Matt Middleton plans to turn Future Proof into a citywide experience

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 the annual Future Proof Festival, a one-of-a-kind industry gathering that attracted nearly 3,000 financial advisors, wealth management executives, fintech leaders, emerging startups, rap icons and more to Huntington Beach, California, during the second week of September.

Our walk down memory lane is a series of exclusive interviews with insiders and newsmakers conducted by Financial Planning Wealthtech Reporter Justin L. Mack, who also served as a panel moderator during the event.

In this clip, Mack catches up with Matt Middleton, CEO of Advisor Circle and one of the masterminds behind the Future Proof Festival. During the conversation, Middleton gets candid about the event's transformation from year one to year two, stating that he felt grateful to have more than 1,700 come to the inaugural event and that an outdoor event with no comparable equal would naturally have a fair share of challenges.

But Middleton said the feedback from Future Proof 2022 made this year's event a bigger, better experience. Whether it be the increased footprint, the addition of "Breakthru Meetings" or simply having more shade on-site, those with the greatest impact on the event's trajectory are the people who attend it. 

He also makes it clear that "up" is the only direction he sees for the future of Future Proof, regardless of what anyone else may have to say about it.

"The goal is by 2025 there will be 10,000 people. A true citywide experience. So whether we go north to south and keep expanding this footprint, or we go inward into the city and into the hotels, we'll see," Middleton said. "Like, I love the naysayers, right? Because our industry is full of them. But I love the feeling when people walk down those steps and it's like Christmas morning … because all we know as an industry is boring. Beautiful cities, but big cold ballrooms, right? Horrible food. Everyone is kind of wearing the same thing, talking about the same thing. And this at every single level has changed what we know as industry conferences.

"I think we'll continue to have the naysayers … but we love that because people talk about it and that's what we want."

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.