Everyone loves a comeback story, and the
Better known as T3, the annual advisor technology conference that has been bringing all things fintech together under one roof for nearly two decades became not-so-annual when COVID upended live events — and life itself — what feels like a lifetime ago.
The slow, reluctant march to the new normal we live in today made the 2020 T3 conference a moment in time to revert back to when remembering the pre-pandemic era. Held in February of that year in San Diego, it represented the last in-person industry conference attended by many advisors.
Needless to say, the pressure was on for T3 2022 to deliver big after a more than two-year hiatus. Especially since its programming
As the dust settles on T3 2022, which ran from May 2-4, it’s evident that Bruckenstein still hasn’t fully come down from the highs experienced last week in north Texas. His excitement is palpable as he lists the industry leaders who made the trip, and the gratitude in his voice can be heard loud and clear as he thanks the nearly 1,000 attendees who helped make T3 2022 larger than it's ever been,
“I'm feeling great. it was the biggest, best and most diverse T3 we’ve ever had,” Bruckenstein told Financial Planning. “We had fantastic speakers headlined by women like
Financial Planning caught up with Bruckenstein this week to discuss the long-awaited return, planning for next year and why he believes skipping T3 means missing out on what’s really going on in fintech.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Financial Planning: For both first-timers and those who have been coming to T3 for years, what was the response to the turnout for this year’s return event?
Joel Bruckenstein: I think people were blown away by the scale. The issue with conferences these days is that most people just don't sign up early. Years ago we got like a third of our registration on the early bird, and now we get maybe 5% of them because the financial incentive is not what drives attendance. So there's always a bit of “if we build it, they will come.” And they certainly came. We sold out the hotel and two other satellite hotels. I think everybody who was there was thrilled. People were just beaming, and the networking was great well into the night. We also had a record number of first-time attendees, which helped.
FP: With so many new attendees, were a lot of them new to the industry as a whole? Or just new to T3?
JB: I don't think a lot of them are really new to the industry. Many of them were from large, billion dollar and up firms, so they’re not new. I think a lot of the interest was driven by the post-COVID world, and many of them just realized during COVID that their technology might not be as up to date to support the post-COVID world as they have thought, and I think that drove a lot of the attendance.
FP: Recognizing that need and acting on it by going to T3 for solutions suggests a crowd that is there for a purpose, not just a party. How was the level of engagement at the conference this year?
JB: Well, it's a self-selecting audience. if you're not there to buy technology or learn about technology for advisors, you're not coming to T3. So it's already a self-selecting audience. But I think what happened is … if you just look at the stats how many advisors before March 2020 had never opened an account digitally? Probably 80%. How many had never done a video call. Again, probably another 80%. And how many of them had supported a staff that worked remotely? Probably less than 10%. So some of these things are not going away, and I think the bigger firms in particular who want to scale and want to grow realize that it's essential to update their technology.
FP: What themes, trends or types of technology led the way at T3 2022?
JB: I think it was well distributed, but I think some of the recurring themes that I expected to hear were ‘how do you grow and scale?’ You can't just add more people. That doesn't scale. So how do you get more efficient? How do you provide a better work environment for your clients? How do you provide a truly engaging, simple, digital experience for the end client? Those were some of the themes, as well as a lot of talk about the next generation of advisors and the next generation of clients. Their needs are different than the baby boomers. So how do you build an experience for those folks? And I think those are all valid questions.
FP: Any personal stand out moments for you?
JB: I don't know that there is one moment I would point to because there are just so many, so it wouldn't be fair to single out one thing. But I would say this: Every year when so many people come up and tell me what a great conference it was and how happy they were to be there and how much they got out of it, the challenge is always looking forward to next year. We’re already starting to think about how to make it even better next year, and that's always a challenge whether it goes well or not. But when it goes this well, expectations are so high, it's like, how are we going to meet expectations next year?
FP: You mentioned diversity as a highlight of this year’s event. In what ways were you able to improve, and what challenges still need to be addressed?
JB: We were really proud about the level of diversity we had. We had a record number of women. We had a record number of African Americans and Asian Americans. We had pretty much a total cross section of America, more so than we've ever had at the T3 conference. It is a little bit challenging because probably the fintech industry as a whole is not as diverse as it should be. And we certainly, for years, have been encouraging new people to go into this industry. But it's hard, and it takes time. But I really think that we had the most diverse T3 ever, and some of those speakers like Neesha Hathi, Jenny Johnson and Tricia Haskins were some of the best speakers at the conference.
FP: Any plans in place for T3 2023?
JB: Honestly, we usually have a venue chosen by this time, but there's so much chaos right now in the conference business. A lot of these hotels are laying off their conference people during COVID because there were no conferences, so they're just getting back up to speed. We're really a little behind schedule, but I think within the next couple of weeks we'll have a big announcement to make about next year's event.
FP: Any final thoughts to share with our readers?
JB: Well, two things. First, thanks everybody for coming. It was the attendees and the sponsors who made this conference as great as it was. And second, I think for next year, if you're a growing business and you don't attend T3, you just don't know what's going on in technology. There is no other conference that is solely devoted to the technology needs of registered investment advisors, and given the fact that only a small portion of the RIA population has ever been to a T3, they just don't know what they're missing. But they should talk to somebody who was there this year to find out because they did miss out.
