Wealth Advisor Magazine September 2024 Edition - 13

remembers watching Jeff Gundlach
from DoubleLine Capital step off the
Future Proof stage and head to the
company's booth.
Gundlach is not known for easy access.
It would have made more strategic
sense to retreat to the hotel or even
straight back to the airport.
Instead, Josh says, the reigning Bond
King thought it was more important to
hang out and talk to every advisor investing
client money in his funds . . . and
every advisor who wasn't a DoubleLine
devotee yet.
That's what inclusivity is all about.
Everyone here wants to be here. There
aren't any pay-for-play celebrities at
this show slotted in to sell tickets and
maybe spark some inspiration about the
constantly looming generational wealth
transfer or the power of scale or lessons
learned as a TV news anchor or whatever.
These ain't no Ted Talks designed to
make professional futurists look smart
and you feel clueless. Somewhere in the
crowd, the future itself is coming.
And there's room for a lot of leaders
Look at all these industry powerhouses
gathered in one place! How many
can you name? Hint: some are the
talented people who run the show.
This is how the industry evolves: master
plans mingle with the masses, and we all
move forward together.
" Two out of three people who are
signed up are C-level executives, " Josh
reminds me. " They're not looking to
only interact with other C-level people.
They're looking for those authentic interactions
with everyone in the industry,
meeting with people they would never
have the opportunity to talk with. "
It's compelling talk that fits the standard
entrepreneurial wealth management
doctrine. We're all independent.
We're all individuals, and we all matter.
But that's talk. You don't get to
be Josh Brown without backing up
the talk with actual evidence. He
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in that crowd. Never forget: this isn't a
" Ritholtz " crowd. Josh Brown can work
his network all year long, and while his
recruiters welcome prospects, the talent
pipeline isn't exactly dry.
Matt Middleton doesn't even have a
firm in the fight. He's all about pure networking,
shaking the pieces in the box
in search of more interesting patterns.
There's only one velvet rope here:
no amateurs. In a world full of meme
stock mavens and hucksters, it's nice
for people with a professional stake in
the long-term health of the industry to
be able to talk openly without fear of
spilling actual trade secrets.
Yes, the TV cameras are rolling. But
that's the only concession to pandering
to the stay-at-home retail investor who
watches those shows with the sound on.
It's for " us, " the industry in the aggregate.
It's for you. It's for your clients.
THE FUTURE IS ITS OWN PROOF
So, where are we going as an industry?
What does the " future " getting built here
CONTINUED ON PAGE 14
SEPT/OCT 2024 | 13
NEXT STEPS: MATT
MIDDLETON
FUTURE PROOF is now a lot more
than an industry event. It's rapidly
becoming an industry event platform,
with the first Future Proof Retreat last
winter in a Colorado ski hotel and the
first Future Proof Citywide extravaganza
taking over Miami Beach next
spring.
Obviously, one venue is a lot
smaller than the Huntington Beach
boardwalk and the other is a lot bigger.
That's by design, Matt Middleton says.
Future Proof Citywide will be big
enough for everyone with a financial
orientation (all distribution channels,
even the UHNW investors themselves)
but with enough structure to avoid
becoming overwhelming.
" The closest thing to think about
is South by Southwest in the early
days, " says Matt. " One core space,
the convention center. But replace the
convention center with South Beach.
Some of the best features are on the
fringes. Different locations. Different
experiences. "
And then there's the Retreat
model. Small. Bounded. Intimate.
Even exclusive. Last year was application
only, for executives with an
enterprise amount of AUM.
Look for more of those events
focused on different industry roles,
creating similar community bonds.
" As long as there is a need to bring
a community together, we will create
an event format around that defined
by what is most important to that
audience. "
City of wealth. Beach of wealth.
Mountain of wealth. Island of wealth.
It's a great way to think about growing
a brand across geographies and markets,
without erasing the natural limits
of location, audience and scale.
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Wealth Advisor Magazine September 2024 Edition

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