Yesterday Pershing Insite 2017 continued with tech entrepreneurs and a famous photographer taking the main stage, after which Pershing took over a block in downtown San Diego. Today the team at the broker-dealer clearing specialist and RIA custodian will wrap up their three-day conference by bringing in a football star.

Lisa Dolly Pershing CEO

Yesterday morning Pershing CEO Lisa Dolly unveiled the new FundVest ETF NTF platform. She also touted the new Capital Group-powered portfolios just launched by Pershing affiliate Lockwood. And she pondered three big questions: "Are we focused on providing value? Are we obsessed with the client experience? And are we future-proofing our businesses?"

Pershing's Jim Crowley (chief relationship officer), Ram Nagappan (chief information officer), and Tom Sholes (managing director) discussed Pershing's "integrated wealth experience". Crowley even had a HAL 9000 or Alexa moment onstage with his "digital companion."

Joan Schwartz Pershing Chief legal officer

Carol Massar, co-anchor of "Bloomberg Markets" on Bloomberg Radio, then moderated a panel discussion, "the Science of Innovative Technology," featuring three Silicon Valley types: Rana El Kaliouby, co-founder and CEO of emotional artificial intelligence shop Affectiva; Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of online discussion board Reddit and of venture capital firm Initialized Capital; and Oscar Salazar, founding architect of ride-sharing giant Uber. All three tech insiders predicted a financial services future where BlockChain technology becomes more and more important.

In that session, El Kaliouby wondered aloud about a future where a roboadvisor not only knows how to build your portfolio but also "actually knows you", how to build a relationship with you, and how to navigate your emotions.

Also in the Silicon Valley session, Salazar predicted that the big fintech opportunities are in creating "better experiences" for investors and passed on a Brazilian fintech entrepreneur's warning that "Everybody needs banking; not everybody needs a bank."

Ohanian, also on the Silicon Valley panel, predicted a future of advice is "cyborgs, not robot", while warning that though many fintech startups seem to have a small impact today, a few "are going to really start to get traction and growth."

Late yesterday afternoon, as fundsters and exhibitors closed down their booths in the Insite exhibit hall, the famed portrait photographer Platon took the Insite main stage to share photographs and stories from Hollywood, Washington, and war-torn places like Chechnya and the Congo.

Last night Pershing took over a block in San Diego's Gaslamp district for an indoor/outdoor block party featuring a live band and food from half a dozen restaurants on the street.

This morning Joan Schwartz, chief legal officer at Pershing, will take the main stage. Then Pershing Advisor Solutions CEO, Mark Tibergien, will wrap up Insite 2017 by moderating a discussion with NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers (who is pinch-hitting for pro tennis star Serena Williams).

Looking ahead, Pershing Insite 2018 will return to the Hyatt Regency Orlando on June 6-8. Insite 2019 (June 12-14) will move to Phoenix, Insite 2020 (June 10-12) to Chicago, and Insite 2021 (June 8-10) back to Orlando. 

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