Former President Barack Obama is set to headline Connect26, a private conference hosted by Creative Planning this week near its Overland Park, Kansas headquarters. The event, scheduled for September 26 at the Overland Park Convention Center, will include a moderated conversation between Obama and Creative Planning CEO Peter Mallouk, according to local news reports. Approximately 6,000 attendees are expected, comprising clients and employees, with the event closed to the public.
The multi-day summit, which Creative Planning has hosted for about 15 years, covers finance, technology, health, and politics. Past speakers include former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, as well as Van Jones and Newt Gingrich. The conference underscores the firm's growing prominence in the RIA space.
On the day before Obama's appearance, Creative Planning will hold its annual employee gathering, with roughly 3,000 attendees expected. The firm now manages or advises on more than $780 billion in assets, a significant leap from the $75.6 billion it reported when it launched its employee equity program in 2021. That program, which initially included 86 employees—about 10% of the workforce at the time—has expanded to over 1,000 employee equity partners.
“Basically, every year we dramatically expand the shareholder base. We've now crossed the 1,000-partner mark,” Mallouk told InvestmentNews. “We have varying degrees of partnership depending on someone's contribution to the success of our clients and Creative Planning.” The equity program's growth reflects the firm's rapid expansion and its focus on retaining top talent.
Creative Planning's growth has been fueled by strategic acquisitions. Earlier this week, the firm announced a deal to acquire RVK, an Oregon-based institutional investment consulting firm that oversees $4.3 trillion in assets across 200 institutional clients. This acquisition follows last year's purchase of SageView Advisory Group, a retirement plan advisory firm with $640 billion in assets, and the firm's recent selection as investment manager for Mississippi's state-sponsored 529 college savings plan.
Mallouk views the retirement and institutional space as a “winner-take-all” market. “We're seeing this really come down to just a few players, and retirement is a subset of institutional,” he said. “RVK really matches our culture and values and strengthens retirement. But across the board and all of institutional, I think makes us the leader among the true independent firms.”
The RVK acquisition is part of Creative Planning's broader push into retirement and institutional assets, a sector that has seen increased consolidation. The firm's expansion into this area is notable, as it competes with larger players like Cerity Partners' recent acquisitions and other mega-RIAs.
Creative Planning's employee equity program is designed to reward performance and alignment with company values. Mallouk noted that the firm evaluates factors such as performance percentile, tenure, and value alignment when granting equity. This approach has helped the firm attract and retain advisors, even as competition for talent intensifies.
The conference and the equity program highlight Creative Planning's dual focus on client engagement and employee ownership. With assets under management growing by roughly 932% since 2021, the firm shows no signs of slowing down. As it integrates RVK and continues to expand its institutional footprint, Creative Planning is positioning itself as a dominant force in the independent RIA landscape.
