(First time to a Forum? Please read this!)
Forums differ from traditional conferences. They are intentionally designed to maximize open, balanced, and inclusive exchange among participants.
You will experience three primary forms of engagement:
- General Sessions – Structured, facilitated discussions in a ballroom setting with active audience participation.
- Breakout Sessions – Focused, participant‑driven conversations and working groups that allow deeper exploration of key topics.
- Social Settings – Meals, receptions, and activities that create informal opportunities for networking and self‑directed interaction.
Together, these elements form the core mechanics that help you and your organization learn, share, and grow at our in‑person Forums.
Breakout sessions are dynamic, member‑led discussions where participants share best practices, successes, and lessons learned. Titles and descriptions are intentionally broad so attendees can shape the content and direction of each conversation.
Facilitators will contact you in advance for the sessions you register for. Please share your interests and objectives openly so you can gain the greatest value from the experience.
In addition to members from a wide range of asset management firms, we invite a curated group of Vendor Partners and Solution Providers who demonstrate deep expertise in Sales, Marketing, Client Servicing, and the tools and practices that support them. Unlike traditional conferences, they do not have booths or exhibition spaces. Instead, they participate alongside members in all sessions. They are prohibited from making sales pitches but encouraged to contribute their knowledge and experience as industry practitioners. We ask that you engage with them with the same openness you bring to all Forum discussions.
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 and Session Descriptions
Download Agenda to Share and Print (pdf)
View and Download Breakout Session Descriptions (pdf)
Monday October 19, 2026
8:00 | Networking Breakfast
8:30-9:00 | Welcome, Registration & Opening Remarks
Forum overview, goals, and themes
How the next two days will balance innovation, execution, and peer exchange
9:00-9:45 | Opening Keynote – Broadridge: From Challenges to Solutions in Asset Management
A candid look at the industry’s biggest pain points—followed by what’s actually working. This session sets the tone by moving beyond identifying problems to showcasing real, implemented solutions across distribution, marketing, and operations.
9:45-10:00 | Networking Break
10:00-11:30 | Breakout Sessions (Choose One When Registering)
1. Data Integration vs. AI – Where to Focus First?
2. Driving Workflow through Automation
3. Meeting Prep – From Concept to Field Adoption
4. Data Governance Strategies
11:45-12:30 | BluprintX – Saaspocalypse – Which technologies firms are not renewing and why
Firms are investing in headless CRM and deprecating a number of supporting marketing and sales SaaS applications. In this session, we’ll walk through real roadmap examples of where firms are investing and where they’re not. We’ll also discuss the underlying reasons (e.g. vendors forcing consolidation to specific tools which use ingestion-based pricing).
12:30-2:00 | Networking Lunch
2:00-2:45 | ISS Market Intelligence – Panel Discussion: AI Adoption – Lessons from the Front Lines
Everyone speaks AI. But it likely means different things to different people. We will explore lessons from the front lines. Areas we will cover: Showcase AI projects that are working/challenged and what types of projects How are you/your firm managing the infrastructure and the risks associated with AI? What tools do you find the most useful? How are you training/upskilling your team? What has surprised you the most in the positive and negative sense? How do you build partnerships with all stakeholders?
2:45-3:00 | Networking Break
3:00- 4:30 | Breakout Sessions (Choose One When Registering)
5. The Evolving Role of Data in Distribution Organizations
6. AI for Data & Analytics
7. Modern Marketing Enablement & Email Outreach
8. Building a Data Strategy That Actually Gets Funded
4:30-4:45 | Networking Break
4:45-5:30 | Fireside Chat with John Carroll – Financial Services Executive
Leadership Insights and how to address today’s Industry Challenges
5:30 | Evening Reception: Short Hills Hilton
Tuesday October 20, 2026
7:30 | Networking Breakfast
8:15 | Morning Kickoff
8:30-9:15 | Panel Discussion: SS&C – What Sales Teams Actually Want from Data & Technology
The panel will be discussing: How is AI helping firms grow assets and deepen advisor relationships? What data are sales teams ignoring? What types of tools save them time and deliver results (meetings, revenue, etc.)? What would they eliminate?
9:15-9:30 | Networking Break
9:30-11:00 | Breakout Sessions (Choose One When Registering)
9. Structuring Data for AI Success
10. Implementing AI Across the Client Management Lifecycle
11. Client Onboarding – Removing Bottlenecks in Institutional Workflows
12. CRM Best Practices – Design, Data & Adoption
11:00-11:15 | Networking Break
11:15-12:00 | Synfinii – Your Distinct Distribution Advantage: Where Strategy, Data, and AI Come Together
As AI becomes ubiquitous, the advantage won’t come from using the same models and data as everyone else. It will come from how effectively AI can leverage your distribution data to execute your unique growth strategy. The session will explore what it takes to build a deterministic data foundation and why your firm’s unique GTM strategy needs to shape how AI is put to work. The result: faster ROI from your investments in data and AI by putting your distinct distribution advantage to work at scale.
12:00-1:00 | Networking Lunch
1:00-1:45 | HSO – Autonomous CRM Messaging: From Marketing Signal to Client Conversation
Taking us through a rethinking of CRM for Asset Management, how marketing and communications teams can connect engagement, relationship context, and governed AI to help distribution teams act faster.
1:45-2:00 | Networking Break
2:00-3:30 | Breakout Sessions (Choose One When Registering)
13. Measuring Sales Success – Beyond Traditional Metrics
14. Transforming Customer & Lead Journeys
15. Aligning Sales & Marketing Through Data and Campaign Strategy
16. Improving Campaign Measurement
3:30 | Closing Session – From Ideas to Action: What Are You Taking Back?
Participants share one initiative, one experiment, or one mindset shift they plan to implement after the conference.
4:00 | Closing Reception
5:00 | Conference Close
Register for the Forum
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 welcome 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 +1-917-561-9553 or email smeforum@thesmeforum.net and we will address any questions you may have promptly.
Note: Your registration includes all of your meals, snacks and beverages over the two days.
Please select your tickets and proceed through form to complete registration and payment or invoice.
Credit Card receipts will be cleared through Thoth Advisory Services, LLC.
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.
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.