(Registration is now closed as of Friday, April 18th)

Forums are not like other conferences you may have been to. They are designed to maximize the free exchange of experiences and interests amongst its member participants in a balanced way. You will find three types of engagement in three different ways:

 

• General Sessions with everyone in a ballroom setting and a more formal, directed conversation, with audience participation.
• Breakout Sessions are a mix of topics and agenda items that are entirely participant-driven discussions and working sessions.
• Social Settings such as meals, receptions, activities, and other events to allow more self-directed interaction and networking.

 

These represent the three key mechanics we use to help you and your organizations learn and grow at the Forums.  Every breakout session at the Forum is a dynamic conversation and discussion between members in which to share best practices and successes along with learning from one another about beginning, implementing, and improving on your own efforts.  The breakout sessions are purposely succinct in their titling and description to allow the participants to drive more of the content, priority, and overall direction of the discussions.   Facilitators for each session you register for will be reaching out to you in advance to gain your input for that session and help ensure that you are able to maximize your participation in it.  Please be sure to provide them with your needs, interests and perspectives when they reach out.

 

In addition to member participants from a broad spectrum of asset management firms, a curated selection of Vendor Partners and Solution Providers has been invited for showing deep understanding and dedication to this space in the financial services industry and in particular to Sales, Marketing, Client Servicing and the tools, technologies, and practices that enable them.  However, unlike other conferences, they do not have booths, tables, or other dedicated space at the events. On the contrary, we invite them to participate in the sessions as a means for them to continue learning about what we are tasked with, how they may be of help and how they have assisted others in similar situations as us. They are forbidden from making sales pitches but encouraged to share their accomplishments and experiences with us as sources of expertise and broad exposure to our industry.  As such please be open to learning and sharing with them as well.

Still not sure? 

Just call us at +1-917-561-9553 or write to SMEForum@TheSMEForum.net  for help thinking through who best to attend based on content, opportunity and what is happening at your firm.  Let’s get the right people to participate.

 

Agenda

(as of 04/19/2025)       

Monday, April 21

 

All Day:                      Arrivals and Check-in

5:30 – 8:00 PM:      Welcome Reception – Christopher’s Bar – The Heldrich Hotel

 

Tuesday, April 22

 

8:00 AM:                 Registration and Networking Hot Breakfast

9:00 AM:                 Welcome and Opening Remarks  Hazem Gamal,  SME Forum

9:30 AM:                 The Evolution in the Revolution, Charlie Novicki, Broadridge

10:15 AM:                Networking Break

10:30 AM:               Tuesday Morning Breakout Sessions:

 

Sales & Distribution         (Full) Emerging Tools & Technologies Enabling Distribution

Marketing                            Reconsidering Client Journeys by Persona

Channel Evolution            Organizing for Diversifying Sales and Product Channels

Solutions Worskhop        The Compliance Bridge: Unlocking the Potential of Data with AI (w/HSO)

 

12:00 PM:              Networking Sit Down Lunch

1:30 PM:                 Divisional Manager Panel Discussion with Lee Kowarski (SS&C) and guests

2:15 PM:                 Tuesday Afternoon Breakout Sessions:

 

Sales & Distribution      (Full) Overcoming Challenges of Supporting Intermediary Sales

Marketing                       Delivering ROI from Institutional Marketing Efforts

Data, Tech & AI             (Full) Best Practices in Capturing Value from Unstructured Data

Solutions Workshop     How to Develop and Choose Build vs. Buy Options (w/Kyloe & Broadridge)

 

3:45 PM:             Networking Break

4:00 PM:           CRXM: 360 Customer Centricity use Cases  Francisco Quevedo, Rutgers

4:45 PM:            Guest Speakers:  Staying Inspired as we Evolve  Sparsh and Hiren Shah 

5:30 – 8:00 PM:    Offsite Reception and Sit-Down Dinner at Cuzin’s Seafood  (78 Albany Street)

Wednesday, April 23

 

8:00 AM:                Registration and Networking Hot Breakfast

8:30 AM:                Assessing Value from Intel-Driven Strategies  Panel with Loren Fox, FUSE Research

9:00 AM:                 The Last Mile of Insight Delivery:  Bridging the Gap Between Data and Action  panel with Nathan Stevenson, ForwardLane

9:45 AM:                Wednesday Morning Breakout Sessions:

 

Sales & Distribution       (Very full!) Strengths of CRMA, Tableau, and Power BI for Sales Enablement

Marketing                         Keys to Successful Partnerships between Marketing & Distribution

Channel Evolution         Aligning Capabilities for Evolving Channels

Data, Tech & AI              Navigating the values of CDPs, Data Lakes and MDMs

 

11:15 AM:              Leveraging AI to Drive Sales Presentation and Panel with Phil Cohn (Rutgers)

12:00 PM:             Networking Sit Down Lunch

1:00 PM:               Wednesday Afternoon Breakout Sessions:

 

Sales & Distribution            (Full) Emerging Success Cases in Trigger-based Sales Campaigns

Marketing                            When to use Marketing vs Sales-driven Leads

Data, Tech & AI                  (Full) Extracting Value from Data Packs and 3rd Party Sources

Solutions Workshop           Compliant Content at the Speed of AI (w/Bluprintx)

 

2:30 PM:               Closing General Session:  What Can We Apply Today – Strategy and Tactics  Led by Adam Feldstein, ISS Market Intelligence

3:30 PM:               Closing Reception and Networking

5:00 PM:               Forum Concludes and Departures

6:30 PM:               Leadership Council Offsite  (by invitation)

 

Thursday, April 24:  SME Leadership Council (by invitation)

 

8:00 AM:              Leadership Council Breakfast and Meetings

11:30 AM:             Meeting Concludes and Departures

 

 

Program and Descriptions to Share

Download Agenda to Share and Print (pdf)

 

 

 

To confirm your firm’s membership status please visit https://thesmeforum.net/membership/.   While Forums are primarily reserved for any employee of a member firm, we are happy to consider any request for guests and others who would enrich the experience for the community.  If you need any help with your registration, please feel free to call us at 917-561-9553 and we will address any questions you may have promptly.

Confirmations and other emails from this registration site will all come from ”Event Smart.com”  with a similar domain of @eventsmart.com.  Please add these to your safe address list and check your spam or junk folders.  Credit Card receipts will be cleared through Thoth Advisory Services, LLC.

 

 

(Registration is now closed as of Friday, April 18th)

Please do not hesitate to reach out for any help, guidance or requests you may have with respect to registration at any time:

Hazem Gamal +1-917-561-9553.  Happy to help ensure you can attend!

 

 

Notice:  Some sessions and other portions of the event may be video and/or audio recorded. By registering for this event, you grant consent to The SME Forum for the use of your image, video, audio, or any combination of the three by the SME Forum on behalf of the membership.