January 17-19, 2026 /
Prospera - Roatán

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The Global Financial Planning Event of The Year

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Formed in 2020, the Global Financial Planning Institute exists to provide education, community, tools and ongoing research for financial planners, wealth managers, private bankers, CPA/accountants, and other advanced financial professionals.

Thank you to our sponsors

The Connect conference is an opportunity to connect with and learn from leading international and cross-border practitioners that do financial, tax and estate planning.

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Meet the speakers behind the GFP’s most talented planners and advisors.

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Ashley Murphy
GFPI
Founder and President
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Yulissa Zulaica

Yulissa Zulaica is the Managing Partner at JKZ LLP. Her estate planning practice includes representing high net worth clients and cross-border issues in estate planning. She has also served as an expert witness in matters relating to international planning. In addition, Yulissa has extensive experience with probate and trust administration and litigation, and she represents clients in court on contested and uncontested matters. Yulissa is a frequent speaker on topics related to estate and probate matters, including wealth transfer strategies and tax planning.

Yulissa has contributed to various publications for Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB). She is a member of the State Bar of California and the Trusts and Estates Section of the Bar Association of San Francisco. She has been named a Northern California Super Lawyer since 2017. She earned two B.A.s from the University of California, Berkeley and her J.D. and L.L.M. in Tax from Golden Gate University.

Yulissa has been an advocate in the community for most of her life. Over the years she has dedicated her free time with many organizations, including but not limited to the Volunteer Legal Services program of the San Francisco Bar Association, the Latino Community Foundation, and the Women’s Cancer Resource Center and various political campaigns. She also served on the Boards of San Francisco La Raza Lawyers Association, Bay Area Latino Lawyers Fund and Thousand Currents.

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Anna Klevtsova
Klev&Vera International Law Firm
Founding Partner

Anna Klevtsova

Anna Klevtsova is the Founding Partner of Klev&Vera International Law Firm in Barcelona, Spain. A dual-qualified international lawyer, Anna specializes in international, immigration, and private-client law for high-net-worth individuals, entrepreneurs, and global families.

With over 20 years of experience advising clients from the U.S., the U.K., and across Europe, Anna has built a reputation for precision, discretion, and pragmatic cross-border solutions. Her firm, Klev&Vera, is recognized as one of Spain’s leading boutique law firms serving HNWI and investors.

Anna regularly collaborates with financial advisors, family offices, and relocation partners worldwide, ensuring her clients’ transitions to Spain are both legally secure and strategically optimized.

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Artur Saraiva
Global Citizen Solutions
Founder

Artur Saraiva

Artur Saraiva is a distinguished global business leader and entrepreneurial innovator with a global career spanning key markets, bringing a wealth of international expertise to the complex world of global mobility. Having lived in five countries and holding advanced degrees in Quantitative Finance and Investment Banking from the University of Reading in the UK, Saraiva has established himself as a prominent expert in global mobility, real estate investments and international residency strategies.

In 2017, Saraiva founded Global Citizen Solutions, channeling his extensive international experience into a venture that addresses the evolving needs of global professionals and investors. His career is characterized by a deep commitment to helping individuals and organizations navigate the intricate landscape of international opportunities, with a specialized focus on developing comprehensive Plan B solutions for high-net-worth individuals and global entrepreneurs.

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João Pacheco Goncalves
Global Citizen Solutions
Head of Institutional Client Relations

Joao Pacheco Gonçalves

With an academic background in International Relations and having lived in multiple countries across three different continents, Joao Pacheco Gonçalves has long been fascinated by how the world connects. His first step into global affairs came during his experience at the Portuguese Embassy in China, sparking a career dedicated to freedom of movement.

Today, he combines that early diplomatic exposure with his Swiss asset management experience in advising institutional clients. His focus is bridging global mobility with private wealth strategies, helping high-net-worth individuals pair assets with alternative residencies and passports.

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John McNertney, GFP Fellow CFP®

John brings over 16 years of financial planning experience from his tenure at Merrill Lynch, TD Ameritrade, and independent planning firms in the Bay Area. He holds both CFP and GFP designations, and earned his BS in Psychology from the University of Iowa, with minors in Philosophy and French.

John is an intensely creative professional who is energetic in the application of modern financial planning principles in the service of his clientele. Currently, John is co-located in Lisbon, Portugal, and San Francisco, California. His family lives in Lisbon, and they enjoy exploring continental Europe, meeting new friends, and learning new languages.

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Anja Luesink, MBA CFP® RLP® CeFT® GFP Fellow

Anja Luesink, MBA CFP® RLP® CeFT® GFP, is the co-owner of Luesink Stenstrom Financial a holistic financial planning firm based in New York City. She and her business partner know cross-border issues from their own experience. She works with clients cross-border in Europe (specifically Netherlands, UK and Spain) and in Australia.

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Miguel Sosa
Premia Global Advisors
Founding Partner

Miguel Sosa

Miguel Sosa is the founding partner of Premia Global Advisors, LLC, a private wealth management advisory firm based in South Florida, serving multi-jurisdictional and multi-generational clients.

Previously, Mr. Sosa worked at Merrill Lynch for more than 30 years, most recently in its Private Banking and Investment Group, where he obtained his Global Institutional Consulting (GIC) Designation and served as a qualified Portfolio Manager. He was a member of the firm’s Advisory Council to Management from 2002 to 2005. Recently, Mr. Sosa served as a panelist on the Managing Investments in a Volatile, Low-Yield Environment session at the Global Private Wealth Summit, New York, April 2017.

Prior to joining Merrill Lynch, Mr. Sosa was a member of the U.S. Air Force. During his time of service, he received two Air Force Commendation medals.

He earned his B.A. from the University of Maryland. He holds the Certified Investment Management Analyst® (CIMA®) designation.

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Tom Zachystal
International Asset Management
President

Tom Zachystal, CFA CFP®

Tom Zachystal is the founder of the firm and our President and Chief Investment Officer. Prior to starting IAM, he was Vice-President Europe based in Prague, Czech Republic for another US RIA firm and worked for a major Wall Street investment firm. Tom also spent five years as an international business consultant and seven years as an engineer for oil services firm Schlumberger. During this time he worked in a dozen countries on four continents and it is his combination of international experience and investment knowledge that allows IAM to offer tailored financial solutions to expatriates and non-US investors as well as to American residents and citizens.

Tom has an MBA in Global Management from Thunderbird University in Glendale, Arizona, a BSc in Civil Engineering from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) credential as well as the British Investment Management Certificate (IMC), and is a Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP™) practitioner. He is a past President of the San Francisco Financial Planning Association, has been managing investment portfolios on a discretionary basis since 2002, and oversees investment management and financial planning for all our expatriate clients.

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Zeev Fisher
Fresh Portugal
Founder

Zeev Fisher

Zeev Fisher is admitted as a lawyer in Portugal, the UK, Ireland and Israel and an IRS Enrolled Agent in the U.S. He is one of Europe's leading cross-border tax experts. He is the founder of Fresh Portugal, one of the largest expat legal advisories in Portugal focusing on expats. He is also an active member of CORE Angels Lisbon, a startup mentor in a number of incubators and one of the partners of LXL Ventures, a Golden Visa fund tailored for U.S. investors.

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Jack Buttjer
House of Work
Founder and CEO

Jack Buttjer

Jack Buttjer is an entrepreneur, marketing technologist, and the Founder and CEO of House of Work - an AI partner helping niche-focused RIAs and Independent Financial Advisors grow and scale.

Jack is helping advisory firms by deploying his proprietary Self Serving Funnel strategy powered by a suite of custom AI agents and automation. He has helped dozens of firms worldwide grow their AUM to upwards of 400%.

Jack has a background of knowledge such as AI automation, website development, CRM development, search engine optimization, conversion rate optimization, video and audio production, copywriting and digital advertising. He enjoy's the creative aspect of business the most but also values the relativity of data and analytics when making decisions.

Agenda (in progress)

5:00 PM TO 5:30 PM

Registration

5:30 PM TO 5:40 PM

Introductory Remarks

5:40 PM TO 5:50 pM

GFPI and the Investments & Wealth Institute
Presented by Sean Walters

5:50 PM TO 6:10 pM

History of Prospera
Presented by Prospera

6:10 PM TO 6:40 pM

Table Topics and Introductions

7:00 PM TO 10:00 pM

Cocktails, Networking and Dinner

8:00 AM TO 9:00 AM

Registration and Breakfast

9:00 AM TO 10:00 AM

Mind the Gap: Navigating Culture Shock in Financial Planning
Presented by Matt Goren

10:00 AM To 10:50 AM

Pension Plan Considerations for Americans Retiring Abroad
Panel: Sunil Harpalani, Miguel Sosa, Anja Luesink

10:50 AM TO 11:10 AM

Break

11:10 AM TO 12:00 PM

Unlocking Global Opportunities Through Residency & Citizenship Planning
Presented by Artur Saraiva & Joao Pacheco Goncalves

Global mobility planning has become an essential component of modern cross-border financial and wealth strategy. In this session, attendees will explore the rising demand for alternative residency and citizenship solutions and discover how they can deliver tangible benefits for clients, including enhanced global mobility, tax optimization, stronger asset protection, and strategic succession planning across jurisdictions.

12:00 PM TO 1:00 PM

Lunch

1:00 PM TO 1:50 PM

Alternative Tax Strategies for Expats in the UK, Portugal and Italy
Presented by Zeev Fisher

The session will cover how cross-border taxes work for expats and investors in general, concepts such as tax residency, double taxation treaties and the recent comments made by U.S. with regards to their interpretation.

Zeev will demystify how the special tax regimes in Portugal (IFICI), UK (FIG) and Italy (Flat rate, pensioner regime) work in practice, including eligibility, planning and sourcing rules.

The key aim of this session is to provide participants with a workable framework of how to approach a client who intends to move or invest overseas – how to help such a client plan and execute their move from a tax perspective.

1:50 PM tO 2:40 PM

Issues Americans Face Retiring to Spain
Presented by Anna Klevtsova


Americans are increasingly choosing Spain as their destination for retirement — drawn by its lifestyle, healthcare, and cultural richness.

Yet, behind the dream lies a complex intersection of immigration, taxation, and cross-border compliance that can create costly complications if not handled correctly.

In this session, Anna Klevtsova, Founding Partner of Klev&Vera International Law Firm, will walk financial planners and wealth managers through the key legal and regulatory issues Americans face when relocating or retiring to Spain.

Attendees will learn how to: evaluate Spain’s main visa and residency pathways (Non-Lucrative, Digital Nomad, Family Visa) for different client profiles, understand Spain’s tax residency rules and their interaction with U.S. tax obligations and FATCA, identify risks in structuring assets, pensions, and property for clients with U.S.Spain reporting duties and integrate legal strategy with financial planning for smoother cross-border retirement transitions.

The session will equip advisors to better protect and guide their clients — ensuring compliance, predictability, and peace of mind when planning a life in Spain.

Ideal for cross-border financial planners, private bankers, and family-office professionals working with HNWI clients navigating international moves and wealth mobility.

2:40 PM TO 3:00 PM

Break

3:00 PM TO 3:50 PM

Intro to US Tax Updates Under OBBBA and Cross-Border Estate Planning for Same-Sex and Non-Traditional Families: Navigating US Tax Complexities and International Asset Structures
Presented by Yulissa Zulaica

3:50 PM TO 5:00 PM

Running a US RIA and a European Financial Services License Firm - Challenges and Opportunities
Presented by Tom Zachystal

Join Tom Zachystal, CFA, CFP, President of International Asset Management, for a deep dive into the evolving landscape of international wealth management.

Drawing on his firm's unique experience in cross-border financial planning, Tom will explore the practical challenges, strategic benefits, and operational lessons learned from establishing a European Financial Services License (FSL) and from his 25 years experience dealing with US citizen clients living in the EU. This session will provide high-impact, actionable insights into how securing an FSL has fundamentally impacted the services his firm can offer to American clients living overseas. Attendees will gain a comprehensive understanding of the FSL's influence on business strategy and client service in a global market as well as financial planning and investment considerations for US citizen clients living or moving to the EU.

5:00 PM

Close and GFP CONNECT 27

5:00 PM

Cocktails, Networking and Dinner

8:00 AM TO 9:00 AM

Breakfast AI Session - AI-Powered Cross-Border Planning: Enhancing Efficiency and Accuracy in Global Wealth Management

9:00 AM TO 10:00 AM

GFP Advanced Curriculum
Come and make your voice heard as we finalize the topics to be included in the GFP Advanced Class. The Advanced class will be the new hallmark in international and cross-border financial planning education offering participants a deeper dive into investment, tax, retirement and estate planning topics.

9:00 AM TO 11:00 AM

Resort Excursion
West Bay, Boat trip, Snorkeling, Golf

Session Topics

Investment Management

Critique custodians handling global assets and other investments.

Tax Planning

Analyze your client's global financial situation to plan for that time of year.

Financial Planning

Learn how to help clients set goals and plan for transitions globally.

Income Planning

Learn about stable and dependable global sources of retirement income.

Estate Planning

Cover clients across borders to ensure generational wealth.

Retirement Planning

Know what holdings to maintain after your client leaves the workforce.

Immigration Planning

Navigate complex immigration issues for businesses and individuals.

Foreign Exchange

Optimize workflows dealing in the currency of other countries.

Insurance Planning

Evaluate risks and learn which global coverage mitigates those risks.

Check out the best moments from GFP CONNECT 25

GFP CONNECT 25 was held March 2025 in Austin, TX

Venue Details

Book your stay with Prospera

Click or scan the QR code below to reserve your room for the conference in January 17-19, 2026.
+1 (202) 991-0640

Ticket Pricing

Full and Associate members of the Global Financial Planning Institute receive a discount. Click here to login.

All GFP Sessions Included

Access to all GFP sessions.

Dinner and Cocktail Reception - cost not included in ticket price

Join us for dinner and a cocktail reception to network with fellow global financial planners.

8 GFPI Credit Hours

Earn GFP Fellow CE credit hours by attending the conference or purchasing the recordings.

Premium Member Ticket
Price includes tax
$1195
Was: $465
Members save: 15%
Includes:
8 GFPI Credit Hours
Access to all sessions
Networking lunch
Member discount
Purchase Ticket
General Admission Ticket
Price includes tax
$1295
Includes:
8 GFPI Credit Hours
Access to all sessions
Networking lunch
Member discount

Full and Associate members of the Global Financial Planning Institute receive a discount. Click here to login.

Purchase Ticket

Registeration ends January 1st

Pricing Window
Premium Member Pricing
Open & Non-member Pricing
Super Early Bird: July 1 - August 31
$895
$995
Early Bird: September 1 - November 27
$995
$1195
Regular: November 28 - January 1
$1195
$1295