As 2024 begins and temperatures on Wall Street plummet, allow Financial Planning to transport you back to warmer days and one of the hottest wealth management events of 2023.
Financial Planning is taking a special look back at the annual Future Proof Festival, a one-of-a-kind industry gathering that attracted nearly 3,000 financial advisors, wealth management executives, fintech leaders, emerging startups, rap icons and more to Huntington Beach, California, during the second week of September.
Our walk down memory lane is a series of exclusive interviews with insiders and newsmakers conducted by Financial Planning Wealthtech Reporter Justin L. Mack, who also served as a panel moderator during the event.
In this clip, Mack chats with Luis Rosa, the co-founder of the BLX Internship Program and the founder of Las Vegas- and Los Angeles-based Build a Better Financial Future registered investment advisory firm.
Rosa, a CFP, was at the festival to connect with colleagues and others and said the highlight so far had been meeting people, as well as being part of the collaborative environment. (And for those folks in from out of town, he highly recommended the local fish or shrimp tacos.)
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Founded in 2020 by Rosa, Shawn Tydlaska, Chloe Moore and Emlen Miles-Mattingly, the BLX Internship Program aims “to help aspiring students and career changers that want to enter the financial planning industry,” Rosa told Mack. “We basically set them up with financial planning firms that are looking to hire, and we pair them together. We have a very robust program; we interview every firm, we interview all the interns.”
“And a lot of the people that come through the program tell us they just struggled for years to get that foot in the door,” Rosa said. “So we provide that talent pipeline.”
The internship program also helps would-be planners get SIE training, certifications and other educational efforts like attending industry conferences. The problem, however, is that there are more interested interns than there are firms offering internship slots.
“We’re making headway,” Rosa said. “We’re moving the needle forward, as l like to say, but it is slow progress.”
Watch the full interview with Luis Rosa below.
Future Proof, an event billed as the first wealth festival, is making its return in the summer and dates for Future Proof 2024 have already been announced: The event is slated to return to Huntington Beach Sept. 15-18, 2024.
LISTEN: 4 questions about the BLX Internship for advisor Chloé Moore
Future Proof is also expanding in the new year with the addition of Future Proof Retreat, an additional event for wealth management leaders that will take place March 24-27 in Colorado Springs.
And while you’re here, make sure to check out more videos of FP @ FP: