Ascend Innovation Summit 2025
November 12–14, 2025
Austin, Texas
Dare To Be Great With Apex
What happens when you bring a couple hundred visionaries, innovators, and changemakers together? A client conference that’s actually a think tank — and lots of big plans for the future of wealth management. Over three sunshine-filled days in Austin, we brought industry leaders together to talk about what’s next.
Watch this short recap video to see a few highlights of this memorable event.
Day 1 • Wednesday
Wednesday Welcome With Still Austin Whiskey Co.
Chris Seals, CEO of Still Austin Whiskey Co.
Connor Coughlin, Chief Customer Officer at Apex
The Summit kicked off with a pop-up whiskey tasting sponsored by Nasdaq and Still Austin Whiskey Co., while our sponsor Poker Power hosted a lively educational session. We rolled right into our Craft & Vision reception with Still Austin CEO, Chris Seals. Chris shared his founder journey — including his partnership with his father, Cleveland Seals — in an interview with Connor Coughlin.
Day 2 • Thursday
A History of Rapid-Fire Innovations
At Apex, innovation is everything. It’s who we are and what we do. Check out this video to catch up on our 13 years of industry breakthroughs — there’s so much more to come.
Bill Capuzzi, CEO of Apex
Allison Norman, Director of Product Marketing at Apex
Thursday kicked off with a couple of wellness options before breakfast: A run with our CEO, Bill Capuzzi, or yoga with our Director of Product Marketing, Allison Norman. Both groups enjoyed a healthy start to a day full of insightful sessions and speakers.
Laura Agharkar, VP of Human Resources at Apex
Event emcee Laura Agharkar welcomed the crowd with a video showcasing 13 years of Apex innovation. “It’s the talent, culture and leadership at Apex — the people — that turn ideas into action,” Laura explained as she introduced our CEO, Bill Capuzzi.
Bill Capuzzi, CEO of Apex
As an industry, we’ve come a long way since 2010, Bill reminded us, when investors paid $9.95 per trade, T+3 was the norm, and Bitcoin traded at $0.27. Crediting the audience with lowering barriers to entry, Bill went on to predict that more industry reinvention is coming:
- “Bleeding-edge fintechs” and traditional players will converge, with the former adding human advice and the later offering more digital tools
- No more T-plus-anything as instant funding and settlement emerge
- U.S. equity markets will be widely available 24×7
- Derivatives, options, and futures are coming to retail, and Apex will fractionalize these assets
- Private securities and alternative investments are expected to double in size
- Tokenized securities will become the new standard
- Stock Rewards will catch fire with brands, turning shoppers into shareholders
- Globally based investors will invest around 3x more in U.S. markets
Lucille Mayer, Chief Solutions Officer at Apex
John Stuart, VP, Head of Global Business Development at Apex
Dante Scornaienchi, Director of Fintech Product & Sales Engineering at Apex
Ian McNabb, Sales Engineer at Apex
With a 2026 product roadmap chock full of new products, features, and services, Summit attendees took an investor’s journey featuring live demos of many of the real-time tools Apex has recently built. From using Accelerated IDV (Identity Verification) to open an account, performance reporting visualizations, and integrated alts accreditation flows, the Apex team wowed the crowd with a slew of real-time tools — and Dante’s hat tricks!
Alex Gyr, COO at Daffy
Bill Harris, Founder & CEO of Evergreen
Anders Jones, CEO & Co-Founder of Facet
Brendan King, CEO of Wavvest
Moderator William Trout, Director, Securities & Investments at Datos Insights
“You all take a contrarian approach to the wealth industry, which is probably why you’re with Apex,” Trout started, eliciting a knowing chuckle from the audience. He then asked each panelist to describe how they’re bringing the future of our industry to life today.
- Gyr, who offers donor-advised funds through Daffy, focuses on making giving — not just buying or selling securities — a fun and joyful experience
- Harris, founding CEO of Evergreen, is leaning into AI and technology to provide personalized investing strategies that include tax loss harvesting at scale
- Jones, from Facet, challenges sacred cows and continues to implement tech-forward tools to carve out more time for human advice
- King, at the helm of Wavvest, emphasized the need to focus on attracting not-yet-profitable next gen clients now using AI-powered tools
Alexandre Artmann, COO at Avenue
Ryan Burke, GM, Invest at SoFi
Lule Demmissie, Fintech CEO
Stephen Sikes, COO at Public.com
Moderator Jason Wallach, CEO of Bruce Markets LLC
It only took one minute for this panel to come to a consensus: 24-hour trading is the hottest topic in market structure today. Given the panelists’ different perspectives, Wallach asked each how expanding market hours are trending in their companies.
- Burke from Sofi Invest pointed out that there’s no better time to be a retail investor
- Demmissie agreed, saying that some institutional asset managers are jealous of the nimble tools available to today’s retail investors
- Artmann, from Avenue, said that his clients are just delighted to have access to a wide array of U.S. securities — they’re only two hours ahead of New York
- Sikes, whose customers are all domestic at Public.com, notes that Sunday nights are long-only markets, an interesting nuance for his retail investors
Tom Simpson, CEO of PEAK6 Capital Management
Simpson opened his presentation by focusing on the $3 billion in options revenue generated by public retail brokers, with volume doubling in the past six years. Significant activity has been driven by single stocks like Nvidia and Tesla, as well as ETFs like SPY and QQQ. He emphasized that the increasing accessibility of options presents new opportunities for retail investors to tailor strategies for income, leverage, or portfolio protection.
Session attendees were also reminded of the unique advantages options can provide, including capital efficiency, risk management, and the ability to match investments to specific market views or time horizons. Simpson tied these insights back to broader market trends, including innovations like zero-day options.
The session drove home an important theme: Now is the time to expand into this growing marketplace. If you’re considering offering options, let Apex and PEAK6 help you overcome the educational and operational challenges in this fast-evolving market.
Keynote: Global Perspectives
Rahm I. Emanuel, former U.S. Congressman, Mayor of Chicago, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, and White House Chief of Staff
The key to success according to Rahm? “Knowing why you’re doing what you’re doing — and then having the grit to get it done,” he said during an interview with PEAK6 partner, George Ruhana. While sharing stories and insights from his remarkable career, his dry wit and no-nonsense advice — such as “never let a good crisis go to waste” and “make sure you’re not doing something just for your own ego” — were a hit with our executive audience. His tips include:
- Know your true mission and priorities to determine what’s non-negotiable for you
- Approach negotiations with a clear understanding of where you’ll flex and where you won’t
- Don’t let the conversation stop, because then there’s no chance of forward movement
Anthony Bassili, President of CBAM
Jordan von Kluck, CTO at IG North America
Roberto Machado, Head of Growth & Strategy at Ilia Digital
Moderator Rajeev Khurana, Chief Legal Officer at Apex
Finance is about to get an upgrade, thanks to the introduction of tokenization to the TradFi ecosystem. After covering some basic definitions — FTs (Fungible Tokens, which can be split) and NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens, which represent specific things in the real world) — this panel discussed the importance of having a regulatory framework for digital assets, such as The CLARITY Act (officially the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025).
- Bassili, from Coinbase, pointed out that we’re exiting the era of tech risk, thanks to blockchain resiliency, but we’re moving into a period of higher risk for inexperienced investors
- von Kluck, CTO at IG North America, said today’s investors might surprise you — he introduced stablecoin and was surprised by how quickly it displaced ACH
- Machedo, with Ilia, cautioned attendees to be careful when choosing a blockchain provider because some have security issues
Guy Adami, Director of Advisor Advocacy at Private Advisor Group in Morristown
Dan Nathan, Co-founder of RiskReversal Media
Mike Treacy, VP of Risk at Apex
This lively panel, featuring Apex VP of Risk, Mike, and the long-time CNBC Fast Money contributors, Guy and Dan, covered a wide array of market trends, including these key takeaways:
- The AI boom, which is driving a significant amount of U.S. real GDP growth, drove 2025 and will drive 2026
- Many corporations are maintaining margins by cutting jobs, but eventually they’ll trim spending and capex
- More persistent volatility shocks are probably coming
Guy Adami, Director of Advisor Advocacy at Private Advisor Group in Morristown
Dan Nathan, Co-founder of RiskReversal Media
Bill Capuzzi, CEO of Apex
Jenny Just, Co-founder and Managing Partner of PEAK6 Investments
Matt Hulsizer, Co-founder and Managing Partner of PEAK6 Investments
During our Summit, Guy and Dan recorded an episode of their RiskReversal Pod, What Modern Traders Don’t Know (But Should), featuring an interview with Jenny Just and Matt Hulsizer, co-founders and owners of Apex Fintech Solutions, and Bill Capuzzi, CEO of Apex. Watch the full episode here.
Guy Adami, Director of Advisor Advocacy at Private Advisor Group in Morristown
Dan Nathan, Co-founder of RiskReversal Media
Jenny Just, Co-founder and Managing Partner of PEAK6 Investments
Matt Hulsizer, Co-founder and Managing Partner of PEAK6 Investments
Summit attendees enjoyed a sneak peek of a new Apex-sponsored podcast hosted by Guy and Dan. This episode featured an interview with Jenny Just and Matt Hulsizer, co-founders of PEAK6 Investments and owners of Apex Fintech Solutions. From where it all started on the O’Connor trading floor to how technology has democratized finance and what they’re building with Apex and beyond, it was a great conversation.
We’ll be announcing the new podcast series — hosted by Guy and Dan and sponsored by Apex — in early 2026, so keep an eye on your inbox to catch this episode and the rest of the series!
Day 3 • Friday
Keynote: Leadership Under Pressure
William H. McRaven, Retired Four-Star Admiral, Special Operations Leader, and Bestselling Author
- Admiral William McRaven took the stage for an interview with Apex VP of Tech Operations, Josh Pittman. McRaven shared sage advice about reducing risk to a manageable level by staying grounded in your values and following a framework that applies moral, legal, and ethical tests to all actions. “You can always choose the safe route,” he said, “but that won’t make you great.” He also offered these tips for leading under pressure: Always know your values, and the decisions that follow will fall into place
- Factual information is critical, and first reports are often wrong — so don’t react until you know what you’re reacting to
- Every leader needs a “Council of Colonels,” a group of senior staff who are not afraid to speak truth to power, to help leaders make better decisions and avoid mistakes
André Hübner, COO at Nomad Investment Services
Ammer Soliman, COO & Co-Founder of Moment
Guy Gregoire, Consultant at Apex
Moderator John Stuart, VP, Global Head of Business Development at Apex
Fixed income assets, traditionally used by institutional investors, are getting a glow-up, thanks to a surge interest from retail investors. No longer as opaque as in the past, the bond market is still fragmented, with additional companies issuing bonds. However, great progress has been made — here are just a few of the makeovers our panelists are seeing:
- Self-directed retail fixed income investing products now include “bond funds” that feel more like ETFs
- Non-U.S.-based retail investors are clamoring for more access to U.S. fixed income asset classes, including U.S. Treasuries and CDs
- Best Ex hasn’t been a high priority, but retail investors in these securities ae catching on fast
Mo Al Adham, Founder and CEO of Frec
David Mike, CEO of Savvy Labs
Elias Rothblatt, Co-Founder & CEO at Treasury
Moderator Jennifer Stokes, Head of Wealth Custody & Clearing at State Street
Ambitious firms are reimagining how they make a wider array of investment products available to their self-directed clients because these investors aren’t just youthful memestock traders — they include many HNW individuals who are looking for more sophisticated strategies. This panel discussed the emerging trends, including:
- Developing more personalized, relevant, and timely ways of introducing products to individual investors
- Using tech-forward platforms and digital tools to streamline the process from product discovery to trade settlement
- Unlocking more robust data analytics tools and fintech infrastructure for end-investor use
Kyle Al-Rawi, Co-Founder and CEO of Hedge
Daniel Gicklhorn, VP, Infrastructure & Platform
Joe Nestlerode, Partner at Alpha FMC
Moderator Doug Fritz, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of F2 Strategy
AI-powered financial advice is on the bleeding edge: End investors are anxiously awaiting it, but no firm wants to be the first to offer it. That said, there’s been a sharp uptick in AI tools launching in our industry this year, but it’s not yet clear where AI adoption will be a year from now. That’s why we asked our panelists for their predictions.
- Al-Rawi notes that a good user experience for AI-powered advice still needs to be designed, and he’s not convinced a traditional chatbot will be right
- Gicklhorn predicts that we’ll see the first edges of “no human in the loop” AI applications
- Nestlerode thinks we’ll realize that AI is more of a differentiator than a cost-saver
Danny Alonso, Head of U.S. and Mexico at AllFunds
Ben Haber, CEO of Monark
Eric Satz, Co-Founder & CEO of Alto IRA
Lance Schafer, Director, Product Management at Apex
Moderator Allison Norman, Director, Product Marketing
Private markets have been in the headlines, and more firms and brokerages are looking to add alternatives. In this session, the panelists discussed the tech-forward solutions Apex and Monark have been building to help make these asset classes more accessible to accredited retail investors, including:
- Integrating alts into a unified brokerage account alongside traditional asset classes
- Digitizing the previously manual attestation process to eliminate wet signatures
- Providing easier fund discovery tools within an Alts Marketplace
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