Borzi, Whitney, Taleb to Speak at IMCA Annual Conference

"And as usual our members were right," he adds with a laugh.

Walters also points to the work of IMCA's government relations committee, saying it had meetings with two SEC commissioners recently.

"They actually came out with the results of their cost-benefit study right at the time of our meetings, which we found interesting," he says. "I'm really curious as to how the session with Phyllis Borzi will pan out in light of the DOL's fiduciary rule. It will be a one-two punch; after she speaks, we throw over to Blaine Aiken of fi360 to talk about what it means for members. They already operate in a client-first environment; between 85% and 90% of our members fall under an RIA/advisor standard."

Walters claims 1,600 attendees total this year, but more paid attendees.

"The number of attendees is essentially flat when compared to last year in National Harbor, but we have a higher percentage of advisors than in year's past," he concludes. "We have a smaller exhibit hall, but we have a lot of advisors that have joined in order to go to the conference to try us out. They see the quality of the education and want to come."