It’s not often that a fintech company upends the status quo for financial advisors, but Conquest Planning—led by Chief Product Officer and co-founder Ken Lotocki—is doing just that. At the 2025 Future Proof Festival, Lotocki shared his passion for democratizing financial advice while unveiling how Conquest’s AI-powered software delivers hyper-personalized planning at scale.
Inspired by Purpose: Ken Lotocki’s Journey
Lotocki’s 22-year journey in financial planning technology shaped Conquest’s ethos. His career includes building innovative, if sometimes unwieldy, legacy products—but his drive comes from lessons learned and a personal desire for better outcomes. “I am a financial planning nerd. My background is in taxation and finance from the University of Manitoba,” Lotocki explains. “When we had the opportunity as the founding group to do this again, two things inspired us. Firstly, we love it … the second was, we were part of the generation of tools that built something hard to use … and that led to another critical insight: most people in the world don’t have access to proper financial advice. ” These formative moments fuel Conquest’s roadmap and vision.
The Mission: Democratizing Quality Advice
Conquest was established with the radical belief that advice should be timely, relevant, and widely available—whether serving mass-market clients fresh out of university or those in the ultra-high-net-worth category. “Our entire ethos is about more people getting access to financial advice at the right time, whether they’re ultra-high-net-worth, mass market, or fresh out of college,” Lotocki emphasizes. “Advice should be contextual to you, to the household. ”
This philosophy drove the creation of Conquest’s Strategic Advice Manager (SAM), an expert AI engine that acts as a “caddy to the golfer or the answer key to the back of the math textbook. ” SAM analyzes every permutation of a client’s life: financial situation, preferences, goals, cash flow, taxes, and risk tolerance, dynamically generating uniquely tailored strategies for every household.
Advantage for Advisors: Efficiency, Engagement, and Scale
For financial advisors, time-efficient planning can mean the difference between transactional advice and transformative relationships. Conquest has changed the game with its open, collaborative platform. “Conquest Planning Inc. ’s financial planning software uses artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, and real-time collaboration,” recent industry reviews note. The AI-driven SAM model drastically reduces plan preparation time, with advisors reporting that what once took hours or days now happens in mere minutes—without sacrificing depth or accuracy.
Lotocki recounts advisor feedback: “In the mass market space, we’ve heard: ‘hours to minutes. ’ In the ultra-high-net-worth, advisors say SAM identified opportunities they’d missed—optimizing income and decumulation, saving taxes, and generating higher estates for their clients. ”
Conquest’s platform works seamlessly with existing tech stacks for fluid transitions—meaning advisors can onboard more clients and build four times as many plans as before. “In 2024, five of the top ten largest banks in North America are Conquest customers … Conquest seamlessly connects to your existing tech stack for a fluid transition to and from our platform. ”
Personalized Experiences: Humanizing Digital Advice
Unlike legacy solutions, Conquest empowers advisors to interact directly with families, updating and adjusting plans in real time. This level of agility supports both mass-market and high-net-worth clients through numerous life transitions—retirement, debt consolidation, home purchases, and more. “Every client can go through roughly 65 life transitions, all of which will inform the process of adding and removing goals in a financial plan,” Lotocki shares. “The process used to be heavy and burdensome. Now plans are dynamically adjusted, families revise goals together, and the technology bends around them. ”
A major differentiator is self-directed—and hybrid—planning modes. Advisors can leverage Conquest’s AI to support clients directly, or enable clients to explore scenarios themselves, fostering collaboration and engagement on an unprecedented scale.
Results: Transformational Outcomes for Advisors and Clients
The impact of Conquest Planning can be seen in statistics and stories from real advisors. Lotocki notes, “Scotiabank recently published unsolicited results that Conquest is directly attributed to a 30% increase in financial plans in just a short time period. Another retail bank saw plan counts double, and with AutoSAM, users generated more plans—building more advice for clients. ”
Self-directed engagement is rising, too. “A large retirement planner switched to Conquest: from a 4% engagement rate to 90% on day one. And a 40% conversion rate to digitally fulfilled plans or direct advisor relationships,” Lotocki says. These outcomes prove that accessible, contextual advice isn’t just a slogan—it’s a reality reshaping advisor businesses.
Technology That Elevates the Advisor
Advisors face growing complexities—intergenerational wealth, estate planning, and tax optimization. Conquest deepens its capabilities with estate and legacy planning modules, smarter onboarding tools, and AI-powered agents for both data entry and education. “Conquest has also deepened its capabilities for advisors serving generationally wealthy families by investing in its estate and legacy planning features. These modern solutions offer proactive recommendations aligned with each family’s legacy priorities. ”
As Lotocki reveals, “We just recently went over 1. 5 million households served in Conquest, in three countries. For us to have a plan is … emotional. Because we’re planning nerds. Our model means we succeed only if plans are being built—so our goal is: if you’re an advisor and your day is eight hours, you’re in the tool for fifteen minutes. In that time, you build three, four plans—and the rest of the day is spent working with your clients. ”
Future-Proofing Advice: Agents, Automation, and AI
The company’s vision for AI agents—engines that assist with onboarding, training, and real-time data entry—will streamline the advisor workflow and destroy the dreaded “shoebox of receipts. ” Eventually, advisors could simply talk to an agent, which will automatically pull and update relevant data, compare school choices, or integrate platforms like Netflix into financial plans—a glimpse of a future where expertise and automation work hand-in-hand.
As Lotocki sums up, “The era of inefficient and inaccurate trial-and-error-based financial planning is over. Investors are demanding greater personalization … Conquest makes it possible for investors at any stage of life to get the financial advice they deserve. ”
Conquest Planning: Empowering Advisors, Changing Lives
Ken Lotocki’s story is more than a professional chronicle—it’s an embodiment of change in the advice industry. By blending deep experience, technology innovation, and unwavering commitment to democratizing financial advice, Conquest empowers advisors to focus on what matters most: the lives and outcomes of their clients.
For financial advisors seeking the next leap forward, Conquest Planning isn’t just a software upgrade—it’s a strategic partner for future-proofing their business and delivering advice that adapts, personalizes, and truly makes a difference.
To learn more about Conquest Planning, visit their website here.