Introduction
Networking, solving industry challenges, and learning about finance developments are some of the major benefits of a thoughtful and well-executed finance conference. As industry leaders work to stay ahead of the ever-changing finance ecosystem, finance conferences present the opportunity to observe panel discussions, attend networking events, and listen to keynote speakers who can offer a fresh perspective.
Whether your business is based in the USA, United Kingdom, Singapore, or somewhere in between, financial professionals should regularly attend national and international conferences. You can take part in panel discussions, offer to be a keynote speaker, or simply attend with open ears, but no matter how you look at it, a finance conference can help you redefine how you run your business and move through new customer demands.
As CFOs work to meet growing demands and loftier financial goals, these events serve as a way to scale the business and reach new heights.
There are many finance conferences to choose from. Many of the conferences in our list of top FP&A conferences are annual conferences that offer industry professionals the chance to connect and collaborate regularly. Learning about new fintech in Las Vegas and changes in the financial services industry in San Diego can help you become a better leader and business contributor.
Industry-wide changes: Finance 2.0
According to an annual survey conducted by Gartner, the top priority for finance leaders in 2023 is
“Lead finance transformation and organizational change initiatives.”
While this may seem broad, it refers to the overhaul of the financial services industry and FP&A function, turning finance professionals into strategic decision maker in business ecosystems.
Getting the idea of “finance 2.0” right requires regular collaboration from industry experts all over the globe. If a business in Singapore is doing it right, businesses from around the world can take notes and make changes accordingly. Finance conferences make that collaboration possible; starting at the top and aligning leaders to a new vision and different way of thinking about their organization will propel real advancements in the finance industry.
How conferences impact leaders and businesses
Though it can feel like a costly undertaking to fly your leadership team to seminars in San Francisco, the return on investment becomes evident more quickly than you’d expect. Finance conferences give leaders the chance to learn from one another, hear what is and isn’t working in other parts of the world, and offer new connections to vendors, software, or other business solutions.
For employees, ample learning and development opportunities boost job satisfaction and engagement; conferences around the world are a great way to provide those opportunities. Many conferences offer multiple tracks, making them applicable to a number of roles and career stages.
When your organization’s leadership team gets back from a conference, working to share the key learnings from their experience with the rest of the organization is critical. It might look like a call to discuss these items, a formal presentation, or even a quick email, but it’s important that the valuable nuggets of information reach as many people as possible.
Top 10 finance conferences of 2023 and beyond
Finding the right global finance conference can transform how you think about your finance organization and change how your leaders tackle tomorrow’s challenges. Your team can attend a conference in a new city like San Antonio or opt for a budget-friendly virtual conference and series of webinars. Whatever you’re looking for, it’s out there.
Here’s our list of conferences that every industry leader should be reviewing in 2023:
1. Money20/20
Boasting a redesigned expo hall, four days of networking, and groundbreaking industry news, Money20/20 gives finance professionals an inside look at what is to come in the industry overall. Over 13,000 of the world’s biggest names in finance attend every year. Leaders will get a chance to share their stories and entrepreneurs will enter the scene at this conference, giving attendees the chance to soak up every piece of advice available.
Type: In-person.
Date: October 22 – 25, 2023; April 23 – 25, 2024; June 4 – 6, 2024.
Location: Las Vegas, NV; Bangkok, Thailand; Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Highlights: Money20/20 Connect is an AI matchmaking tool that attendees can use to plan the most valuable conference for their unique role as a leader in finance. Meeting requests, table reservations, and even direct messaging with other leaders are all available in an easy-to-use application designed specifically for this event.
Attend Because: The 2023 conference agenda covers root causes of change in the finance industry and maps where it’s heading through 4 pillars: Trust & Uncertainty, Creative Destruction & A Technological Renaissance, Age of Fundamentals, and It’s Time to Build (Utility).
Price: $3,299 per person.
2. Gartner CFO & Finance Executive Conference
Catering to a wide array of finance professionals, the Gartner CFO & Finance Executive Conference offers four role-based tracks. Track A is for CFOs, Track B is targeted toward FP&A leaders, Track C was designed for controllers, and Track D focuses on finance transformation. If your organization can have an employee attending each track, you’ll get the most value from this conference, but no matter how many attendees your organization has, this conference shouldn’t be missed.
Type: In-person.
Date: May 20 – 21, 2024.
Location: National Harbor, Maryland.
Highlights: Fintech solution providers will be on-site to offer live product demos and peer case studies, giving you the chance to understand available solutions and the implementation process.
Attend Because: Gartner is one of the leading research organizations regarding finance trends, business operations, and employment in the US. You’ll gain insight into the most cutting-edge financial research and learn about how to harness the power of data in your own organization.
Price: $495 for early bird rates.
3. FINRA Annual Conference
Each year, FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, puts on an annual conference to bring together finance practitioners, regulators, and other industry professionals to discuss financial compliance and regulatory topics. For an inside look at industry trends, new technologies, cybersecurity highlights, and risk management practices, finance professionals should look no further than this conference.
Type: In-person with virtual options available.
Date: May 14 – 16, 2024.
Location: Washington D.C.
Highlights: Staying updated on regulatory issues and digital currency developments is critical for finance leaders, and at FINRA’s annual conference, the most up-to-date information is presented and discussed, giving leaders the chance to adapt their finance practices as needed.
Attend Because: The level of leadership in the conference rooms and on the webinars for this annual conference is unmatched. No better “meeting of the minds” is available within the finance industry.
Price: In-person rates start at $795 for FINRA members and $1,395 for non-members.
4. East CFO Leadership Conference
With peer-tested tactics and strategies, the East CFO Leadership Conference equips finance leaders with the tools to achieve growth targets and expand profitability opportunities. During tough economic times, advice and data-driven insights about how to best move forward are worth more than any attendee ticket price. Hands-on breakout sessions and thought-provoking keynote speakers will send your attendees back to the office with a new lease on leading FP&A organizations.
Type: In-person.
Date: June 2024.
Location: Boston, MA.
Highlights: A keynote speech from Julie Swinehart, the EVP and CFO of Fenway Sports Group shed light on leadership challenges and offered seasoned perspectives on how finance teams can create more value than ever before.
Attend Because: 92% of attendees are the top finance or accounting decision-maker in their organization. This conference covers mindset shifts for optimal leadership, how to empower women in leadership positions, and teaches CFOs to become visionary storytellers for their organizations.
Price: $1,495 per person.
5. Fintech Talents North America
Bringing together some of the most diverse leaders in fintech and financial services, the Fintech Talents North America conference features attendees from credit unions, financial institutions, and corporate FP&A teams. Watch from the front row as fintech front runners and innovators showcase how their products can change your organization and the finance industry overall.
Type: In-person.
Date: June 11, 2024.
Location: New York City.
Highlights: A jam-packed day of valuable information, the Fintech Talents conference has 4 different breakout events that range in topics from maturing blockchain technologies to financial services in the metaverse and much, much more.
Attend Because: Finance is facing challenges in so many aspects; from climate change to cryptocurrencies, your finance leaders need to be well-versed on a wide range of topics and ready to act when the time comes. Fintech Talents North America is creating a central location for leaders to collaborate and prepare for the future of finance.
Price: Not available.
6. Finovate
With two annual conferences, Finovate offers a west coast and east coast option to its attendees. The spring event, which was in San Francisco, examined the role of artificial intelligence in the financial landscape, diving into the technology’s impact on FP&A functionality, finance leadership, investor meetings, and portfolio management. AI is a superpower in the financial services industry, but leaders must learn how to wield it properly. Finovate’s guidance and exploration of deeply important finance-related topics will impact the industry for years to come.
Type: Hybrid – In-person and virtual options available.
Date: September 11 – 13, 2023 and May 21 – 24, 2024.
Location: New York City, NY and San Francisco, CA.
Highlights: A powerful combination of product demos, expert panels, and leadership discussions can be found at Finovate year after year. In 2023, the focus was on AI and its impact on regulatory and compliance components of the industry, as well as daily operations.
Attend Because: There’s something for everyone; new products, valuable connections, and opinions from industry experts are found in every nook and cranny of this conference.
Price: $2,198 for a 3-day pass.
7. FiNext Conference
No matter where you’re based in the world, making your way to the FiNext Conference in Las Vegas or Dubai is essential in 2023. Filled with some of the world’s best innovators, investors, entrepreneurs, and finance leaders, FiNext is the in-person sounding board that shapes how the industry will look years down the line. Attendees can expect a thorough examination of AI, machine learning, and other fintech creations as well as a deep dive into the world of compliance and cybersecurity.
Type: In-person.
Date: November 2 – 3, 2023 and June 2024.
Location: Las Vegas, NV and Dubai, UAE.
Highlights: Featuring presentations from finance leaders in some of the world’s leading organizations such as Mastercard, InvestGlass, and the World Economic Forum, discussions are sure to be well-rounded and multi-faceted.
Attend Because: FiNext takes the tradition embedded in the finance function and challenges it with some of the leading experts in the space. It’s time for a shakeup in the industry and FiNext is exactly that.
Price: $1,499 per person.
8. SFVegas
The Structured Finance Association hosts the largest capital markets conference on an annual basis. This year, keynote speakers centered their messages around the backdrop of market volatility, growing economic uncertainty, and other macroeconomic trends. Speeches from business leaders, governing bodies, and critical players in finance opened up controversial discussions, collaboration opportunities, and a collective path to progress.
Type: Hybrid – In-person and virtual options available.
Date: February 25 – 28, 2024.
Location: Las Vegas, NV.
Highlights: Fireside chats with Securities and Exchange (SEC) commissioner Mark Uyeda and the former Commander of US Forces in Afghanistan, General Stan McChrystal, illustrated how interconnected the finance industry is with events all around the world.
Attend Because: Finance doesn’t operate in a silo; it’s impacted by new technologies, sustainability initiatives, macroeconomic conditions, and global events. Understanding how the world’s happenings impact even the smallest finance teams can mean the difference between progress and stagnation. SFVegas helps leaders break down the silos and see the bigger picture unfolding in front of them.
Price: $1,400 for members; $2,750 for non-members.
9. AICPA & CIMA CFO Conference
Together, the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants and the Certified Investment Management Association host an annual CFO conference targeted toward CFOs, CEOs, finance executives, and controllers. Not only does this conference highlight industry changes and publicize advances in finance, but it builds a strategic plan for how to move forward relative to your role and organization as a whole.
Type: Hybrid – In-person and virtual options available.
Date: Aprile 24 – 26, 2024.
Location: Salt Lake City, UT.
Highlights: Accounting leaders and finance leaders join forces at this conference to understand how the two functions will work together in a changing world. Learn first-hand from leaders who got it right – and some who didn’t – so you can take note of best practices and avoid pitfalls that others have traversed.
Attend Because: The C-Suite perspective is shared as the foundation of every breakout session, providing a helpful jumping-off point for other C-suite leaders and all industry professionals that work closely with executives.
Price: Starts at $1,475 per person.
10. Connect CFO Leadership Summit
Incredibly accessible and very effective, Connect CFO is a free conference that has an in-person and virtual option for attendees. The key themes of the conference are forward-thinking financial leadership, data-driven financial strategy, financial trends & digital transformation, and progressive governance. Funded fully by sponsors, Connect CFO is exclusively designed for industry leaders who are ready to shape the future.
Type: In-person and virtual options available.
Date: April 2024 (in-person) and March 2024 (virtual).
Location: San Diego, CA.
Highlights: Aside from being free, this conference includes 10 one-on-one meetings for every attendee. The meetings are tailored toward your needs and matched based on the business challenges you’re facing.
Attend Because: You’ll be connected to some other industry leaders while learning about notable and relevant topics including high-performance finance teams, attracting and retaining finance talent, and using data to make strategic financial decisions.
Price: Free.
Investing in training and development pays off
When you invest in your employees by sending them to training seminars and annual conferences, the knowledge they gain and the skills they accrue come back to directly benefit your organization. They can bring new perspectives to your finance teams, think critically about shifting priorities, and learn how to better communicate their needs with leadership. As the role of finance changes overall, conferences are critical to achieving unity and progress as an industry.
Prioritizing your conferences each year
Every conference has a different value proposition and since you can’t go to every conference every year, it’s important to prioritize. Often, you can look at keynote speakers and breakout sessions ahead of time to figure out which conferences are most pertinent to your organization.
Some conferences may focus on specific technology stacks for finance organizations while others think about finance leadership more holistically, offering book lists, breakout sessions, and other resources to transform the function.
You can’t go wrong with any of the above conferences, but if we had to choose just one to send our FP&A leaders to next, it would be SFVegas or the FiNext Conference because of the breadth of fintech and regulatory coverage at both.
