The coolest thing I ever saw as a kid was a dual VCR player. It was the height of technology, and it was awesome.
So what you’d do, you go buy a package of blank VHS tapes. Then, you get your parents to drive you to Blockbuster where you would rent Die Hard or UHF or Aliens or Platoon. And then you get back home and the magic begins: the movie on one side, the blank tape on the other. And after two hours, you’ve got your very own personal movie to watch as many times as you want. Until the VCR ate the tape. Kids, ask your parents what that means.
Anyway, that was technology. Go back far enough, a typewriter was high tech. Go back further, so was a shovel.
Transient natures
Which is to say, technology is not a current state. Technology is a transient state. Technology is today’s tomorrow, and tomorrow’s tomorrow.
And that brings me to the Wealth/Stack conference. Wealth/Stack is about the intersection of technology and financial advice.
Investing is a high stakes game. Investment advice is an even higher stakes game. Advisors have been trusted by their clients, their friends and their family to invest for their futures, their retirements and their life goals. It carries a heavy burden of responsibility. And part of that responsibility is to use the best technology at your disposal.
Welcome to the show
Wealth/Stack is bringing together the team behind the can’t-miss Inside ETFs event, the team at Ritholtz Wealth Management who re-wrote the rules on what financial content and commentary can be, and the best technology leaders that serve financial advisors.
There is a panel on social branding for financial advisors from a group of young advisors who have mastered the art.
Eric Clarke from Orion is delivering a keynote on technology and measurable growth. Ill be talking about how to scale investment strategies – through launching financial products or utilizing other technologies to offer those strategies to a broader set of investors, at scale.
My friend and producer of The ETF Experience Podcast, Mathew Passy, is setting up a live podcast studio and giving hands-on demos from the conference. If the thought of launching a podcast has ever crossed your mind, getting time with Mat is worth the price of admission for that alone.
Be in the copper state, don't be left out
You’ve got big companies, and you’ve got scrappy companies. You’ve got VCs, and you’ve got startups. You’ve got a battle of the leading ETF pundits, and you’ve got a panel on alternatives. You’ve got robo advisors talking about how technology can augment financial planning, and you’ve got financial planners talking about how behavioral coaching can augment technology.
As we all look to stay ahead of the curve on technology and ahead of the curve of advice, Wealth/Stack is where you’ll get your finger on the pulse of today’s tomorrow in our industry and how we are responding to the choices presented. Or as Morgan Housel more elegantly said, “technology does not drive change. It is our collective response to the options and opportunities presented by technology that drives change.”
And speaking of Morgan Housel, yah, he’ll be there too.
Phil Bak is CEO of Exponential ETFs. You can learn more about his speaking session at Wealth/Stack right here.
