Industry efforts to return to normal hit a bump on Tuesday with the announcement that the Financial Planning Association’s (FPA) Board of Directors has officially canceled its planned FPA Annual Conference 2021 to be held Sept. 22-24 in Columbus, Ohio. The organization cited increasing concerns related to the spread of the COVID-19 Delta Variant as the reason.
“Given the surge of the Delta variant and concerns over the increasing number of COVID-19 cases across the country, the FPA Board of Directors has decided to cancel the annual conference in Columbus next month,” Patrick D. Mahoney, FPA chief executive officer, said in a statement. “FPA’s first priority is the health, safety, and well-being of our attendees, staff, partners, and all those who make a conference like this possible. This was a difficult decision for the Board to make, but it was the right decision considering the current state of the pandemic and the significant landscape challenges facing in-person events this fall.”
Other in-person industry conferences, including the National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA) 401(k) Summit, September 12 – 14 in Las Vegas, and Wealt@wor(k), October 24 – 26 in Nashville (formerly Excel 401(k): The Advisors’ Conference), are still scheduled.
REGISTER FOR THE NAPA 401(K) SUMMIT HERE
Scheduled to take place at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, all FPA registrants will receive a full refund on their registration fee. The Association intends to make several of the sessions, including keynote presentations, available for free to members via a pre-recorded format in the coming months.
REGISTER FOR WEALTH@WOR(K) HERE
“We looked forward to seeing our members and rekindling the sense of community that is so special about our Association,” Mahoney added. “While we look forward to seeing our members at all of our in-person events next year, our members are welcome to connect through their local FPA chapter or virtually through FPA’s many online communities.”
FPA is providing a list of outstanding events and symposia being held by FPA chapters and encouraging members to consider attending them this fall.