Join your fellow NAPFA NEMA members for a dynamic day of learning and connection at this year’s Symposium. This year’s program focuses on helping advisors navigate increasingly complex financial lives - where varying sources of wealth, business ownership, and behavioral factors all intersect. Sessions will cover coordinating equity compensation, advising clients with global wealth, advising business owners on ESOPs, and understanding the psychology that drives investor behavior.
In addition, don’t miss a timely panel discussion on current trends shaping the RIA marketplace, along with a valuable economic update to help inform your client conversations.
We also invite you to arrive early to take part in Thursday’s Ethics session and an engaging networking event—more details coming soon!
Agenda
All sessions listed below are in Eastern Standard Time Zone (EST). All educational sessions will take place at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in room 107B.
Thursday, June 4, 2026
On June 4, earn 2.0 NAPFA CEs , 2.0 CFP® CEs, and 2 IAR CEs from the Ethics program.
3:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Registration
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Ethics Program
Main Street Financial Solutions
This program fulfills the requirement for CFP Board approved Ethics CE. It has been designed to educate CFP® professionals on CFP Board's new Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct effective July 1, 2024.
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Networking Social
Location TBC
Friday, June 5, 2026
On June 5, earn 6.0 NAPFA CEs and 5.0 CFP® CEs (pending approval). Applications for IAR CEs will be submitted for 5.0 sessions.
8:30 AM - 9:00 AM
Registration and Coffee
9:00 AM - 9:10 AM
Welcome and Opening Remarks
9:10 AM - 10:00 AM
Economic Update
Natalie Marvi-Romeo, CFA, CAIA®
Vanguard Financial Advisor Services
During this session, the presenter, a senior portfolio specialist, will provide a 2026 economic and market outlook. The presenter will also share research on the growth of AI as a megatrend and the impact AI can have on the economy and the markets. You will also hear her view on the fed, fixed income, and equities markets.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the key economic, valuation, and risk forces driving markets.
- Evaluate opportunities and risks across equities and fixed income.
- Translate market insights into portfolio construction and client guidance.
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
When Clients Have Four Things at Once: Coordinating RSUs, ISOs, NQSOs, and an ESPP
Zajac Group
Learning Objectives:
- Identify the three compounding planning risks that arise when multiple equity compensation grant types are managed in isolation rather than as an integrated portfolio.
- Explain the tax treatment withholding mechanics, and key planning levers for each of the four primary equity compensation grant types, and describe how each interacts with the others in a combined package.
- Apply a four-part coordination framework - sequencing, tax budgeting, concentration management, and AMT credit recovery - to a real client scenario involving multiple simultaneous grant types.
- Apply session concepts to their own client situations through facilitated discussion of real-world equity compensation planning scenarios.
11:00 AM - 11:15 AM
Morning Break and Networking
11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
Navigating Global Wealth: Avoiding Costly Mistakes
Ruth Mattson, J.D., LL.M., AEP, TEP
Nixon Peabody LLP
When clients begin looking outside U.S. borders for investments, vacation properties, or new residences and citizenships, their U.S. financial advisors can help protect them from missteps. In this session, we will review things to think about when a U.S. person resides in the U.S. but owns foreign property, and when a U.S. person decides to live outside the U.S. Whatever course the client charts, there are many ways to navigate a clear path forward.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify issues that may arise in the course of a U.S. person’s purchase of foreign real property.
- Identify issues that may arise when a U.S. person resides in a different jurisdiction.
- Learn the difference between residing outside the US and expatriating, and the risks for green card holders who exit the US.
12:15 PM - 1:00 PM
Lunch
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
ESOPs as Liquidity, Diversification, and Tax Saving Strategies for Business Owners
Michael Bannon and Fred Stino, CPA
CSG Partners
This session provides attendees with a practical introduction to employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) as shareholder liquidity, diversification, and succession planning tools. We'll explore how leveraged ESOPs function, where they fit relative to traditional transition alternatives, and the tax, valuation, and cash‑flow implications for all stakeholders. In addition, a real‑world case study will highlight the applicability of these unique business transition strategies and the design considerations behind them. Advisors will gain a working understanding of ESOP mechanics, common structures (including partial ESOPs), and the circumstances under which an ESOP may align with a client’s long‑term planning, legacy, and risk‑management objectives.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify the challenges associated with concentrated business owner wealth and evaluate ESOP-led liquidity strategies relative to common M&A options.
- Explain ESOP fundamentals, including structure, transaction mechanics, and the key financial tax benefits for all stakeholders.
- Appreciate how ESOPs are designed and are designed and implemented to align with distinct stakeholder goals.
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Current Growth and Talent Trends for RIAs
Pat Collins, CFP®, EA - Greenspring Advisors
Vishal Kumar - Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors
Tyler Whitehouse, CFP®, CAP® - RMR Wealth Builders, Inc.
Panelists will discuss growth and talent trends for RIAs. Panelists will discuss their overall marketing and growth strategies, what channels are effective, their thoughts on niche marketing, organic vs. inorganic growth, and various digital marketing strategies. The talent discussion will focus on attracting, screening, retaining, and developing talent in today's competitive market.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify current effective digital marketing strategies.
- Attract, screen, retain and develop talent.
- Understand what channels are effective for RIA growth.
3:00 PM - 3:15 PM
Break
3:15 PM - 4:15 PM
The Psychology of Investing
Dimensional Fund Advisors
Investors often perceive their returns as a purely quantitative result of markets, risk, timing, or expertise. But emotions and behaviors can play an equally important role in performance. This presentation reviews the history and principles of behavioral psychology and explores the influence of emotion on decision-making. Using real life examples, we compare and contrast an investor’s narrative to that of a speculator and offer a framework for bridging behavioral finance and market efficiency. The presentation cites academic research and employs live audience-participation experiments to help attendees understand how people perceive investments and improve their thinking about wealth and the future. It will provide financial professionals with a framework for integrating these ideas into their investment plans.
Learning Objectives:
- Explore the behavioral psychology research and the implications for decision making under conditions of uncertainty. This provides insights into the pitfalls investors may face in navigating their investments over the course of a lifetime.
- Review the importance of behavioral finance as a discipline, compare that to efficient market theory, and provide a framework for advisors to understand the importance of each in managing individual investment plans.
- Provide a multi-step process for advisors to develop their own methods to integrate behavioral elements into their client communication and investment planning strategies.
4:15 PM - 4:20 PM
Closing Remarks