“Where the magic lies, is in the fact that you could go to that space (at a conference in Southern California) and see a room full of Canadians, across different job functions, regardless if you’re a product provider, an advisor, or media. You’re all there in a very casual setting, just sharing ideas and thoughts,” Middleton added. “No one’s trying to hard pitch anyone. Q Wealth spends a lot of time, energy, and resources to create this congregation and this platform, but they’re not there beating their chests. That just shows the type of quality they have and what they want to do as a firm, which is to be an agnostic platform partner and look to create a more modern industry as a whole.”
Having known Rabinowitz and Gasparek from Middleton’s days creating ETF events with Informa, the three naturally connected. The first Future Proof saw 50-60 Canadian advisors congregate, and Q Wealth quickly laid out their vision for a more formal arrangement. “They wouldn’t leave me alone,” Middleton joked. “Direct and persistent, they followed through on their words last year. They executed flawlessly beyond my wildest imagination.”
Q Wealth’s presence is also based on Middleton’s admiration for the Canadian wealth management industry. If the aim of Future Proof is to bring modern finance professionals together to swap ideas to take back to their own region, he believes Canada’s seat at the table is vital. Canada, he says, is blazing a trail and really has an eye on where the puck is heading for advisors.
To help this sharing of intellectual capital, Future Proof is expanding its breakthrough sessions after the success of last year’s speed-dating style connections (17,000 one-to-one meetings) by adding two new platforms – its breakthrough talks program, a modern take on round-table discussions, and breakthrough experiences program, which is anything from morning workouts to evening dinners and receptions.
The Canadian panel, hosted for the first time this year, fits perfectly into this expansion. It will feature an hour and a half session about how to go independent in Canada. Attendees can opt in and out like any other of the event’s offerings.