Put a bunch of 401(k) advisors together in a room and they’re bound to have fun—even in a sleepy little backwater like Las Vegas.
Excel 401(k), tagged as The Advisors’ Conference, kicks off at Planet Hollywood in Sin City on Friday and runs through Tuesday, and is meant to spark thinking on the softer sciences to boost business growth.
“It’s not meant to be like other conferences,” says Ross Marino, founder and CEO of Excel 401(k): The Advisors’ Conference and the presenting company, Rekon Event Management. “We interviewed advisors and sponsors about the best conferences they’ve attended and put it all together to form our agenda.”
The conference’s advisor board and agenda committees include well-known industry names Charlie Epstein, Alan Gross, Jessica Maldonado and Chuck Hammond.
As of mid-September, there were 353 total attendees registered, of which 239 were advisors, 85 were women and 56 were 56 women advisors.
Marino, himself a 401(k) advisor for 28 years, points to a number of highlights, including:
- Action Plan for New and Impending Fiduciary Standards with (who else) fi360 CEO Blaine Aikin.
- Social Selling Boot Camp: Power Up Your Social Sales with Sheri Fitts of ShoeFitts Marketing.
- Expert Panel: Financial Wellness with Rachel Weker, Kristina Keck and Chuck Hammond.
- 401(k) Marketing Tech Lab with Rebecca Hourihan.
- The Authority Marketing Panel moderated by Charlie Epstein with Paul Garnett, Robert DeVries and Joe Ablahani.
- LinkedIn Marketing with Jeremiah Desmarais.
- Closing night bowling party at Brooklyn Bowl.
“Sessions are designed to go quickly, but meant to spark thinking on sales, marketing and practice management,” Marino adds. “It’s a lot of information and presentations over a two day period, but advisors will really come away with two or three solid ideas that will positively affect their business.
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of 401(k) Specialist and Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots. Experienced financial services content executive specializing in creative new media delivery. He joined the American Retirement Association in 2023 as Chief Content Officer, overseeing communications for the organization, as well as its sister organizations.
