Every year, the agenda at the LeafHouse National Retirement Summit (LNRS) in Austin, Texas, follows a thoughtfully chosen theme reflecting what LeafHouse believes to be an important current priority for retirement plan advisors to help them get—or stay ahead of—the crowd.
This year, that theme was: “Motion: You Are Not Obsolete.”
Session after session of the two-day event that wrapped up last Thursday hit that theme from wide variety of angles. Here are several highlights from the intentionally unconventional retirement plan industry event.
Let’s start with words from LeafHouse President and CEO Todd Kading, delivered last Thursday during his annual session followed by his fireside chat with TV host Mike Rowe of “Dirty Jobs” fame.
“If we want to matter tomorrow, we have to do the work today.”
Kading repeatedly hammered home the main theme during the sessions, challenging attendees to not accept the status quo—and thereby standing still.
“It’s all about motion. You have to move. If you don’t move, you are going to become obsolete,” Kading said.
He highlighted the dangers of becoming stagnant and set in your ways, resisting ideas and not adapting to a changing environment.
“Motion is hard. To adapt is difficult. To do nothing feels like the easy thing, but it’s what makes you obsolete,” Kading said. “It’s your turn to step up. AI’s moving. The clients are moving. The systems are moving,” Kading said. “It’s changing everything. You can let it overwhelm you, or you can use it as a creative tool.”
Time to take action
Kicking things off at LNRS on Wednesday was keynote speaker Antonio Neves, a bestselling author who told the audience, “You are the life-changing event that you’ve been waiting for.”
He pointed out that some windows in life to take action only stay open for so long, and if you don’t take action on it, it will close. He talked about how people often start fast at their jobs and then settle into complacency, likening it to a football game. “In the first half you came out playing to win—you go up big. But in the second half, you are playing not to lose.”
Neves asked how many times attendees have taken themselves out of “cruise control” and put themselves in a position to feel a little bit uncomfortable in the last 30 days. “What can you do over the next 30 days to make sure you are continuing to play to win?”
A Thursday morning session with SRP COO Deane Mayerhofer and LeafHouse EVP, COO Kassandra Hendrix titled, “Moving the Needle… without Permission,” expanded on the motion theme, with the two leaders encouraging the audience to act—and refuse to stand still. “Take action and don’t wait for permission to do the right thing,” Hendrix said.
Kading, during another session on Thursday, noted that the industry waiting too long to move and adopt new things that are clearly better is one of his biggest grievances. Fellow session panelist Michael Rosenberg, Head of Retirement Investment Solutions at First Eagle Investment Management, shared Kading’s frustration.
“When you want to change it’s only because things got so darn bad,” Rosenberg said. “When we talk about change, change doesn’t create any revenue. We’ve got to stop thinking short term. Stop fighting change just because it doesn’t create any revenue.”
Rosenberg, who noted he is retiring after 35 years in the industry, also told attendees to take what they learn at industry events to heart by making changes. “Stop going back to the office and doing ‘business as usual.’ Do what’s right. We should learn and actually implement the ideas we learn here to make our business better.”
Beyond a number of strong speakers and panel sessions, other event highlights included Kading’s “fireside chat” with TV host Mike Rowe talking about—among many other things—the reality of what happens when the people who build America can’t afford to retire with dignity; and a closing concert by Dee Snider of Twisted Sister fame, who’s high-energy (and anything but stationary) set marked a fitting close to this year’s LNRS.
First-ever LNRS Retirement Industry Awards
A new component to this year’s event was the surprise introduction of the first-ever LNRS Retirement Industry Awards, which Kading presented to a quartet of honorees on Thursday. The simple purpose was to provide recognition to those who make the retirement industry better.
The LNRS First Mover Award—for being among the first to believe in a different model—was awarded to Andy Tyndall of MFS and MJ Zayac of AllianceBernstein (AB). “Andy and MJ didn’t just take a meeting. They took a chance. At a time when most wholesalers and fund families waited to see what LeafHouse might become, Andy and MJ jumped on board the LeafHouse train,” Kading said. “They saw how technology, scale, and partnership could create something better for advisors and participants. They believed in LeafHouse before the story was obvious. Andy and MJ, you both were First Movers in the truest sense.”
The LNRS Community Award went to “retired” former American Retirement Association Director of Content (and a frequent LNRS co-host) Nevin Adams, for consistently connecting people, ideas, and insights with clarity and purpose. “This award is not about what Nevin did. It is about what he continues to do. Bring us together. Make us think. And remind us why this work matters,” Kading said.
The LNRS Perseverance Award went to Income America President Matt Wolniewicz, AIFA. “This award is about Matt’s unwavering focus on making sure Americans have a path to income they cannot outlive. He has spent years fighting for that idea to take root. Not because it is easy. Not because it is popular. But because he believes it matters,” Kading said. “Matt’s resilience has moved the industry forward. And that perseverance deserves more than recognition. It deserves respect.”
SEE ALSO:
• The Importance of Building Relationships in the Era of AI: LNRS 2025
• LeafHouse Event to Challenge Advisors: Adapt or be Obsolete