Julie is a recognized expert on the drivers and evolution of client experience, client engagement and referral growth. She is responsible for: designing the firm's strategic vision and product roadmap, conducting on-going investor and advisor research, driving firm growth and representing the company on conference stages around the world. Julie has worked with and studied successful financial advisors and their clients for more than twenty-five years. Prior to founding Absolute Engagement, she launched and ran one of the industry’s leading research firms, focused on client engagement. She is the author of a popular blog and the author of The Pursuit of Absolute Engagement. Julie sat on the national board of the Financial Planning Association, currently sits on an Investment & Wealth Institute advisory board, is the winner of the 'Iconoclast' award from Bob Veres, is a finalist for the 'Luminaries' award from Think Advisor and was twice identified as one of the 25 Most Influential People in Financial Planning. She holds an MBA from the University of Toronto.

Meg Carpenter is CEO and Co-Founder of Ficomm Partners, an award-winning growth marketing firm working alongside financial advisors, financial advisory firms, and wealth management platforms at every stage of growth. Through Ficomm’s proven strategic marketing framework and advisor marketing coaching programs, Meg has had a seat at many executive tables working alongside leadership teams to tackle their most pressing growth challenges. Meg and her all-female leadership team bring a deep understanding of growth strategy and are proud to have been recognized across the wealth management industry for their expertise. Meg is honored to be on the Board of Trustees for the Foundation for Financial Planning, Chair of the CFP Board’s Workforce Development Advisory Group, and sits on the Board of Absolute Engagement.

After 20 years at AllianceBernstein, Ray Sclafani founded and heads ClientWise, which provides elite coaching programs and consulting exclusively for the financial services industry. Ray’s passion for serving leaders, advisors, and companies in the financial services sector is reflected in ClientWise, its unique coaching programs, and its team of credentialed coaches. Ray’s experience as a coaching and consulting specialist in the financial sector mirrors his long and profitable history in the industry. In his 20 years at AllianceBernstein, Ray was one of the company’s top sales professionals and executive leaders. He specialized in creating and executing highly successful sales plans and building long-lasting client connections. Later, Ray used his expertise as founder and Managing Director of the Advisor Institute at AllianceBernstein. In that role, he developed and directed an extensive series of programs that created improved and sustainable motivation, sales, and client relationships. Ray completed his transition to founding ClientWise through significant coaching education and practice. As a complement to his coaching skills, he also holds a Master’s Certification in Neuro-Linguistics from the International Association for Neuro-Linguistic Programming and has participated in The Strategic Coach® Program for 17 years.

Pablo is Director of Advisor Growth at BNY, building scalable solutions that help hundreds of financial advisory firms accelerate growth. He leads the Advisor Growth Network, bringing the breadth of BNY’s partner network and the depth of its expertise to solve client challenges. Previously VP of Marketing at Nova Credit, he led global enterprise marketing and helped drive 5x revenue growth, pivot from B2C to multi‑product enterprise SaaS, expand into four international markets, and create the Cash Flow Underwriting Summit. Earlier, he built and led marketing functions at Crux Informatics and YipitData, and founded AlternativeData.org, growing the community to 1,500 subscribers in six months. Pablo began his career in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and holds degrees from Georgetown University in finance, international business, and history.

Louis Diamond is the go-to consultant for elite financial advisors navigating transitions, entrepreneurs with their sights set on launching an independent firm, and business owners contemplating M&A opportunities. Known for his sharp business acumen and analytical mindset, Louis brings clarity to complexity, helping advisors make confident decisions that shape their futures—serving as a trusted guide to those evaluating how best to serve clients while maximizing long-term enterprise value. Louis also advises independent business owners on scaling through mergers, acquisitions, and strategic recruiting, with deep experience in multi-generational businesses and succession planning. As CEO of Diamond Consultants, Louis leads the firm with a growth-focused vision, ensuring every client engagement reflects the same dedication and strategic insight he brings to the advisors he serves. A magna cum laude graduate of The George Washington University with a dual degree in Finance and International Business, Louis began his career as a consultant at EY and held roles in wealth management at Morgan Stanley and UBS. Today, he’s a respected voice at conferences, contributor to major financial media, and co-host of the industry-leading Diamond Podcast for Financial Advisors. Recognized twice as one of Business Insider’s Top Financial Advisor Recruiters You Should Know and named a 2024 Top Next Gen Leader by Wealth Solutions Report, Louis is proud to help advisors take control of their destinies and build businesses that endure. Outside of work, Louis enjoys skiing, hiking, and cheering on the Yankees and Giants. He lives in Park City, UT with his wife, Gaby, and their two children, Zoey and Jax.

Brian is an entrepreneur, attorney, consultant, speaker, columnist and outspoken industry advocate for independent investment advisors and wealth management firms. For more than 24 years, he has served at the helm of the MarketCounsel companies and the Hamburger Law Firm. Brian is the founder, president and CEO of MarketCounsel Consulting, the leading business and regulatory compliance consultancy to the country’s preeminent entrepreneurial independent investment advisors. Brian is also the founder and chief counsel of the Hamburger Law Firm, a boutique law firm with its practice in virtually all areas related to the investment and securities industry, entrepreneurial and employment matters. The MarketCounsel companies and the Hamburger Law Firm reflect Brian’s unrelenting entrepreneurial drive and genuine desire to provide an unparalleled combination of preeminent counsel and uncompromising service to the wealth management profession. Hamburger is also the president of MarketCounsel Productions, a company that has built community within the wealth management profession by hosting events such as The MarketCounsel Summit, MarketCounsel Supper Clubs and MarketCounsel After-Hours. The MarketCounsel Summit is the industry’s capstone event of the year and a forum for debate and dialogue on some of the most critical issues facing leaders of wealth management firms. For six straight years, MarketCounsel Consulting was named as one of the fastest growing private companies in the U.S. by Inc. Magazine. Brian’s companies have won eight WealthManagement Industry Awards throughout the award program’s eight year history. And along the way, The MarketCounsel Summit has received numerous accolades, including being referred to by the press as “The Davos of Wealth Management” and consistently referred to as one of the elite industry conferences. Hamburger has been at the forefront of the movement of financial advisors leaving career employment with global financial institutions to launch independent wealth management firms and has had a profound impact on the profession. In 2020, Brian was named to The IA25, Investment Advisor Magazine’s Annual List of the Top Influential People in the Industry. Earlier that year, InvestmentNews named Brian to their class of Icons & Innovators, recognizing visionaries who have shaped and transformed the financial advice profession. Prior to that, Wealth Management named Brian as one of the top thought leaders in wealth management, “Over the past decade, Hamburger has been the architect behind almost all the highest-profile breakaway deals in the industry, helping advisors navigate the legal thicket of transitioning away from brokerages and into independent business models. As such he’s been a central, but often unheralded, force in the evolution of the RIA industry.” Its predecessor publication, REP. Magazine, featured Brian on its cover as “The Engineer: Brian Hamburger and the RIA Evolution” and profiled, “how Brian Hamburger became the man behind the curtain in almost every major breakaway deal and helped define the industry.” Financial Advisor Magazine ran a cover story on its cover called, “Exodus: Lawyer Brian Hamburger ensures advisors … exit wirehouses the right way.” An early profile by ThinkAdvisor recognized Brian as “The Real Deal: one of those rare folks who is an expert in his own field, truly understands the business of independent advice, and clearly sees how the former supports the latter.” Throughout his career, Brian has been called upon to meet with members of Congress and SEC commissioners to advocate fiercely for independent investment advisors. Brian is a fixture on the conference circuit and has served as keynote, moderator and panelist throughout the country as well as being omnipresent at his own annual gathering of the industry’s top executives and thought leaders. He is a contributor for CNBC and various industry publications. He’s also been regularly and widely quoted by financial press including The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Barron’s, Dow Jones, and Reuters and is a go-to source for virtually every investment industry publication such as InvestmentNews, WealthManagement, RIABiz, Citywire, Financial Advisor IQ, AdvisorHUB, ThinkAdvisor, and Financial Planning. Brian is admitted to the bars of New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, the District of Columbia as well as the U.S. Supreme Court. Hamburger also heeded the call of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards and various industry boards and task forces to shape industry-wide standards and initiatives. He is a member of the FINRA Dispute Resolution Board of Arbitrators and has served as an arbitrator for the New York Stock Exchange. Brian is a chef in the US Coast Guard Auxiliary and a Team Rubicon Greyshirt. He is chairman of the MarketCounsel Foundation as well as a director of Invest in Others charitable foundation and an officer on its executive committee. A graduate of Quinnipiac College, Mr. Hamburger received his undergraduate degree with the school’s first dual major in Economics and Financial Management. He went on to earn his Juris Doctor from the University of Miami School of Law where he was the recipient of a Dean’s Service Scholarship and the President’s Pinnacle Award for his role as Editor-in-Chief of the Res Ipsa Loquitur, its bi-weekly journal. Brian was among the first to earn the designation of Certified Regulatory and Compliance Professional (CRCP) by the Wharton School and the FINRA Institute after completing his residency at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He was also among the first to be awarded the Accredited Investment Fiduciary Analyst™ (AIFA®) designation by the Center for Fiduciary Studies.

Sean Keenan is a Managing Director and Head of Sales of the Wealth Services platform at BNY Pershing, which serves wealth-oriented broker-dealers, registered investment advisors (RIAs) and trust companies to provide custody and middle-office solutions. Sean is responsible for the new revenue and asset growth and a member of Wealth Services senior leadership team. Prior to this role, Sean led business development for the RIA custody business and member of Advisor Solutions Executive Committee. Sean brings over 25 years of experience in the financial services and institutional business. Prior to joining Pershing in 2009, Sean spent 10 years at Ameritrade in various leadership roles including sales and strategic planning. He was instrumental in the launch of Ameritrade Institutional. After leaving TD Ameritrade, Sean spent two years with Fidelity Institutional Wealth Management focused on business development in the Midwest. Sean earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Finance and Banking from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He completed the Securities Industry Institute® program, sponsored by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Heather Ettinger is the Founder and CEO of Luma Thrive, a boutique consulting and coaching firm helping wealth management leaders accelerate organic growth by redesigning the client experience for today's most underserved—and fastest-growing—segments of wealth, including high-net-worth women and underserved client niches. With nearly four decades of experience as a top advisor, CEO, and builder of high-performing advisory teams, Heather brings a perspective few can match. She led one of the industry's most successful RIAs serving women and families and now partners with CEOs and senior leaders navigating critical inflection points—platform decisions, next-phase growth, succession, and leadership evolution. Through her proprietary Growth by Design™ platform, Heather helps firms move beyond incremental change to intentional design—aligning client experience, advisor behavior, and growth strategy. Her work challenges the industry's “sea of sameness” by focusing leaders on the clients they want to serve, the experiences that create loyalty and advocacy, and the activities that actually drive results. In parallel, Heather coaches leadership teams and next-generation talent—particularly rising female leaders—to step into greater influence with clarity, confidence, and purpose. She is also a sought-after keynote speaker, known for delivering candid, experience-based insights that resonate with executive and advisor audiences. Her programs have received strong acclaim from organizations including Family Wealth Alliance and Dimensional Fund Advisors. Heather is the author of the best-selling book Lumination: Shining a Light on a Woman's Journey to Financial Wellness, and her work continues to shape how firms think about growth, leadership, and the future of advice. Most firms are still trying to market their way to growth. Heather helps them design their way there—by creating experiences clients recognize, value, and talk about. Her edge is simple: she hasn't just advised from the outside—she's built, led, and delivered results from the inside. Outside of her work, Heather is an avid hockey player and outdoor enthusiast who brings the same energy and curiosity to her life as she does to her work

Dr. Ben Sorensen provides leadership and sales training, sales training, and executive coaching to organizations around the world and across a wide spectrum of industries, training thousands of senior executives every year. During the past 20 years, Dr. Ben has had the privilege to engage in one-on-one executive coaching engagements with hundreds of senior executives and to implement training with thousands of team members. Dr. Ben has become best known for his rich mix of corporate experience, work with non-profits, and teaching ability. Ben focuses on teaching practical, proven skills while customizing all materials to the specific needs of each client. Dr. Ben co-authored Customer Tells: Delivering World-Class Customer Service by Reading Your Customer's Signs and Signals (Kaplan Publishing, 2007), which focuses on how to communicate effectively and deliver exceptional customer service. Dr. Ben is Lieutenant in the Navy Reserve serving as a Chaplain. He served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve for 17 years before redesignating to become a Chaplain. He has earned multiple awards including the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, and Joint Service Commendation Medal. Dr. Ben was honored to serve at the Pentagon for 5 years. Ben is the Vice Mayor of the City of Fort Lauderdale where he was elected City Commissioner in 2024. He resides there with his wife, Anna. and their two daughters.

Pablo is Director of Advisor Growth at BNY, building scalable solutions that help hundreds of financial advisory firms accelerate growth. He leads the Advisor Growth Network, bringing the breadth of BNY's partner network and the depth of its expertise to solve client challenges. Previously VP of Marketing at Nova Credit, he led global enterprise marketing and helped drive 5x revenue growth, pivot from B2C to multi‑product enterprise SaaS, expand into four international markets, and create the Cash Flow Underwriting Summit. Earlier, he built and led marketing functions at Crux Informatics and YipitData, and founded AlternativeData.org, growing the community to 1,500 subscribers in six months. Pablo began his career in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and holds degrees from Georgetown University in finance, international business, and history.