Here at ATL Global Advisors, we are committed to growing and learning so we can serve you better. We invest both time and money to make our firm the best it can be. Our passion for professional development led Gary Lutrick and me, Kevin Myers, to attend Cetera Financial Group’s Connect18 national conference, the first-ever gathering of advisors and home office executives from across Cetera’s network member firms nationwide.
The event took place August 22-25 at the Henry B. González Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas, and was created by advisors, for advisors. We wanted to take some time to share what we learned.
Valuable Learning Opportunities
If you aren’t familiar with Cetera, it is the nation’s second largest independent financial advisor network by the number of advisors and has been around since the 1980s. All of the advisors at ATL Global Advisors are members of Cetera. As an independently managed firm, the connections and resources available to us through Cetera have given both our business and our clients an incredible advantage.
This year’s conference was designed in partnership with representatives from each of Cetera’s member firms. Connect18 saw 3,500 advisors, home office employees, and product sponsors participate in a unique and enlightening slate of networking and learning opportunities all focused on transforming the advisor and client experience to take financial advising to the next level. (1)
We not only enjoyed the main conference sessions but also participated in some of the 200-plus breakout sessions, where we heard from a wide range of business and political thought leaders. We believe the experience and knowledge we took away from Connect18 will serve our business and our clients to a great degree. We hope to apply our newfound knowledge and insights to expand the scope of services we offer.
Conference Details
We were privileged to hear from Connect18’s keynote speakers, including Karl Rove, former Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Adviser to President George W. Bush; Barbara Boxer, former U.S. Senator for California; Tim Sanders, former Chief Solutions Officer at Yahoo; Marci Rossell, former Chief Economist for CNBC and Co-Host of Squawk Box; Dewitt Jones, National Geographic photographer and Oscar-nominated director; and Rick Rigsby, an award-winning author and motivational speaker.
As a unique aspect of this year’s conference, Connect18 placed a central focus on charitable involvement. Cetera’s philanthropic wing, Caring Cetera, highlighted Soldiers’ Angels, a non-profit that provides aid to deployed troops, veterans, the wounded, and military families. We had the opportunities to support the San Antonio-based national organization by writing letters to troops, donating personal items for care packages, and making financial contributions. Cetera Financial Group pledged to match donations raised by Connect18 attendees, Cetera-affiliated advisors, and home office staff to Soldiers’ Angels up to $100,000, resulting in a total donation of $207,000.
We think Robert “RJ” Moore, Chief Executive Officer of Cetera Financial Group, summed up the conference best: “Connect18 served as an unprecedented opportunity to rally all of our advisors, home office team members, and partners around a single big idea: the Advice-Centric Experience™, our dynamic vision for the future of our profession that will empower a fresh approach to serving clients by delivering the best independent financial advice.”
ATL Can Help You
We hope our passion for what we do is obvious to you. Every day, we work hard to serve our clients and put them first. We look forward to implementing the best ideas that we gleaned from the conference for your benefit. To take advantage of what ATL Global Advisors and our relationship with Cetera Advisors has to offer, email me at kevin.myers@atl-ga.net or call 770-800-2851 or click here to book your no-obligation introductory meeting.
About Kevin
Kevin Myers is a financial advisor and managing partner at ATL Global Advisors, an independent financial services firm serving transportation and logistics employees in the greater Atlanta area. With more than two decades of industry experience, he specializes in providing private wealth management services to business owners and their families, with the goal of helping them realize their financial dreams. Learn more by connecting with Kevin on LinkedIn.
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