The investing world has changed much during the past decade. “At our first ETF conference we asked the room how many people owned ETFs, only about 10 percent raised their hands even though it was an ETF event,” says Matt Hougan, CEO at Inside ETFs, which next week will host its 10th annual ETF conference. “Today, almost every advisor owns ETFs.”
And that growth is reflected in the size and scope of the upcoming Inside ETFs show, which runs January 22-25 at the Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood, Fla. The first iteration of this conference had 430 attendees, lasted one-and-half days and had one session track. Hougan expects a record crowd of 2,220 to 2,300 people at this year’s event that will include four session tracks and more than 160 speakers discussing ETFs, investment issues and other related topics.
“From a content perspective, there are a couple of big new themes that will play a central role this year that haven’t in the past,” Hougan says. “One of those is behavior. In the past few years, ETFs have been about cutting fees and product innovation. We think the future of ETFs lies more in how people use them than it does the advent of new products.
“So in the past we spent a lot of time on how to evaluate and choose ETFs,” he adds. “We’re still doing that, but this year we’re adding more content around how to use ETFs in portfolios, and how to prevent investors from making major mistakes. The average investors leaves 2 percent to 4 percent on the table by buying high and selling low.”
In that vein, well-known investor Barry Ritholtz will discuss how he addresses behavioral issues with clients to help improve their behavior. Noted pollster Frank Luntz, CEO of Luntz Global Partners, will talk about building trust with clients. And Denise Shull, founder and CEO of The ReThink Group, is a trading psychologist who will talk about how to protect investors against their worst behavioral instincts.
And in their keynote address, Hougan and Dave Nadig, CEO of ETF.com, will examine data on how people are using smart-beta ETFs, whether performance chasing is creeping into the ETF space and how people can stop it.
Other key topics to be discussed include fixed-income ETFs and their role in a world of expected rising interest rates, as well as the potential impact of the Trump presidency on the economic and investing landscapes, a topic that CNBC senior contributor Larry Kudlow will address in a keynote address.
“One innovation we added this year is our advisor accelerator workshops, which are a series of four presentations on Sunday that are designed to help people grow their business in areas such as connecting with millennials, rethinking diversification, leveraging robo technology and addressing client behavioral issues,” Hougan says.
Beyond content, Hougan notes another new twist this year is the introduction of a networking app to help connect attendees for one-on-one meetings while at the conference.
“There’s a lot of expertise not just in our speakers, but also in our attendees, so we’re trying to facilitate that,” he says.