Key Insights: 4 Essential Takeaways from XYPN LIVE

Walking through a financial planning conference’s doors, you might expect to find a room full of strangers dressed to the nines. But that’s not what you get at XYPN LIVE. XYPN LIVE events are casual by design—think t-shirts and shorts—so you can come as you are and find real connections. 

The difference is that the folks attending the conference are just as passionate about the future of planning as you are: they’re reimagining client service, redefining a data-driven decision-making process, and reconnecting with the “why” behind their mission. Making real connections with real advisors is the heart of what we do. As a result, the conference experience is defined by all the ways the Network comes together. 

After 10 years of celebrating the Network, XYPN LIVE has become the place where advisors can find the best tools, insights, and proven strategies and make lasting connections with the experts who’ve paved the way. The best part? In 2025, we get to do it all over again in Austin, TX, from September 25 to 27, 2025. 

The XYPN LIVE conference hits on the best parts of the Network within the first day: a vibrant community of like-minded advisors, end-to-end education, and customized solutions coming together in real life once a year to celebrate all the ways to make independence possible.

For those who attend, the takeaways from XYPN LIVE shape how they work, serve clients, and grow their businesses. If you couldn’t attend last year, fear not—passes for XYPN LIVE 2025 are available now, with prices increasing after January 1, 2025. 

Team XYPN is buzzing with excitement for the next XYPN LIVE, and to share our excitement, we’re recapping the top takeaways from 2024. We hope you grab your pass and join us.

1. Connect and Reconnect with Like-Minded Advisors 

The beauty of XYPN LIVE is the sheer number of opportunities to build your personal network. Of course, the schedule is jam-packed with content designed to make your biggest asset even more valuable and in new formats that make business continuity planning feel like a breeze. But aside from the official schedule, XYPN LIVE gives you plenty of opportunities to connect in new ways with advisors just like you. Cross-Fiters, Basketball—or Pickleball—enthusiasts, foodies, yogis, quiet night in-ies all arranged their own meet-ups in the conference app this year. Everyone has a place to find their people at XYPN LIVE. 

XYPN LIVE is the place to find firms in the Network that can empower you to create the future of your firm with intention. All firm owners face key decisions: to niche, grow, scale, hire, partner, or stay solo, to ramp things up or slow down your sales pipeline. In 2024, AJ Ayers, Shane Mason, Bjorn Amundson, and Kyle Moore shared each of their firm’s ownership road maps—and the considerations of each. 

To a rookie, these are daunting decisions that will either accelerate or hinder your growth. To a member of the Network and attendees at XYPN LIVE, these key decisions are an opportunity to knock on the door of a fellow advisor and see just how many ways it can get through this hurdle.

2. Connect with Your Virtual Connections 

The personal relationships that follow you through your path to independence help create value for XYPN. Rarely do we get the opportunity to share a coffee with another advisor that hasn’t been meticulously planned weeks in advance to avoid client meetings, admin time, or our personal lives. At XYPN LIVE, unplanned connections are possible. They’re everywhere.

Each year, we hear that the most valuable conversations come from the people you share breakfast with, sit next to, or meet in line for a session. Expect the unexpected to inspire you at XYPN LIVE.

3. Learn How to Get Ahead 

Beyond your peers, XYPN LIVE offers the opportunity to learn from the Network. After 10 years, we’ve seen firsthand how impactful getting ahead of that curve can be. Whether that’s the latest innovations in your tech stack, laying out your continuity and succession strategy, or rethinking your approach to the next step on your path, the power of intentional growth was front and center at XYPN LIVE. 

Successful independent advisors will tell you, "What you don't know might surprise you!” And they’d be right. Going full bore feels right initially, but we rarely step back to rethink this approach as we reach those key inflection points. XYPN LIVE sets the stage for filling out the next stage of firm ownership. 

Take Niching, for Example

Co-founder Alan Moore reflected on the importance of growing with intention & direction with a niche in the Annual Benchmarking Study: “There are so many decisions that you have to make, particularly as you’re launching a business; your marketing strategy, your technology stack, your fee structure, what custodian you’re going to use, what investment philosophy you’re going to use, and so on.” Finding a niche makes answering those questions easier. “Our launching firms are spending a lot less time spinning their wheels and figuring things out because these niche firms are focused, and it’s really clear where they should spend their time.” The effect of pre-planning is huge—shifting the Average Revenue Growth Path in their favor in some cases.

For those who haven’t taken the leap but are testing the waters, grab your pass to see what’s possible. 

4. Reimagine Your Client Experience 

In 2024, XYPN LIVE speakers showed attendees how to rethink the experience. The bottom line: client experience is no longer just about setting expectations—it’s about keeping the human-first approach alive in a scalable process. Kate Guillen unveiled The Ultimate Client Service Tech Stack, offering a tech stack that streamlines service. Daniel Slagel paved the way for Navigating Life Events Alongside Our Clients—it’s about prioritizing support during critical transitions. Christian Newton & Dillon Hewitt-Castillo laid out the “impact questions” that deepen client connections every time.

2024 content schedule aside, this kind of actionable advice keeps attendees returning year after year. There’s value in learning from those who’ve done it before, done it differently, started from scratch, scrapped the whole thing and started over, and found success on their own terms. The XYPN team is building the 2025 schedule now. If you, or someone you know, want to be a part of the XYPN LIVE experience, look to our speaker page.

Key Takeaway 

Across all the best parts of LIVE, it’s clear that in 2025, Austin, TX, is where you can take a break from working IN your business to working ON your business. Whatever that work looks like for you, we’re here to make it possible. In 2025, XYPN LIVE will take place in Austin, TX, from September 25th to 27th. Grab your pass and get ready to make it possible.