EFPA Italia Meeting 2026: longevity is changing the adviser’s job

Living longer changes the adviser’s role: wealth must support a longer life span, accompany changing needs and retain its usefulness even when earned income comes to an end. That is the theme of the 17th edition of EFPA Italia Meeting, taking place on Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 October 2026 at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, under the official title “Planning better, living longer. Tutto ha inizio da un punto”. The event will bring together professionals, institutional representatives, economists and asset management operators to discuss how to turn the longevity challenge into skills and planning decisions.

For advisors, the appeal of the event goes beyond a market update: a longer life requires thinking about the relationship between capital and income, care needs, autonomy in decision-making and the transfer of resources between generations. The same family may have to support elderly parents, children who are still financially dependent and the life projects of the wealth holder at the same time, with needs that do not always coincide. Planning must therefore connect goals, time horizons and risks, without reducing everything to the search for returns or assuming that a long horizon allows the most important choices to be postponed indefinitely.

The FINER research opens the debate between generations

The institutional debate will begin with the research carried out for EFPA Italia by FINER Finance Explorer, which will be presented by Nicola Ronchetti and will examine how citizens and professionals, including advisers and private bankers, approach planning for the future. This will be followed by a round table with Luigi Conte, president of ANASF, Mauro Maria Marino, president of OCF, Marco Tofanelli, general secretary of Assoreti, and Fabrizio Quaglio, president of EFPA Italia, moderated by Chiara Samorì. The results of the survey will be presented during the Meeting: the event may offer insights into where client expectations, wealth availability and advisory services meet, or remain apart, without anticipating conclusions that have not yet been presented.

On the afternoon of 21 October, Luigi Buttiglione, founder and chief executive of LB MACRO, will offer his analysis of macroeconomics, geopolitics and financial markets, linking the longevity debate to the backdrop against which investment decisions are made. The day will conclude with Francesco Zaccariello, managing director of eFarma Group, interviewed by Leopoldo Gasbarro in the session “Innamorati dell’idea e non del problema”. The business testimony adds to the programme the theme of building a project over time, a highly relevant area also for those who advise families in which personal wealth and business activity are closely intertwined.

From Europe to the new needs of Italian families

The morning of Thursday 22 October will open with Emanuele Maria Carluccio, president of EFPA Europe, and an overview of developments in advisory services in the European context. The seminar “Leggiamo l’Italia” will then bring together Giorgio De Rita, general secretary of Censis, Nicola Ardente, board member of EFPA Italia, and Giuseppe Milanese, president of Cooperativa Operatori Sanitari Associati and deputy vice president of Confcooperative Sanità. The combination of social analysis, the profession and health and social care makes a central issue explicit: the client’s needs do not end with portfolio management, but also include health, care and the sustainability of spending across the different stages of life.

The discussion “L’energia che cambia la vita” will involve Marika Lion, editor and creator of the RE-Umanesimo Manifesto, Massimiliano Marzo, professor on the Scientific Committee of EFPA Italia, and Massimiliano Tacconelli, VP Nuclear & Big Science Director at Walter Tosto. Culture, economics and industry will thus enter the debate on the transformations of living and working, while the closing testimony of Dan Peterson will bring the theme of experience and the ability to keep getting involved. For those working in advisory services, the value of these perspectives lies in a better understanding of people and change: familiarity with financial tools alone is not enough to cover the skills required by a lasting professional relationship.

Training on portfolios and planning

The programme includes Active Learning by Mpower by Morningstar, Tuttocertificati and CNP Assicura, together with workshops by BlackRock, BNP Paribas, Capital Group, Flossbach von Storch, Goldman Sachs Asset Management and J.P. Morgan Asset Management. Diversification, investment strategies and long-term planning will be addressed alongside market developments and innovation. The sessions led by the operators are opportunities for in-depth learning, but the professional is still expected to assess the proposed tools and frameworks critically, distinguishing the educational contribution from the commercial aims of those presenting them.

The practical aspect is moving from scenarios to decisions that the client can understand and verify: which part of the wealth must remain liquid, which can be invested for distant goals and which risks could jeopardise the journey. When it comes to using capital, moreover, the problem is not only achieving an average return, but also sustaining withdrawals and spending even when markets go through difficult periods. In this perspective, longevity calls for a review of accumulation, decumulation and protection, keeping choices aligned with income, family circumstances and the actual capacity to bear losses.

Participation and certification maintenance hours

Participation is free upon registration on the EFPA Italia website and is open to sector professionals, both certified and non-certified, subject to available seats. On-site registration is not предусмотрена, so the online procedure must be completed before heading to Florence. The official programme also specifies how attendance will be recorded through the badge: for those wishing to obtain recognition of the training hours, participation must be registered according to the organisers’ instructions. Practical information and any changes should be checked on the Meeting’s official page, rather than treating as final a programme that EFPA states may be subject to change.

Accreditation does not automatically correspond to 15 hours for every participant: 12 hours for maintaining EFPA certifications are предусмотрены for certified professionals who follow all sessions from the official opening at 2 p.m. on 21 October to the closing on 22 October. One additional hour is added for each of the three Active Learning sessions on the morning of 21 October actually attended, up to a maximum of 15 hours in total, in compliance with the registration and attendance-recording rules. The Meeting thus offers an opportunity for professional development, but the most important result remains the ability to bring a more understandable, coherent and time-aware plan into the client relationship.