost every road leads to a discussion about AI, but I’m most excited to see the real experiences of those market leaders who have put AI into practice, especially with technology that has only emerged in the past 6 to 12 months.
I’m also interested in real stories from recruiters and sales leaders trying to bring in and retain top talent – especially at independent firms – and from high-growth advisors who are noticing changes in client demand or expectations.
If technology changes the cost and complexity of delivering advice, it changes the economics of the business and not just the technology stack. So, I’ll be looking for the firms that are past experimenting and can tell me what’s working, what isn’t and what it cost them to find out.
Tell me about the Canadian Lounge. What goes on there?
It’s the Canadian home base at the festival – a place for Canadian leaders to gather and distill what they’re learning from the U.S. market and how it can impact the Canadian industry: What holds up under our regulatory structure, with our economics and our advisor models?
There’s also great food, drink and music, so I’ll be there for the chats and for fun.
What theme do you think will be most relevant to Canadian advisors?
Independence. The U.S. is going much further on independence than we expect the Canadian market to.
Some of that has to do with capital, some of it has to do with our regulatory realities, and some of it has to do with Canadian advisors and how they feel about the platforms they’re on.
We know Canada is different, but we also know that some of the same forces are coming here: private equity, consolidation and cheaper wealthtech.
The question is what advisors who want to go independent will need for this next version of their business and how will the industry show up for them?
This interview has been edited and condensed.
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