Cetera Unveils Speaker Lineup, Opens Registration for 2021 Annual Conference

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cetera announced today that its award-winning annual conference is open for registration and revealed the event's distinguished speaker lineup. Cetera's Connect21 virtual experience will stream live and on-demand over six half-day sessions September 21-23 and 28-30. The event is designed by advisors, for advisors, and incorporates the best educational and experiential elements from Cetera's annual Connect conference series. The event is free for all Cetera financial professionals, administrative and staff members, participating strategic partners and home office employees.

"High-quality education, personalization and peer connections are more important for financial professionals today than ever before, and Connect21 delivers a unique experience for the Cetera community," Cetera chief marketing officer Michael Zuna said. "Connect21 is much more than an event – it's an unmatched streaming experience that combines inspiration, education, networking and entertainment. It's all about bringing the Cetera community together to discover new opportunities to pursue goals, reimagine possibilities, and draw inspiration from stories, experiences, and research from the world's top minds. Our Connect series has an established recipe for success, and our team is working tirelessly to make this year's edition the best yet."  

Cetera leverages wide-ranging, detailed data to inform its Connect series to ensure the events are highly relevant and valuable to attendees and partners. Attendee surveys and input, along with feedback from partner sponsors that support Connect, inform the event program to maximize the experience for all involved. The data-driven approach has paid off, as Connect has won three consecutive Stevie awards, which recognize the accomplishments and contributions of companies and businesspeople worldwide among 12,000 entries each year across more than 70 nations. The Connect@Home virtual conference in 2020 – a completely reimagined on-demand version of the Connect series – earned a Silver Stevie® Award. The Connect series has a track record of high ratings and satisfaction by attendees: among 8,500 ratings submitted for Connect@Home in 2020, the average session rating was 4.6 (on a five-point scale).

At Connect21, attendees will experience high-caliber sessions within five tracks, including more than 25 hours of peer-to-peer sessions, providing a valuable opportunity to learn, engage and network with each other. Attendees can select and experience sessions based on their business goals and community interests, and will enjoy courses for CE credit, engaging entertainment, and personal wellness sessions. In addition, strategic partners that sponsor the conference receive detailed performance reporting and attendee feedback to improve their sessions, and provide valuable demand generation data for their businesses.

Select Connect21 headliners, topics and sessions include:

• Adam Antoniades, chief executive officer of Cetera Financial Group, and a member of its board of directors. As CEO, Adam is responsible for running all facets of the business, driving growth for the organization and its advisors.
• Best-selling author Simon Sinek, an unshakable optimist who believes in a bright future and our ability to build it together. He discovered remarkable patterns about how the greatest leaders and organizations think, act, and communicate. Sinek is the author of Start With Why (global bestseller), Leaders Eat Last (New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller), Together is Better (New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller), Find Your Why and The Infinite Game.
• Angela Duckworth, founder and CEO of Character Lab, a nonprofit whose mission is to advance scientific insights that help children thrive. She is also the inaugural recipient of the Rosa Lee and Egbert Chang Professorship at the University of Pennsylvania, faculty co-director of the Penn-Wharton Behavior Change for Good Initiative, and faculty co-director of Wharton People Analytics.
• Dr. David Kelly, CFA^®, Chief Global Strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, who has developed a unique ability to explain complex economic and market issues in a language that financial professionals can use to communicate to their clients. He is a frequent guest on CNBC, Bloomberg, and other financial media outlets.
• Marti Barletta, an expert on marketing to women, women in leadership and women's growing role in shaping the 21st century. Her session, Women and Retirement: Insights for Serving an Under-Served Market, provides a close look at unique needs of women-led consumer segments and outlines strategies financial professionals can use to establish relationships and build trust with this historically under-served demographic.
• Paralympic Silver Medalist Matt Stutzman "The Armless Archer," who is one of the top Paralympic compound archers in the world, brought to Connect21 by Allianz Life. Stutzman holds the Guinness Book of World Records title for the farthest archery target hit—for any archer, able-bodied or not.
• Matt Goerke, one of America's leading experts in the field of memory development, and creator of The Memory Switch System, brought to Connect21 by Nationwide. His session will instruct attendees in the new advances in memory technology and help them gain insight into how these methods help people achieve business and personal goals.
• Popup entertainment and activities designed to entertain and refresh attendees' perspectives, including yoga and bootcamp workouts, dog training tips for back to work, tips to declutter and destress, and a session with an expert Italian chef.

Registration for Connect21 is by invitation only. Cetera professionals should check their inboxes for registration details. Visit https://events.cetera.com/connect21 for more information.

About Cetera Financial Group®: Cetera Financial Group (Cetera) is a leading financial advice firm. It empowers the delivery of an Advice-Centric Experience® to individuals, families, and businesses across the country through independent financial professionals as well as trusted tax professionals and banks and credit unions. It is headquartered at 200 N. Pacific Coast Highway, Suite 1200 El Segundo, CA 90245-5670.

Comprehensive services include: wealth management solutions, retirement plan solutions, advisory services, practice management support, innovative technology, marketing guidance, regulatory support, and market research.

"Cetera Financial Group" refers to the network of independent retail firms encompassing, among others, Cetera Advisors LLC, Cetera Advisor Networks LLC, Cetera Investment Services LLC (marketed as Cetera Financial Institutions or Cetera Investors), Cetera Financial Specialists LLC, and First Allied Securities, Inc. All firms are members FINRA / SIPC.

Individuals affiliated with Cetera firms are either Registered Representatives who offer only brokerage services and receive transaction-based compensation (commissions), Investment Adviser Representatives who offer only investment advisory services and receive fees based on assets, or both Registered Representatives and Investment Adviser Representatives, who can offer both types of services.

SOURCE Cetera Financial Group