Boomer Esiason to Headline AdvisorHub Summit in New York
By holt Hackney
Former NFL quarterback and league MVP Boomer Esiason will be among the featured speakers at AdvisorHub’s 2026 Advisors to Watch Summit, scheduled for Oct. 21 at 583 Park Avenue in New York City.
Esiason, who played 14 seasons in the NFL and was named the league’s Most Valuable Player in 1988, will deliver the closing keynote, “Tough Lessons in Leadership.” His appearance provides a sports-related centerpiece for an event otherwise focused largely on trends affecting financial advisors, registered investment advisers and wealth management firms.
Esiason is expected to discuss leadership, pressure, trust, resilience and adapting to change, drawing on his career in professional football and broadcasting.
A four-time Pro Bowl selection, Esiason played primarily for the Cincinnati Bengals and also spent time with the New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals. He later became a prominent football analyst and broadcaster. His career has also included extensive charitable work through the Boomer Esiason Foundation.
The summit will bring together advisors, executives and other professionals from across the wealth management industry for discussions on artificial intelligence, mergers and acquisitions, organic growth, succession planning, investment strategy and practice management.
Artificial intelligence will be one of the event’s major themes.
Jeffrey T. Hancock, a professor of communication at Stanford University and founding director of the Stanford Social Media Lab, is scheduled to participate in a session examining the growing role of AI in wealth management. Hancock will be joined by Paul Brunswick, head of global consulting at Invesco.
Other sessions will examine how financial advisors can use AI to improve efficiency, deepen client relationships and potentially increase the value of advisory firms.
Patrick O’Connor, chief operating officer of Raymond James Private Client Group, is scheduled to discuss the relationship between AI-driven efficiency and human advice. Shauna Mace, head of practice management at SEI, will address practical uses of AI in advisory businesses.
Allen Darby, CEO of Alaris Acquisitions, is scheduled to examine how AI could influence advisory-firm valuations.
Merger and acquisition activity will also be a major part of the program.
A panel on the acquisition marketplace is scheduled to include Kim Kovalski, managing director at MarshBerry; Harris Baltch, managing director and co-head of investment banking at Dynasty Financial Partners; Joe Mooney, managing director and head of business development at Concurrent; and Paul O’Toole, senior vice president and head of business development at Hilltop Securities.
Other sessions will focus on succession planning, RIA custody, tax strategies, organic growth and the use of acquisitions to expand advisory firms.
The program also includes a discussion about building a billion-dollar advisory practice featuring Stan Gregor, CEO of Summit Financial, and Monish Verma, founding partner of Vardhan Wealth Management.
The event begins with registration at 7:30 a.m., followed by a Women Advisors Discussion and Networking Breakfast. General sessions are scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m., with Esiason’s keynote later in the afternoon and a networking reception scheduled to follow.
AdvisorHub says summit attendees represent an average of $852 million in assets under management, and 80% are affiliated with independent firms or registered investment advisers. The organization says attendees average 21 years of industry experience.
Public registration for the summit is $299.
More information about the event, speakers and agenda is available at the AdvisorHub Advisors to Watch Summit website. Attendees can also register for the summit online.