Over the years, I have been involved in a fair share of investment conferences. This began with the Big Picture Conference at the New York Athletic Club, post-GFC. I had flipped bullish in March 2009, but I have vivid recollections that Fall of listening to Jim O’Shaughnessy of OSAM explain the history of markets following a 50+% crash. He was even more bullish than I was, and had the data to back it up.
In 2012, Jim Bianco of Bianco Research left a lasting impression with his explanation of the impact of Quantitative Easing (QE). His thesis was that we were still early innings of a much longer bull market than people anticipated, just at the time when so many bulls were taking their chips off the table. And of course, he had the data to back it up.
The take-away from these experiences was that we could curate insightful and compelling speakers to share their expertise with an investing audience. It didn’t have to be expensive or exclusive, so long as it was informative and useful.
After the launch of RWM in 2013, we evolved different formats: The Evidence-Based Investment conference tried to pull some of the irrationality out of typical conferences; Wealth|Stack looked at the intersection of technology and wealth management.
Then the pandemic hit.
With it came a giant reset of expectations for business travel and especially for financial conferences. The thought of spending time in cramped conference rooms or heaven forbid giant indoor facilities were all non-starters.
As a group, we always loved working with the team behind the giant ETF conference each year in Florida. That was always a spectacular experience for both participants and panelists and speakers. What should conferences be like once the world reopened? We began brainstorming with John and Matt and their team. Eventually, the idea formed of a massive outdoor festival that combines not just wealth and investing but technology and culture, and entertainment. Do it outside on the beach with bands and music and information and fun! (Javitz Center? F that!)
Instead, we could pull the best bits of Burning Man and Davos together in something that was memorable and experiential and would lead to real gains in professional knowledge. The past few years have been extremely challenging, and we thought that it was time for financial conferences to evolve into something more fun.
If this was an ordinary conference, the speakers list alone would be impressive: Jeff Gundlach and Jeff Sherman of Doubleline; David Booth and Gerard O’Reilly of DFA, Marcie Frost, CEO of Calpers, and many more (see full speaker list).
But this is going to be much more than just speakers and panels — it will be an event that you do not want to miss. That is why this year, we are thrilled to present Future-Proof:
Future proof is built for Finance professionals. Big Picture Readers can register here — use the code “Big Picture 50%” to get the discount.
For more information:
Future Proof Festival site
Follow Future Proof on Twitter
See also:
Batnick: The Best Advisor Event of the Year
