SER Summit draws sellout attendance, big-name sponsors

The second edition of a professional development and networking conference for Latino wealth management professionals will take place this week with double the attendance of last year.

At 120 registered attendees for a sellout crowd heading to San Diego on Oct. 10 and 11, the SER Summit for Latinos in FinServ has drawn sponsorships from big industry names such as LPL Financial, the Financial Planning Association and Charles Schwab for an event filled with discussions on topics like leadership, mentorship, building generational wealth and advancing in the profession. After starting last year as a companion event the day before the FPA annual conference, speakers such as planners Anna N'Jie-Konte, Luis Rosa and Freddy Garcia will appear on panels as part of the conference's first year as a standalone gathering.

In an interview with Financial Planning Chief Correspondent Tobias Salinger, SER co-founders Vanessa Martinez, the CEO of Chicago-based registered investment advisory firm Expressive Wealth, and Ana Trujillo Limón, a 2023 FP Rising Star award winner who is the editorial director of Omaha, Nebraska-based Carson Group, explained how they and other volunteer organizers developed the agenda and what financial advisors should know about the conference.  

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This email interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Financial Planning: How will the event embody this year's theme of "building generational wealth and wisdom"?

Vanessa Martinez: Being in the financial industry, we tend to think that wealth is tied around only monetary aspects, but the way we're trying to differentiate with SER is to incorporate all pieces of wealth — like our emotional and intellectual wealth — that get created and passed on. And that's typically done with the people you surround yourself with. In our case, it's part of our culture. Some people have an abundance of monetary wealth to pass on, but for many of our families, we have our stories and wisdom to pass on. Our family has, and is, our first instrument to creating that wealth. And when we gather and share with a group of people who have similar stories, we're allowed to not just remember them and talk about them together, but to continue to foster that wealth for the next generations. 

Ana Trujillo Limón: Additionally, as Latino professionals, as we gain access, influence and information, I feel that we have an obligation to share that with the next generation. We have to open doors and share what we learn with those coming up behind us. And we have to open our minds and learn from them, also. That's what I love most about our theme — it isn't just for this year — it's something we want to embody always. 

This event is community-built. And we already have incredible next-generation professionals playing a pivotal role in building SER — Guillermo Gutierrez, Gloria S. Garcia Cisneros and Jolisa Gonzalez in particular. The goal is to cultivate generational wisdom, honor our strengths and share those with upcoming generations of professionals.

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FP: The sponsors include some of the biggest names in the industry. What is the significance of companies like LPL, Schwab, Carson Group and Envestnet signing on to sponsor this event?

VM: It shows their true belief in knowing that having a space for people where they feel a sense of belonging is needed. These companies have demonstrated, with their sponsorship, support and presence at the event, that they believe in this and have committed to support our community. 

ATL: To me, it demonstrates that these companies are forward-thinking and willing to make an investment in the future of the industry. There is incredible potential in our community — both as professionals and clients. I'm grateful for our sponsors and their support as it shows me that they see both our current value and future potential and are willing to invest in it.

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FP: Why and how did the two of you launch this event last year?

ATL: SER has three roots: I'd started FPA Latino, a Knowledge Circle at the FPA, and envisioned it would one day have an in-person event; Vanessa had attended numerous industry conferences and awards ceremonies where she rarely ran into other Latinos; and Anna N'Jie Konte experienced The American College's Conference of African American Financial Professionals and wanted something similar for Latino professionals. 

When Vanessa and I met at Carson's Excell Conference in 2022, we started talking about how it would be incredible to have an event that brought Latinos in financial services together. Anna was one of the first people we called, and she said it was perfect timing because after attending CAAFP, she wished there was something like that for us as Latinos. We put together a team — including Anna — that first year to plan the inaugural event. 

I reached out to my friends at the Financial Planning Association — Christine Richardson and Megan Tallman — to see if they would be interested in hosting us as a pre-conference to their annual conference in Phoenix, and they were gracious enough to say yes. Guillermo Gutierrez now heads up FPA Latino, and he got a lot of the members to attend that first event and really played, and continues to play, a vital role to SER. That inaugural event was magic. I always say there was the dream of the event, and the reality, and it was the first time in my life where the reality of something was better than the dream of it. 

While Vanessa and I were the catalysts to start this, the team and our sponsors have been instrumental in building it.

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FP: Latinos are very underrepresented in the ranks of financial advisors. How can the industry support Latino advisors in the industry currently and attract more future financial advisors?

VM: I have two ways the industry can support Latinos: 

For people who are not Latino, they likely know someone, or someone in their family — an aunt, uncle or parent — has been in the industry. We don't have that, so what we're looking for is someone within the company that can help us advance. If you have people that can play a supportive role in our careers, you will find success with us. We need someone, and we just don't have that. 

The second part is that the industry can create more spaces of belonging the way we are trying to do with this event. We don't need to be the one and only. Putting together smaller groups allows for deeper connection. So in your practice — and even if you're a larger firm — you can create small groups for your people to connect and feel a sense of belonging. 

ATL: In our Carson Group State of Women in Wealth Management research, we found that sponsors were critically important to help elevate women's careers. The same is true for Latino professionals. We are still the minority in this country and in the industry. We make up 19% of the population and only 9% of financial advisors and 3% of CFP professionals. I can't quantify the total percentage that includes non-advisors like me. But in order to increase representation, we need sponsors to advocate for us when we are not in the room. 

To attract more future advisors, I think firms should look into working with and supporting the nonprofits in our space that are already doing the work to bring in Latino students — like the BLX Internship Program and FinServ Foundation. Also, connecting with and supporting CFP programs directly can help find diverse talent. For example, Dr. Craig Lemoine at the University of Illinois has a program that has 22% Latino students. That's an incredible opportunity to bring in more Latino talent right there. 

Lastly, I'm a believer in doing the foundational work to reach kids into elementary and middle school with fun and engaging programming. Other professions have visibility to kids earlier than our profession does.

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FP: What else should financial advisors know about the SER Summit for Latinos in FinServ?  

ATL: While we have had only the one big in-person event the past two years, for 2025, we're building out more frequent connection events, including monthly virtual networking events and more frequent, smaller in-person gatherings in the cities where we are located [Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, New York]. Our team is scattered throughout the country, and this will give us an opportunity to connect with more people and build our community even stronger. 

VM: In the end, SER is a community. And people should know that this is the community where on those difficult days, when you're facing tough questions, you can find support. This community can help you solve a problem in those times where you don't know what to do or how to do it, or you don't know who to call. SER will be that for you. SER will be your support system.