How can you help clients avoid “planning paralysis” amid tax uncertainty? What steps can you take to protect your practice amid surging, AI-fueled cyber fraud? And how does the trend of businesses staying private longer impact estate and wealth planning?
Join Northern Trust and industry experts at our virtual Wealth Planning Symposium, where we will discuss our outlooks, insights and action items on the most vital planning issues of 2025 and beyond.
Sessions qualify for continuing education credits. Available credits include CLE, CFP, CIMA, CPWA, CTFA and CPE for CPA (Ethics included for most statues).
The Northern Trust Institute 2025 Wealth Planning Symposium is approved to offer six hours of continuing education credit for CLE, CFP, CIMA, CPWA and CPE for CPAs. CTFA is offering up to 7.5 continuing education credits. Please check out the Continuing Education Credit Guide for details on each accreditation and how you can receive credits.
All attendees must attend each session for a minimum of 60 minutes and will need to scan the QR code on the console for each session to access the ConferenceAdit platform.
If seeking CE credit, you must check in and out with the provided four-digit PIN for all CE credit designations during each session. For CPE only, you must submit the one keyword provided by the presenter in the survey at the conclusion of each session.
Continuing education credit is not available from the replays.
Shundrawn A. Thomas serves as the President of Asset Management. In his previous role as Executive Vice President, Head of Funds and Managed Accounts Group he was responsible for the development, management and distribution of the firm's mutual funds, institutional mutual funds and exchange-traded funds as well as related business activities. He also oversaw the Managed Accounts practice which provides investment advisory solutions to existing clients and financial intermediaries. His broad executive responsibilities involved developing long-term strategy, executing operating plans, managing client and vendor relationships and developing and retaining talented professionals.
Previously, Shundrawn served as President and Chief Executive of Northern Trust Securities, Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of Northern Trust Corporation. In addition to his general management responsibilities, he was responsible for overseeing financial management and working with regulators including FINRA and the Securities and Exchange Commission. He also served as Head of Corporate Strategy for Northern Trust Corporation. As a direct report to the Chief Executive Officer, he supported executive management with key strategic planning initiatives. Prior to joining Northern Trust, Shundrawn served as a vice president for Goldman Sachs and held positions in sales, trading and research with Morgan Stanley.
Shundrawn received a B.S. degree in Accounting from Florida A&M University and an M.B.A. degree from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He has also completed executive education programs in corporate strategy at Chicago Booth School of Business and corporate governance at University of Notre Dame Mendoza School of Business. Shundrawn currently holds the FINRA series 7, 63 and 24 securities licenses.
It is unclear whether, or when, Congress will pass tax legislation. Yet taxpayers must still complete transactions and plan — potentially with multiple contingent plans.
In this two-part discussion, our panel of experts discusses tax legislation developments as well as planning opportunities and drafting amid a landscape of shifting tax law. Don’t let the possibility of changing rules cause “planning paralysis” — join us to discuss how to advise clients now, with lessons learned from previous eras of uncertainty.
It is unclear whether, or when, Congress will pass tax legislation. Yet taxpayers must still complete transactions and plan — potentially with multiple contingent plans.
In this two-part discussion, our panel of experts discusses tax legislation developments as well as planning opportunities and drafting amid a landscape of shifting tax law. Don’t let the possibility of changing rules cause “planning paralysis” — join us to discuss how to advise clients now, with lessons learned from previous eras of uncertainty.
More than 50 years of escalating reporting requirements have woven a complex, even daunting, compliance web for individuals and businesses alike. This is increasingly necessitating a sophisticated understanding of the regulatory environment as well as enhanced strategies for protecting privacy and data.
In this session, our panel of experts discusses today’s landscape and provides actionable advice on compliant, optimized structures for a complex client base.
Unprecedented deepfakes. “Rogue” large language models. Exponentially increasing cyberattacks. While recent leaps in AI are positioned to bring epochal change to society, bad actors are, simultaneously, using the technology to commit cyber fraud at an alarming level. The scale and sophistication of these attacks has serious consequences for the protection of your personal and client information as well as liability.
In this keynote session, our panel discusses the current and near-future state of AI — including as a deep-research tool and “agent” — new threats, and steps you can take to protect your practice and clients.
Now more than ever, private business owners are finding new ways to grow and monetize their business. This session will tackle several important trends impacting owners of private businesses, including how competitive pressure among private equity firms is driving more creative deal structures, how family offices are becoming more active investors in private businesses, and the increasing popularity of private credit as an alternative source of capital.
Our experts will discuss the estate and wealth planning implications of these trends for business owners and their advisors.
As life expectancy continues to rise and the aging population expands, family dynamics are changing, placing increasing pressure on traditional wealth planning strategies.
This session will explore the critical challenges of planning for an aging population, with a particular focus on issues surrounding retirement, incapacitation, and long-term care management. Experts will discuss how advisors can help clients prepare for the evolving needs of aging family members, including when and how to plan for potential incapacity, the role of guardianship in protecting vulnerable individuals, and strategies for structuring legal and financial safeguards as clients and their families navigate the complexities of extended lifespans.
Heather is the North America Head of Privacy. Her primary responsibilities include change management initiatives surrounding privacy laws in North America, being a trusted risk advisor to partners in the business, including raising awareness of Risk and the overlapping programs at Northern Trust.
Prior to her current role, Heather was the Program Manager for the Global Records Information Management Compliance Program. In that role she was responsible for offering consultation to the various business units within Northern Trust on the practical application of retention to both paper and electronic records. Prior to joining Global Compliance, Heather was the Team Leader of the Fiduciary Compliance Team in Asset Management. Her team was responsible for reviewing all Marketing Materials for both internal/external use and Client presentations that reference NTI products to ensure that they met the requirements set forth in the Investment Advisors Act of 1940. Heather’s team was also responsible for managing the Code of Ethics process, including personal account dealing, gifts & entertainment and conflicts of interest. Heather was involved in reviewing proposed and final legislation to assess the potential impact to the Asset Management business. Heather worked in the Global Sourcing Team. She was responsible for helping the Asset Management business units in the North American, Asia Pacific (APAC) and Europe Middle East Africa (EMEA) regions to assess current roles and responsibilities, and identify potential offshore, outsource and consolidation opportunities as part of an overall strategy to build the most efficient cost effective global operating model. Heather was also the Chicago based manager for Performance Measurement support resources based in Bangalore. Prior to becoming a member of the Global Sourcing Team, Heather worked as a Senior Investment Reporting Consultant in Asset Management Performance Measurement. Heather was responsible for setting up the Asset Management Performance Measurement team in Bangalore and managing the successful transition of processes including performance account setup and consolidation setups for client performance reporting. During Heather’s tenure in Performance Measurement she was also responsible for providing performance analysis for Wealth Management portfolios. In addition, she trained Portfolio Managers and Investment Associates on the Performance Measurement and Client Reporting systems. Heather has performed key roles in platform conversions for Wealth Management resulting in centralized performance measurement. Heather joined Northern Trust February of 1996 in the Public Relations department. In October 1996, she joined the Performance Measurement team. Heather was the Co-Chairperson of the Corporate Groups Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Council Heather was a Co-Chairperson of the Asset Management Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Council Heather was a Co-Ambassador for the 2009 United Way Campaign.
Heather earned a B.A degree from Governors State University. Heather earned a MBA from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management.
Heather earned the Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP-US) designation and the Certified Information Privacy Manager designation (CIPM) from the International Association of Privacy Professionals.
Heather is a member of IAPP.
Tom Kelleher joined Northern Trust in 2023, as the Head of Global Fraud Risk. Tom has over 17 years of experience in financial crimes at several financial institutions. He started his career as a fraud investigator and has held leadership roles in fraud prevention, investigations, physical security and privacy. He obtained a bachelor's degree from Saint Anslem College and a master's degree from Salem University. He has been a Certified Fraud Examiner, with the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), since 2008 and has served as the Chairman of the Boston Check Fraud-Subcommittee.
Former United States Most Wanted, Brett Johnson, referred to by the United States Secret Service as “The Original Internet Godfather” has been a central figure in the cybercrime world for over 20 years. Mr. Johnson built and was the leader of ShadowCrew, the precursor to today’s darknet markets. He was instrumental in developing many areas of online fraud while helping design, implement, and refine modern Identity Theft, Account Take Over Fraud, Card Not Present Fraud, IRS Tax Fraud, and countless other social engineering attacks, breaches, and hacking operations.
Upon his capture, the United States Secret Service hired Mr. Johnson to work as a consultant and informant. Johnson worked with the Secret Service for several months before going on a cross-country crime spree, being placed on the US Most Wanted List, being captured again, sent to prison, escaping prison, being captured yet again, and finally accepting responsibility for his actions.
Today, Brett works as a security consultant and public speaker. He is one of the world's foremost authorities on cybercrime and identity theft. During 2017, Mr. Johnson was Keynote Speaker at over 30 conferences worldwide. Brett has been featured in the book, "Kingpin" by Kevin Poulsen and on numerous media outlets, including the New York Times, NBC, CNN Money, Wired Magazine, Vice, RT TV, ArsTechnica, The Independent, and more.
Paul Scharre is the executive vice president and director of studies at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). He is the award-winning author of Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. His first book, Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War, won the 2019 Colby Award, was named one of Bill Gates’s top five books of 2018, and was named by The Economist as one of the top five books to understand modern warfare. TIME magazine named him in 2023 as one of the “100 most influential people in AI.”
Scharre previously worked in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) where he played a leading role in establishing policies on unmanned and autonomous systems and emerging weapons technologies. He led the Department of Defense (DoD) working group that drafted DoD Directive 3000.09, establishing the department’s policies on autonomy in weapon systems. He also led DoD efforts to establish policies on intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance programs and directed energy technologies. Scharre was involved in the drafting of policy guidance in the 2012 Defense Strategic Guidance, 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review, and secretary-level planning guidance.
Prior to joining the OSD, Scharre served as a special operations reconnaissance team leader in the U.S. Army’s 3rd Ranger Battalion and completed multiple tours to Iraq and Afghanistan. He is a graduate of the Army’s Airborne, Ranger, and Sniper schools and honor graduate of the 75th Ranger Regiment’s Ranger Indoctrination Program.
Scharre has published articles in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, TIME, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, Politico, and USA Today, and has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, NPR, and the BBC. He has testified before the House and Senate Armed Services Committees and has presented at the United Nations, NATO, the Pentagon, the Central Intelligence Agency, and other national security venues. He holds a PhD in war studies from King’s College London and an MA in political economy and public policy and a BS in physics from Washington University in St. Louis.
