(CitywireUSA) - The Financial Planning Association (FPA) is canceling its 2021 conference over ongoing concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.
‘Given the surge of the Delta variant and concerns over the increasing number of COVID-19 cases across the country, the FPA Board of Directors has decided to cancel the annual conference in Columbus next month,’ Patrick Mahoney, the FPA’s chief executive, wrote in a Tuesday statement.
The conference had been set to take place from September 22 to 24 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Ohio.
Advisor conference organizers had been banking on using the fall to resume their events, which typically require many months of planning. The FPA is the second institution in a five-day span to cancel a conference set for the fall; on Friday, tech consultant Joel Bruckenstein said he would no longer attempt to hold the T3 Conference for advisors in Denton, Texas at the end of September.
Bruckenstein said that he will attempt to hold a conference in the Spring of 2022, while the FPA did not provide a prospective date for the 2022 edition of its annual event.
‘This was a difficult decision for the Board to make, but it was the right decision considering the current state of the pandemic and the significant landscape challenges facing in-person events this fall,’ Mahoney stated.
The FPA noted that it is giving registrants full refunds.
In a Twitter thread, Michael Kitces commented that he is ‘bummed to see’ FPA cancel its event, but added that it’s part of a trend whereby ‘organizations in the “for-profit” conference business,’ such as FPA and T3, ‘are struggling and canceling’ since ‘a small diminishment in attendance and/or sponsorship can entirely wipe out the profitability of a still-sizable event.’
Kitces added: ‘Platforms and vendors that run conferences as part of their advisor community - where the “ROI” is bringing their community together, not necessarily as a for-profit conference endeavor - are pushing forward, as “any” reasonable turnout is still a success for them.’
Indeed, a spokesman for portfolio management software firm Orion confirmed that the company still plans to hold its Ascent conference in Scottsdale, Ariz. next week, adding: ‘we are putting a number of precautions in place to support everyone’s safety and well-being during the event.’
Risk management software company Riskalyze is still slated to hold its Fearless Investing Summit in Palm Springs, Calif. at the end of September.
‘We’re very grateful that California’s latest health guidance gives us a clear path to hosting a spectacular Fearless Investing Summit in 37 days,’ chief executive Aaron Klein said on Tuesday. ‘We’ve had a small handful of cancellations immediately replaced by new registrations, but they were more schedule-related than Covid-related. We’re receiving a mini-flood of emails from advisors saying “you’re still on, right? You’d better not cancel, I’m planning on this!”’
