This week, several members of the Vested team headed to Huntington Beach for Future Proof Festival, the wealth management industry’s largest annual gathering. Chad Schmidt and Ellery Smith were on the ground supporting our client VanEck, which ran several activations and advertising campaigns focused on the advisor audience throughout the event. Jeff Kuns was there supporting Financial Narrative News. Here’s what stood out.
A festival that keeps outgrowing itself. Future Proof launched in 2022 with roughly 2,200 attendees. This year, it drew more than 5,000, representing firms that manage a combined $22 trillion in assets, backed by over 300 sponsors. Chad Schmidt noted that despite that growth, the quality never slipped, from logistics to speakers to venue. Attendees showed up to genuinely learn and network rather than just check a box, helped along by the Breakthru meetings system that made real connections easier to come by. If you work in wealth management, chances are your peers across advisory, asset management, media and technology were all there too.
The setting shaped the tone. Trading suits for sand and a handful of tasteful Hawaiian shirts changed the energy of the whole event, so much so that Ellery Smith overheard several advisors describe Future Proof as “the Coachella of wealth management conferences.” Booths and activations leaned into that creativity, with brands going all out to stand apart, including at least one AI photo booth that put attendees on a virtual surfboard. VanEck’s own presence, where Chad and Ellery spent their days, was part of that same push to break through the noise with an advisor-focused footprint.
Return attendees keep coming back for a reason. Ellery asked a few longtime attendees if this was their favorite year yet. The answers pointed to a format that’s earned its loyalty. “The networking opportunities here are truly always unmatched, and the content is just as good,” one advisor said. Another appreciated the pacing. “There are always ongoing, larger scale presentations to attend throughout the day, [but] it still doesn’t necessarily feel intense. You’re really able to make each day whatever you want.”
AI was the throughline. Ellery Smith pointed to a common thread across main stage sessions: using AI to boost advisor productivity, alongside conversations on building the next generation of advisors and standing out in an AI-driven industry.
Marketing got its own seat at the table. Jeff Kuns saw founder Matt Middleton frame the event around five themes drawn from more than 250 conversations with wealth management leaders, from the AI-native RIA to building firms that outlast their founders. Marketing had its own dedicated track this year too, including two CMO Collective panels on credibility building and growth tactics. The firms that stood out were the ones with a clear, consistent point of view, whether on stage, at their booth, or in their swag.
The consensus across the team is that Future Proof has moved well past “worth watching” status. For RIAs, asset managers and fintech firms trying to reach the advisor audience, it’s become one of the few events where the entire ecosystem shows up in one place at the same time. We’d recommend clients in the wealth management space keep taking it seriously. With growth this consistent and this much of the industry’s attention concentrated in one week, sitting it out is a missed opportunity.
