The Financial Planning Association marked its 25th anniversary this year, and the milestone is providing a solid foundation as the organization steps into a new era defined by growth, strengthened community, and a renewed commitment to elevating the profession.
Fresh off the 2025 FPA Annual Conference in Las Vegas, CEO Dennis Moore reflected on how the Association is honoring its legacy while preparing financial planners for the opportunities and challenges ahead.
In this Q&A, Moore outlines the priorities shaping FPA’s next chapter—from developing future planners and empowering local chapters to reimagining the Association’s national conference strategy. He also highlights how FPA is evolving its programs, learning pathways, and member benefits to serve a rapidly changing profession and meet planners wherever they are in their careers.
We know the 2025 FPA Annual Conference in Las Vegas was special. Tell us more about how it helped FPA mark its 25th anniversary and why that matters.
Dennis Moore: The FPA Annual Conference 2025 in Las Vegas was truly memorable. It provided an incredible backdrop as we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the merger between the International Association for Financial Planning (IAFP) and the Institute of Certified Financial Planners (ICFP)—which led to the creation of the Financial Planning Association in January 2000.
This year has been a celebration of the Association’s 25 years of empowering financial planners and elevating the financial planning profession. The conference was not only an opportunity to commemorate this impressive anniversary with our attendees, but also reinforced our commitment to innovation, education, and community within the profession.
This year’s conference had plenty of exceptional events. What were some of the highlights?
Moore: The highlight for me every year is the fact that the event brings together individuals from all corners of the profession, including practitioners, partners, academics, students, and many others. FPA Annual Conference is a time each year for the profession to come together to celebrate financial planning and how we can work together to sharpen our skills, build our competencies, and elevate the profession.
As for specific activities and features of the event this year, the keynote presentations and the amazing diversity of content really stood out. There was a razor-sharp focus on making financial planning the event’s central theme while also being more intentional about leaning into what makes FPA special—community building. We were struck by the comments of our attendees and partners that the conference was one of the best they had attended in years. This provides a terrific springboard into our events in 2026 and beyond.
As the new CEO at FPA, what are your top three focus areas as the association begins the next 25 years?
Moore: FPA is proud to be a partner in planning for our members who take pride in their respective roles within financial planning. To that end, FPA will continue to build programs and services around our four primary service lines: Practice Support, Learning, Advocacy, and Networking.
In addition to innovating new programs and perfecting existing ones, there are three distinct areas where we will really lean in over the next few years.
First, it’s important to attract and support the next generation of financial planners. The future of FPA and the profession depends on making financial planning an appealing career for young people entering college and supporting them as they start their careers.
Our FPA NexGen community is doing remarkable work to introduce people to the profession and assist them during their early years. The more FPA can do to support the next generation, the better it will be for both FPA and the future of financial planning.
Second is working in partnership with our network of FPA chapters across the country to drive exceptional value in membership—nationally and locally. Our chapters provide a personal, local connection for members where they can learn from and collaborate with their peers. As someone who came up through the FPA chapter system, I appreciate the immense value our chapters offer members. So, anything we can do nationally to better support and empower our chapters is worth exploring.
Third is bringing our new national conference strategy to life. As we closed out FPA Annual Conference in Las Vegas, we announced our plans to not only rebrand our slate of four annual national conferences but also to completely reengineer them to make them more impactful for our members and the profession. There’s a lot of excitement right now about the vision for our events in 2026 and beyond. Now, it’s about execution and making this vision a reality.
For financial professionals these days, the number of conferences and career events is growing exponentially. How is FPA adapting to these changes in the broader conference landscape?
Moore: The conference landscape, especially in financial services, has shifted dramatically in recent years as society emerged from the global pandemic. For many years, conferences were primarily held by associations, like FPA, but that has changed with many for-profit and media companies now offering events. This crowding of the marketplace has resulted in several challenges that are not isolated to our Association. With this new reality, FPA has had to rethink our national conference strategy.
A volunteer task force convened for six months in 2024 to do a full review of FPA’s conference slate, which resulted in a series of recommendations that the FPA Board of Directors accepted. Throughout 2025, our team has been working with a third-party marketing agency to revitalize our event branding and develop a strategy to reengineer the experience each conference provides into a clear learning journey catering to where financial planning professionals are in their respective career journeys.
Based on input from your task force, how is FPA going to revamp its conferences in 2026, and what can members expect?
Moore: Beginning in 2026, FPA’s four national conferences will take on new names and new energy, all designed to meet the evolving needs of modern financial planners. This isn’t just about branding. It’s about tailoring our events to reflect each financial planner’s unique journey, from starting out through growth, transformation, and leadership.
- FPA GATHER: Start Here—Formerly FPA NexGen Gathering, this event is for those just starting out or finding their footing in the profession. Designed with the FPA NexGen community in mind, FPA Gather focuses on exploration, mentorship, and discovering what it means to be part of the profession.
- FPA SUMMIT: Grow Here—Formerly FPA Annual Conference, this event is being completely reengineered to become the center of learning, innovation, and collaboration in financial planning. It’s where practitioners, firm owners, academics, students, thought leaders, and partners will convene to experience the FPA community.
- FPA SHIFT™: Transform Here—Formerly FPA Retreat, this event is where financial planning professionals at every career stage can step back to reflect, question assumptions, and intentionally connect with their peers. The event has always been on the cutting edge of new, critical thinking in financial planning. FPA Shift will build on that legacy.
- FPA LEAD: Elevate Here—Formerly FPA Chapter Leaders Conference, this invitation-only event is designed to inspire and empower chapter leaders and provide a space for them to support one another in reaching higher and leading more effectively.
FPA wants to provide exciting experiences at every step of our members’ careers. This evolution ensures that our events meet their needs, today and tomorrow. We look forward to unveiling all-new event websites in the weeks ahead.
What other new benefits will FPA members have to look forward to in 2026?
Moore: Our team is focused on enhancing existing programs and building new ones that deliver value to members. For example, we will continue to build on the FPA® Competency Model™, which provides a bold new framework that defines the behavioral skills that drive success in financial planning and offers a structured path to lifelong professional development.
And we will continue to enhance FPA MediaSource, which has driven outstanding visibility for CFP® professional members of FPA by connecting them to hundreds of journalists.
We are also looking to partner more intentionally with the many terrific companies and subject-matter experts who provide critical services and insights to our members. Just like FPA, they are critical partners in planning for our members, and by bringing them into the Association more intentionally, we can further support our members while creating mutually beneficial partnerships that last.
If you enjoyed this article, click here to subscribe to FPA SmartBrief.