As 2023 winds down and temperatures on Wall Street plummet, allow Financial Planning to transport you back to warmer days and one of the hottest wealth management events of the year.
This holiday season Financial Planning is taking a special look back at
Our walk down memory lane is a series of exclusive interviews with insiders and newsmakers conducted by Financial Planning Wealthtech Reporter Justin L. Mack,
In this clip, Mack catches up with Craig Iskowitz, founder and CEO of strategy consulting firm Ezra Group. With both wealth management firms and software vendors as his client base, Iskowitz was on-site soaking up information about every segment of the industry. His company focuses on providing technology and strategy solutions to broker-dealers, banks, asset managers, RIAs and technology providers.
But despite his decades of industry knowledge, Iskowitz was a Future Proof newbie when he arrived for this year's gathering. Having missed the inaugural event, he said the conference makes a strong first impression the moment you lay eyes on it.
"This conference is the Woodstock of wealth management conferences, right? Everyone's here," he said. "It's like seeing Mount Rushmore for the first time. You just look out in this sea of tents and you're thinking, is this real? I can't see the end of it. It just goes on and on."
That energy created by the setting was a big win for Iskowitz. He believes that working in a more laid-back environment provides space for people to open up and connect with one another in ways atypical of your usual run-of-the-mill conference.
"In general if you're selling, people buy from people they like. So you need to get them out of their office and into a setting like this where we can just have a conversation. And people tend to connect on a different level when you're in a different environment," Iskowitz said. "Whether it's a conference, or a restaurant, or at an event, be able to talk to prospective clients and understand who they are as people. Rather than just, 'I'm the VP of XYZ.'"
Check out the full interview below.
Future Proof, an event billed as the first wealth festival, is making its return next summer and dates for Future Proof 2024 have already been announced. The event is slated to return to Huntington Beach Sept. 15-18, 2024.
Future Proof is also expanding in the new year with the addition of Future Proof Retreat, an additional event for wealth management leaders that will take place March 24-27 in Colorado Springs.
