Founder and CEO of The Rudin Group, April J. Rudin is widely acknowledged as a top marketing strategist for the U/HNW, wealth-management and wealthtech sectors. Distinguished by her ability to forecast and leverage critical trends and her expertise in brand differentiation, she leads a firm, now in its fifteenth year, that designs bespoke marketing campaigns for some of the world's leading wealth-management firms, fintechs/wealthtechs, and family offices; campaigns that strengthen brand value and drive client acquisition.
 
April is recognized by IBM as an "Influencer" in wealth management and fintech, and is a regularly-featured source of expert commentary to international news and business outlets, trade publications, and broadcast media. 

April is the mother of two sons who are quick to point out that they considered her an influencer well before IBM did.

Bill joined Summitas in 2010 and has over 40 years of experience working with single- and multi-family offices and registered investment advisors (SFOs, MFOs, and RIAs). Today, Summitas is the award-winning reference platform for communication privacy and data security in the family office and wealth advisory space.

Previously, he was a Senior Director with BNY Mellon Family Office and Managing Director with Rockefeller & Co. Earlier, he was Managing Director at Deutsche Bank, and a Vice President with J.P. Morgan in Geneva, Switzerland.

Bill is a regular at industry conferences where he speaks about software trends, technology risks, and family office operations. He earned his BA from the University of Notre Dame and MBA, summa cum laude, from Fordham University.

Carl Knecht has been a leader in the Financial Technology space for more than 25 years. Carl co-founded one of the first technology firms focused on providing wealth managers and family offices reporting and productivity tools to support their family’s wealth.

Following the sale of his firm Digital Partner to Silicon Valley myCFO in 1999, Carl produced and managed the features of the bill pay, expense management and accounting offerings at myCFO. 

Carl served in multiple roles with WealthTouch including COO and CTO as the firm grew to provide back-office portfolio accounting, reporting and general ledger accounting services to family offices guiding the firm through a sale to Archway (now SEI).

Now, as President and CTO of Risclarity, Carl uses his expertise to guide wealth managers and family offices through systems integration implementation, consolidated reporting and financial technology development.

Chris Bendtsen is a Senior Analyst for Celent’s wealth management practice. He writes research reports and advise clients on wealth management technology. Chris' focus areas include IT spending priorities and forecasts, AI and generative AI in wealth management and private banking, alternative investments and private markets, and wealthtech startups.

Previous research and advisory experience spans financial services technology, blockchain and crypto, fintech startups, venture capital, digital marketing, and market forecasting.

Doug Fritz is the co-founder and executive chair of F2 Strategy. Doug, a veteran CTO and sought-after WealthTech consultant, leads an all-star team of executives in technology-driven operations, digital client engagement, performance and implementation, among many other areas for clients. Through F2’s Outsourced CTO (OCTO) model and strategy consulting services, Doug is passionate about helping firms of all sizes deliver exceptional client and advisor experiences.

Doug is also an accomplished industry thought-leader, speaker, and judge. He is also a winner of the 2021 ThinkAdvisor Thought Leader Luminary award. Before founding F2 with his wife and Chief Commercial Officer Liz Fritz, Doug was the Chief Technology Officer of First Republic Bank where he led the execution of the WealthTech roadmap. Prior, he was Senior Vice President of Wells Fargo Wealth Management Group. Doug lives in Chicago, IL.

Erin Hulse is the Founder of Deviate Consulting, which focuses on software selection, implementation, and accounting services for single and multi-family offices. 

Erin works with family office organizations such as Family Office Exchange (FOX) and Family Wealth Report (FWR) to provide industry knowledge via her articles, blogs, and panel discussions. Ms. Hulse has been leading Deviate Consulting since 2015, and is based in Indianapolis, IN.

Co-founder, Jacob Miller, is Opto’s Chief Solutions Officer, a key figure in its leadership team and central to its growth strategy. He spearheads initiatives for Opto's fiduciary partnerships and the systemization of institutional-quality private markets investment techniques and programs. 

Before co-founding Opto, Miller spent nearly five years as an investor at Bridgewater Associates. 

Having managed money for family and friends since he was 16, Miller is a certified market junkie. While he has a background in macroeconomics and high-yield debt, he finds the challenges and opportunities in the private markets space far more interesting and important, both for investors and society.

Jon Carroll is a family office expert and veteran who has spent over 30 years advising hundreds of family members, family business owners, trustees, and family office executives on how to grow, improve, transform, and govern their single family office. In 2023 Jon received the PAM Lifetime Achievement Award. 

Jon’s sole focus is strategic business advisory to family offices. When he’s not helping families, Jon enjoys exploring his new hometown of Lisbon, Portugal, traveling Europe with his wife and spending time with his granddaughters.

Kelly Moore serves as Executive Director and Head of Strategic Accounts at Arch, where she leads new client engagement across family offices, RIAs, and institutional allocators. Prior to joining Arch, she served in varying capacities across sales and partnerships, and Corporate Strategy at a large financial services firm. She is based in NYC where Arch is headquartered.

Linda Bready is the president of CleverCX and founder of CleverX Consulting. A longtime innovator in financial services, she has helped shape the evolution of advisor technology and operations for more than two decades. She founded B-Ready Outsourcing, which was acquired by Envestnet in 2010, served in executive roles at FolioDynamix and Envestnet, and has consulted with industry leaders including Fidelity and eMoney. Today, she works with RIAs to improve operations, prepare for growth or acquisition, and lead successful post-sale transitions.

For over a decade Liz has held diverse marketing, communications and sales roles in global firms, small companies, and higher education, predominantly with a focus on family-run businesses.

When not working, she’s likely reading books, hanging with the kiddo, guerrilla gardening, or taking long walks with friends.

Michael has over 25 years of experience in providing professional services to the wealth management industry with a target on private banking and trust companies. His unique combination of asset management business skills and systems experience has helped him lead multiple finance transformation programs such as business process outsourcing, financial systems implementation, merger conversion and integration, performance improvement and process redesign. Previously, Michael was the president and owner of a New York-based technology consulting firm dedicated to providing professional services to some of the oldest trust companies in the U.S. that provide personal wealth management both domestically and internationally for some of the wealthiest individuals and families. His past experience also includes Grant Thornton LLP, Fiduciary Trust International and Chase Private Banking. Michael lives in New York.

Rick Higgins brings decades of experience to provide leadership and innovation in financial reporting for wealth managers and family offices. Having dedicated his career to innovation in family wealth technology, Rick is widely known for his ability to connect with people, overcome challenges, and offer reporting expertise. ​
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Rick is an alumni of MyCFO when his firm Digital Partner was acquired by MyCFO in 1999. From there Rick began WealthTouch a Multi-Family Office and technology offering. Rick served in leadership roles at WealthTouch until 2009.​
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A creative at heart, Rick is also a successful filmmaker, having directed and produced several works, and earning three Heartland Emmy® Awards along the way. Rick enjoys spending time with his wife Lesley and their family in the beautiful Colorado foothills.​

About Russ D’Argento

Russ D’Argento is the Founder & CEO of FINTRX, a leading data intelligence platform for the wealth management and investment landscapes. With a passion for connecting professionals to actionable insights, Russ has grown FINTRX into a trusted resource with 150+ team members supporting over 3,000 financial professionals. 

A University of Connecticut graduate and former standout on the Huskies baseball team, Russ enjoys fishing, golfing and boating with his golden retriever, Fin.​

With over six years as the co-founder and CEO of Arch, Ryan Eisenman brings extensive private investment expertise to the table. Before founding Arch, he gained valuable experience at eight financial service companies, including Deloitte, Routier, and TechStars. 

Ryan is well-versed in the evolving trends of the private investment sector and the transformative impact of technology on the industry. As private markets continue to gain popularity, Ryan remains dedicated to helping advisors and their clients easily invest in private markets and efficiently diversify their portfolios.

Stephen Harris is the founder and Chief Executive of ClearView Financial Media, the publisher of prominent global wealth management news platforms: WealthBriefing, Family Wealth Report, and WealthBriefingAsia.
 
With 30 years of experience in financial publishing, Stephen has dedicated 17 of those years to leading and growing successful companies in the industry.

Susan McDermott
Susan McDermott is the Program Director on the Partnership team at Addepar. Sue focuses on partners that offer a range of family office services. Sue has spent the majority of her career in the investment and wealth management fields and has extensive experience in technology and operations management.

About Addepar
Addepar is a global technology and data company that helps investment professionals provide the most informed, precise guidance for their clients. Addepar's open platform integrates with more than 100 software, data and service partners to deliver a complete solution for a wide range of firms and use cases.

To learn more about Addepar please visit addepar.com

Tony Gebely is the founder and CEO of Annapurna Cybersecurity, a firm specializing in safeguarding the digital assets of successful families and their enterprises. At Annapurna Cybersecurity, Tony leads a team dedicated to delivering comprehensive threat assessments and tailored cybersecurity programs designed to address vulnerabilities across personal, residential, and business environments. His real-world experience working directly with affluent families, combined with strategic partnerships and top-tier expertise across all areas of cybersecurity, positions Annapurna as a trusted advisor in navigating today’s complex digital landscape.

CEO, Glowe Connective

Whitney founded Glowe in 2020 following more than two decades of experience in business advisory, financial services and executive leadership. She has led highly successful entrepreneurial businesses and organizations in the roles of CEO, Managing Member, and Board Member. She is known for her unbounded visionary creativity, audacity to dream big, and the corralling of energy to unlock value and potential in people and businesses.