MarketCounsel Summit 2019 Recap
I had a phenomenal time last week at The MarketCounsel Summit filled with growth and networking opportunities at the beautiful Fontainebleau Miami Beach. Read on to check out some of my favorite highlights!
The Q&A session with Bill Crager of Envestnet and Brian Hamburger of Hamburger Law Firm was one that will definitely stay in the minds of the attendees. I’m an Envestnet alum and have already had great respect for Bill.
This discussion, focused on the history of Envestnet with the late Jud Bergman, was each intense, somber, light-hearted and helpful in regards to having a succession plan for your firm. It was incredibly authentic, most likely due to how fresh Jud’s memory is to the industry. The only thing I could have asked for in addition was that all my former colleagues were sitting there with me to listen. It was really incredible to hear how Bill and Envestnet are persevering, and also continuing to grow and innovate using Jud’s vision.
The conference made an effort to focus on diversity and inclusion. Recent industry events have pushed the issue to the forefront. The panel, immediately following Crager’s discussion was led by Suzanne Siracuse, focusing on creating an inclusive culture in your workplace. It was a great discussion, but I would be remiss to not point out that about half the conference attendees were not in the room. Inclusion is a work in progress, and if that attendance reflects our industry’s seriousness in finding a solution, we have much much more work to do.
The conference also made a slight change this year by including more networking time. That certainly worked. New firms and individuals to take a look at including SkyView Partners, Moxtra & d1g1t were great to meet. Just as important are the many people that I have known for years, but this provided the time to have meaningful conversations and actually get to know one another. Specifically speaking, John Fury, Jason Lahita, Graham Thomas and the generous individuals at Advicent (more on them later.)
I always tell my industry friends to make sure to wrap up the year with MarketCounsel. They did not disappoint. Brian, Ryan, Sharron, Walter and their team did a great job. Memorable content, important sponsors & the folks you just want to know in the industry are there. With that, I want to specifically speak to the group at Advicent. If you don’t know them, they run Naviplan, the amazing planning software. If you ever have a chance to run into them at a conference, make sure to introduce yourself. Their team: Angela, Tony, Jenna, and Nate, are class acts and I highly recommend getting to know them and their solution.