On the Agenda at Schwab IMPACT® 2015: Insights Ranging from Big Data to Emotional Intelligence

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Charles Schwab Advisor Services announced today that IMPACT® 2015, the nation's largest and longest-running annual gathering of independent registered investment advisors (RIAs), features one of the most robust content programs in the 25-year history of the conference. Designed to provide advisors with a combination of forward-looking insights and practical learning opportunities, the agenda for 2015 includes a diverse range of presenters, ranging from visionary thinkers to world-renowned academics. The rich diversity of content is offered to help RIAs shape opportunities for continued growth and success as they manage their firms today and prepare them for the future.

"Over the last quarter century, IMPACT has evolved to be much more than simply the largest conference of its kind for advisors," says Jonathan Beatty, senior vice president, sales and relationship management, Schwab Advisor Services. "Today's IMPACT is a place to learn and grow as an advisor and become enriched as an individual. We're already seeing strong interest for many of the sessions through early registration, which points to advisors being eager to explore the array of valuable content intended to benefit their firms and their clients."

Advisors at this year's IMPACT event can build customized schedules to suit their interests and unique needs, choosing from 90 sessions that range from practical to theoretical, and including topics such as "emotional intelligence" and "unconscious bias."

Among the highlights on this year's agenda is an Oxford-style debate, between Rob Arnott from Research Affiliates and Roger Ibbotson with Zebra Capital Management, titled "Can the markets be timed?" Arnott and Ibbotson will present opposing viewpoints in a traditional debate format, arguing their positions on asset allocation, return expectations, portfolio construction, and how to set client expectations. The debate will be moderated by Omar Aguilar, senior vice president and chief investment officer, equities, for Charles Schwab Investment Management.¹

IMPACT® 2015 will offer an expanded number of learning opportunities. Among the 90 education sessions (up from 74 in 2014) are presenters encompassing a wide range of perspectives and ideas who also reflect diversity of age, gender and ethnicity. Also among this year's presenters are 15 well-recognized professors from universities including MIT, Harvard and Yale. In addition to the education sessions there will also be three preconference sessions (up from two last year) – The Guide to Retirement, Branding Your Best Asset: You! and Preparing Your Firm for the Future. There are also four one-hour ‘spotlight' sessions (up from three last year) covering topics including cybersecurity, big data, and changing values in work and consumption.

"The content for advisors this year reflects the realities of today's RIA firms," says Beatty, "many of whom are at an important intersection between managing current growth and success, and identifying a need to evolve in order to capture the significant growth opportunities that lie ahead."

IMPACT® 2015 takes place Tuesday, November 10 through Friday, November 13 at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. More information, including background on the keynote speakers, an overview of the conference agenda and details on event registration, can be found at impact.schwab.com.

As previously announced, the event also features a lineup of prominent keynote speakers, including: former CEO of the Ford Motor Company Alan Mulally; cellist and cultural ambassadors Yo-Yo Ma and Friends and influential writers and commentators David Brooks and Fareed Zakaria. Advisors will also hear from Schwab's head of advisor services, executive vice president, Bernie Clark, Charles Schwab President and CEO, Walt Bettinger, as well as chief investment strategist Liz Ann Sonders and global chief investment strategist Jeffrey Kleintop.

About Charles Schwab

At Charles Schwab we believe in the power of investing to help individuals create a better tomorrow. We have a history of challenging the status quo in our industry, innovating in ways that benefit investors and the advisors and employers who serve them, and championing our clients' goals with passion and integrity.

More information is available at www.aboutschwab.com. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

Disclosures

Through its operating subsidiaries, The Charles Schwab Corporation SCHW provides a full range of securities brokerage, banking, money management and financial advisory services to individual investors and independent investment advisors. Its broker-dealer subsidiary, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (member SIPC, www.sipc.org), and affiliates offer a complete range of investment services and products including an extensive selection of mutual funds; financial planning and investment advice; retirement plan and equity compensation plan services; compliance and trade monitoring solutions; referrals to independent fee-based investment advisors; and custodial, operational and trading support for independent, fee-based investment advisors through Schwab Advisor Services. Its banking subsidiary, Charles Schwab Bank (member FDIC and an Equal Housing Lender), provides banking and lending services and products. More information is available at www.schwab.com and www.aboutschwab.com.

For general informational purposes only. Third party firms and guests mentioned above are not affiliated with or an employee of Schwab.

Independent investment advisors are not owned by, affiliated with or supervised by Charles Schwab & Co. Inc.

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For continuing updates on IMPACT® 2015 follow @Schwab4RIAs #SchwabIMPACT

¹ Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc. ("CSIM"), the investment advisor for Schwab's proprietary funds, and Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. ("Schwab"), the distributor for Schwab Funds, are separate but affiliated companies and subsidiaries of The Charles Schwab Corporation.

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