FPA NCA - 2026 Smarter Planner Symposium

Meet Our Speakers!

Carl Richards - Your Money: Reimagining Wealth Through Simple Sketches - Advisor Edition

In this engaging and thought-provoking session, financial professionals

will explore the critical tensions that shape advisor-client relationships and influence financial decision-making. Carl Richards, renowned for his New York Times sketches and behavioral insights, will guide advisors through an interactive discussion, helping them move beyond rigid planning to a more adaptable, client-centered approach. Using a selection of 7 to 12 curated sketches, this session will examine key challenges, such as:

• Purpose vs. Goals – How to align financial plans with a client’s deeper values, ensuring long-term engagement.
• Precision vs. Adaptability – Why financial planning should be seen as an ongoing process, not a static document, and how to navigate uncertainty with confidence.
• Facts vs. Emotions – The role of behavioral biases in financial decision-making and how to use empathy to strengthen trust and communication.

Michael Kitces - Advanced Financial Planning Strategies & Retirement Strategies  

The Four Factors That Really Drive Advicer Productivity

In this session, Chief Financial Planning Nerd Michael Kitces of Kitces Research will share their latest findings on the four factors that really drive the productivity of advicecentric firms, including the impact of team leverage, face-time with clients, the affluence of the firm's clientele, and the pricing confidence of the advisors themselves... and in the process, will show how the prevailing focus on AdvisorTech actually plays a remarkably small role in advisor productivity, once advisory firms get the four "big" things right! 

What You'll Learn

• Understand how to measure Productivity as a financial advisor delivering services to clients
• Analyze Team Support structures to understand how to optimize for depth and quality of client service
• Understand how varying Team models leverage financial advisors and their client-facing time differently
• Calculate an advisor's implied hourly rate and be able to match it to the advisory firm's client needs
• Understand how pricing discounts can undermine the long-term sustainability of an advisory firm's ability to serve (even and especially its smaller clients)

Jordan Jackson with JP Morgan - A Guide to the Markets: Investing through Stimulus, Spending, and Security

This presentation will go over the economic and market impact of fiscal stimulus via the OBBBA, the resilience in consumer spending and capital spending, and the administrations' approach to national security, energy security, and supply chain security.

What You'll Learn

• Listeners will understand how the OBBBA will inject fiscal stimulus into the economy, impacting growth and inflation.
• Investors will learn how to think about Artificial Intelligence from a stock market perspective and broader economic implications.
• Participants will hear our views on the global geopolitical landscape and how it's shaping our outlook for 2026. 

Matt Hougan - The Great Derisking of Crypto (The State of Cryptocurrencies: How Advisors are Using Digital Assets to Drive AUM & Revenue)

As the crypto market matures and regulatory clarity increases, financial advisors are taking a second look at digital assets—not as a speculative play but as a strategic component in portfolio construction and practice growth. This session explores how top advisors integrate crypto to differentiate themselves, deepen client relationships, and drive AUM. Join us for an insightful discussion that will demystify the evolving role of crypto in wealth management and provide a clear path forward for advisors looking to navigate this dynamic asset class.

What You'll Learn

How to evaluate the current risks in the crypto market; Why now is a critical time to consider crypto exposure; How advisors are practically using crypto to grow assets under management (AUM) and revenue.

Larry Pon - Beyond the One, Big, Beautiful Bill

This session will discuss the bill now including how it will affect your clients financial plan. We will discuss the New Deductions, Trump Accounts, and Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) in a Changing Landscape.

What You'll Learn

Understand the impact of the One Big Beautiful Bill and the impact on  

• New tax deductions
• Trump accounts
• Qualified Small Business Stock

Daleele Alison - Using Microsoft AI to Simplify Onboarding and Client Requests

Advisors deal with a lot of steps when onboarding new clients and handling daily requests. Forms, emails, follow ups, and multiple systems slow everything down and increase the chance of missed details.

This session will show how Microsoft powered AI agents can remove friction from these workflows. You’ll see how a simple conversation can guide an entire process behind the scenes so onboarding moves faster, client requests are handled cleanly, and your team gets time back.

What You’ll Learn

• A clear understanding of how conversational AI and Copilot can run multi step workflows using simple prompts
• A view of where your own onboarding and service processes can be streamlined
• Practical examples for onboarding and client request activities 
• Confidence in how security permissions and data privacy work inside Microsoft 365 Copilot

Who Should Attend

• Advisors who want a smoother workday and fewer manual steps
• Operations and client service teams responsible for onboarding and client requests
• Firm leaders looking for practical ways to use Microsoft Copilot
• Technology and compliance leads who need clarity on Microsoft governance and integration

Phong Le is the President and CEO of Strategy, the world’s first and largest Bitcoin Treasury Company and a global leader in AI and business intelligence software. He became CEO in 2022 after joining the company in 2015, where he previously served in roles including Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to Strategy, Phong held leadership roles at Deloitte Consulting, Nextel International, and XO Communications. He earned a dual Bachelor of Science in Biomedical and Chemical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.