Case Studies & Breakouts
You are part of the dialogue throughout, working real marketing and recruiting challenges with the wealth firms in the room. We also shape one conversation around your area of expertise.
Overview
An equal seat at the table.
Partner firms participate in the Marketing and Recruiting Roundtable as members, not sponsors. You work alongside 20 senior marketing, recruiting, and revenue leaders, contribute perspective from across your client base, and gain a direct understanding of the priorities shaping their firms. There are no sponsored speaking slots, sales presentations, or product demonstrations. Partners participate in the working conversation throughout the Roundtable.
"The Beacon Roundtable provides a unique forum to dive deep into topics and trends that are shaping our industry. The ideas and best practices discussed are invaluable. Attending one of these is a highlight of my professional year!"
2025 Marketing & Recruiting Attendee
Your Role in the Room
You are a member of the Roundtable, not a sponsor on the sidelines.
Partners work through the case studies and breakouts alongside wealth-firm leaders and answer community questions submitted live by attendees. You are part of the conversation.
Community Questions
Submitted by attendees, woven between sessions. You are part of the conversations, and their outcomes.
Partnership
What partnership includes
- Work alongside wealth firm leaders during the case studies and breakouts.
- Help shape one conversation aligned with your firm’s expertise.
- Join the shared meals and informal discussions where relationships deepen.
- Take part in the Mary Blackburn Partner Challenge.
- Receive pre-event preparation from Beacon so your contribution fits the room.
Who Is At The Table
Our wealth-firm attendees will be:
Chief Marketing Officers
Chief Revenue Officers
Chief Recruiting Officers
Other senior marketing, recruiting, and revenue executives
Who's joining us so far.
The room is taking shape. Here are a few of the wealth firms already pulling up a chair.
Where You Contribute
What partner firms add to each session.
These are the challenges the wealth firms bring to the table. Your value is the pattern you see across many clients at once: what is actually working, what quietly failed, and the data only a provider holds.
Case Studies
Three wealth-firm attendees develop each case study into the story told in the room. Partners join the discussion as it unfolds, testing assumptions and adding evidence from what you see in the field.
Case Study One
The Organic Growth Ceiling
True organic growth sits near zero to 1.5 percent once mergers and referrals are stripped out. The real movement is advisors changing firms, and winning them keeps getting more expensive.
The Room's Question: if growth means winning an advisor already at another firm, is that
firm's marketing built to compete for that advisor?
Partner angleWhat you see working across the firms you serve when growth has to come from advisor movement.
View sources
Capital Group, "4 Growth Trends Affecting Advisors and RIAs in 2026." Financial Planning, "Why Advisor Recruiting Hit a 4-Year High in 2025." Winthrop & Co., "The State of Financial Advisor Movement, H1 2026." InvestmentNews, "At Cetera, CEO Durbin Says Recruiting Advisors Is Strong but Remains Expensive."
Case Study Two
The Pipeline Firms Cannot Fill
The advisor workforce lost roughly 4,000 net advisors in 2025, and the shortfall may reach 100,000 by 2034. Firms landing next-gen talent win on mentorship and career paths, not salary.
The Room's Question: is a firm's pitch to a candidate in their twenties a career path, or
a compensation plan wrapped in a job description?
Partner angleWhere your tools, programs, or benchmarks change what a next-gen career path can realistically look like.
View sources
InvestmentNews, "Next-Gen Advisors Are Ready to Work, Are RIA Firms Ready for Them?" The Well, "Financial Advisor Recruiting Trends 2026." Capital Group, "4 Growth Trends Affecting Advisors and RIAs in 2026," citing McKinsey.
Case Study Three
The Wealth Transfer Nobody Is Marketing Or Recruiting For
An estimated $83.5 trillion passes to younger generations by 2048, yet few advisors have met the heirs. Only 16 percent count a client's children as clients, and 6 percent have met the grandchildren.
The Room's Question: is a firm's succession plan a marketing plan for the next generation
of clients, a recruiting plan for the next generation of advisors, or neither?
Partner angleWhat next-generation engagement looks like in the data you hold, and which approaches hold up over time.
View sources
Capital Group, "4 Growth Trends Affecting Advisors and RIAs in 2026." The link between succession uncertainty and the wealth-transfer figures is Beacon's synthesis of that data, not a direct quote.
Breakout Sessions
Six breakouts, each led by a wealth-firm attendee. Partners sit in and contribute, and one session is shaped around your area of expertise so your firm's thinking lands where it is most useful.
1AThe Two-Hour AdvisorMarketing
The average advisor has about two hours a week for marketing. What marketing has to look like to survive that constraint.
View sources
ProperExpression, "Marketing for RIAs: The Ultimate 2026 Roadmap."
1BGrowth on Paper, Not in the RoomMarketing
With true organic growth near zero to 1.5 percent, what counts as a marketing win changes, and so does who measures it.
View sources
Capital Group, "4 Growth Trends Affecting Advisors and RIAs in 2026."
2AHired for the Wrong DecadeRecruiting
More than a third of advisors are 55 or older, and a hybrid candidate takes three to five years to reach full capacity. What recruiting for a decade out requires.
View sources
The Well, "Financial Advisor Recruiting Trends 2026."
2BThe Transition Nobody Talks AboutRecruiting
Moves lose assets: 22 percent broker-dealer to broker-dealer, closer to 11 percent independent to independent. The first ninety days decide whether a recruiting win stays a win.
View sources
Cerulli Associates, "Transition Support Services Critical to Retaining Assets During Advisor Moves." Fidelity Institutional, "The Ins and Outs of Advisor Movement."
3AThe Advisor Who Has Never Met the HeirMarketing
Marketing to a household when the money is about to move to someone the firm has never spoken with.
View sources
Capital Group, "4 Growth Trends Affecting Advisors and RIAs in 2026."
3BRecruiting for the Client Who Has Not Inherited YetRecruiting
81 percent of next-gen heirs plan to switch firms after inheriting. The advisor worth recruiting may be the one positioned to keep tomorrow's client.
View sources
Capital Group, "4 Growth Trends Affecting Advisors and RIAs in 2026."
The Mary Blackburn Partner Challenge
Own the table.
This is the one structured opportunity for each partner firm to bring an original idea, story, or industry insight to the full room. You have eight to ten minutes to be useful, surprising, and memorable. No product pitches, demonstrations, or slide presentations. Wealth firm attendees vote, and the winner is announced at the October 15 dinner.
Facts
The essentials.
Dates
October 14–16, 2026
Depart early or extend your stay in Denver. Preferred hotel rates will be available for attendees who
choose to stay longer.
Partner participation
$18,500. First come, first served.
Availability
Partner seats are limited to ten firms, alongside 20 wealth-firm leaders. First come, first served.
Venue
The Jacquard Hotel, Cherry Creek, Denver, CO
Agenda at a Glance
One clear arc.
Shared meals, real dialogue, and one moment built entirely for partners.
October 14
New and Old Friends Dinner
We gather with past attendees and our newest arrivals for a relaxing dinner and rich conversation. Relationships start here, before a single session.
October 15
A Full Day
Wealth-firm attendees work through case studies and breakouts. The Mary Blackburn Partner Challenge closes the day, winner announced at the off-site dinner.
October 16
Flexible Departure
Depart early or extend your stay in Denver. Preferred hotel rates will be available for attendees who choose to stay longer.
Venue
The Jacquard Hotel, Cherry Creek
DatesOctober 14–16, 2026
CityDenver, CO
Interested in joining us in Denver?
Partner participation is $18,500. A position is confirmed after the participation agreement is signed and payment is received.
Not sure whether the Roundtable is the right fit for your firm? Explore the Fit With Chip.
Partner Interest
Tell us what you're thinking.
Choose the answer that fits, and we'll take it from there.