Like many others at VettaFi, I have been busy prepping for our Exchange conference next month. From March 15–18, the VettaFi team will be at the Virgin Las Vegas along with 1,200+ advisors and financial professionals. I am excited to see old friends and meet new faces. However, I cannot overlook one of the main reasons we are there: great content and education. There will be something of interest for everyone attending the conference.
I would love to highlight five of the sessions that I will personally be moderating. They are all connected by a common thread — innovation — which is reshaping indexing, product development, distribution, thematic investing, and more.
1. ETF Trends in 2026: Alpha, Income Overlays, and the Digital Shift
On Sunday, I am excited to moderate a panel covering ETF Trends in 2026: Alpha, Income Overlays, and the Digital Shift.
This panel is sponsored by the Women in ETFs Speakers’ Bureau. The speakers include:
- Lubna Lundy (director, investment product at Fidelity Investments);
- Julie Abbett (head of Americas ETF sales for equities and credit at JP Morgan); and
- Cleo Chang (investment solutions officer at American Century).
We will be discussing:
- Active management: Is it the future for ETFs or can you find alpha through other methods?;
- Share classes: Is this the biggest product story of 2026?; and
- Product innovation: In a crowded space, how do you differentiate products and distinguish between real adoption vs. headline risk?
This will be a great panel to set the tone for the next two days as we try to hit all of the year’s biggest trends in one interconnected panel.
2. ETF/Mutual Fund Shares Classes & Tokenization: Key Industry Developments
On Monday, I will be moderating a panel on a complex, but critically important, topic for the ETF industry: ETF/Mutual Fund Share Classes & Tokenization: Key Industry Developments.
Aisha Hunt (founder of Kelley Hunt, PLLC) and Alex Morris (co-founder & CEO of F/m Investments) will discuss two closely linked market structure developments that could have major implications for product design and distribution. Earlier this month, F/m Investments (with counsel from Kelley Hunt) became the first ETF issuer to bring a dual share-class structure into live operation under a modern SEC exemptive order. It added a mutual fund share class to its flagship F/m US Treasury 3 Month Bill ETF (TBIL). This effectively put ETF and mutual fund access points into a single portfolio rather than running separate vehicles. That is significant because it can help extend ETF strategies into channels such as retirement plans and other platforms that have traditionally relied on mutual funds.
Separately, F/m also filed an SEC application seeking permission to record ownership of tokenized TBIL shares on a permissioned blockchain, while preserving the same CUSIP and investor rights. The approach aims to bridge traditional brokerage infrastructure and digital-native platforms. If you want a better sense of where the ETF industry is heading, this will be an important session to attend.
3. How Energy Infrastructure Powers Our Economy & Your Income Portfolio
That same afternoon I will be moderating an energy double feature. The first part will feature Stacey Morris (head of energy research at TMX VettaFi) and Paul Baiocchi (chief ETF strategist at SS&C ALPS Advisors). They will discuss How Energy Infrastructure Powers Our Economy and Your Income Portfolio.
Stacey and Paul will dive deep into the industry and analyze the energy infrastructure space. They’ll cover the growth opportunities for natural gas infrastructure tied to growing LNG exports and rising demand for power generation (including data centers), economic use cases, and how advisors can use this in a portfolio. I have been lucky to moderate several of their VettaFi webcasts; I’m very excited to moderate this one in-person.
VettaFi provides the index for the Alerian MLP ETF (AMLP) and the Alerian Energy Infrastructure ETF (ENFR) for ALPS.
4. Fusion of Forces: AI & the Next Generation of Nuclear
After a brief coffee break, I will be back for another session with Stacey. We’ll be joined by Zeno Mercer (head of robotics and AI research at TMX VettaFi). We will be discussing the Fusion of Forces: AI and the Next Generation of Nuclear.
AI and nuclear have been two of the biggest investment themes. They increasingly intersect through AI’s massive energy needs and nuclear power’s potential role as a clean, reliable source of baseload electricity. Stacey and Zeno will break down both themes individually, then dig into where they overlap — from the buildout of AI infrastructure to the broader investment implications across power, data centers, and automation. I am also interested to get their thoughts on how AI is evolving and spreading across the economy, and how that expansion is creating new opportunities in robotics.
VettaFi provides the index for the ROBO Global Robotics & Automation ETF (ROBO), the ROBO Global Artificial Intelligence ETF (THNQ), and the Range Nuclear Renaissance Index ETF (NUKZ).
5. Be Fearful When Others Are Greedy
I will be closing out my moderating duties with a session from a well-known voice in the investment community: a fireside chat with Rob Arnott (founder & chairman of Research Affiliates). This fireside chat is labeled very appropriately for today’s market: Be Fearful When Others Are Greedy.
Rob will share his views on markets, valuations, and investor behavior, along with his research. That includes RAFI (the Research Affiliates Fundamental Index, which selects and weights companies by fundamentals such as sales, cash flow, dividends, and book value rather than market cap) and Trifecta (Research Affiliates’ newer framework that applies fundamentals-based design across value, core, and growth exposures). In addition to RAFI, the Trifecta also consists of the Research Affiliates Cap-Weighted Index (RACWI) and the RAFI Growth Index (RAFIG). These Trifecta strategies offer a simple, yet effective method to distinguish between price (expectations) and fundamentals (economic reality). It should be a great conversation for anyone interested in where markets, research, and indexing innovation are headed next.
Bottom Line
Innovation is a huge theme across my panels, and I am looking forward to hearing these experts share their insights. I’m also excited for the opportunity to connect with many advisors and industry experts off stage. In the past year, I’ve hosted several dozen events with asset managers for advisors virtually. To be in-person will be refreshing. That said, the conference goes well beyond my individual experience — there are plenty of other compelling panels to attend, booths to explore, and networking opportunities to experience throughout each day. There is still time to register. I hope to see you there!
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VettaFi LLC (“VettaFi”) is the index administrator and calculation agent for AMLP, ENFR, ROBO, THNQ, and NUKZ, for which it receives a fee. However, AMLP, ENFR, ROBO, THNQ, and NUKZ are not issued, sponsored, endorsed, or sold by VettaFi, and VettaFi has no obligation or liability in connection with the issuance, administration, marketing, or trading of AMLP, ENFR, ROBO, THNQ, and NUKZ.
