Before You Arrive at CTAExpo: Preparing for Twenty-Four Hours That Could Change Your Business

 Every year, emerging managers travel to conferences hoping to meet investors, introduce their firms, and make connections that will help grow their businesses.

Some return energized, with new relationships, ideas, and opportunities. Others return with little more than frustration and a stack of business cards and conference brochures.

What's the difference?

Recently, I interviewed Frank Pusateri, co-founder of CTAExpo, one of the alternative investment industry's premier conferences. This year's conference will be held October 5-6, 2026, at the Raddison Blu Aqua Hotel in Chicago. What struck me most wasn't simply what happens during the conference. It was how much of a participant's success depends on what happens before they ever arrive. His advice applies to readers who attend other industry events, as well.

For readers unfamiliar with CTAExpo, it brings together emerging and established managers, allocators, investors, intermediaries, service providers, and other professionals involved in alternative investments. While the conference began with a strong focus on managed futures, today's attendees represent managers trading a broad range of liquid strategies, creating an environment designed to foster education, networking, and business development. Last year, approximately 40% of attendees were allocators, investors, or intermediaries - the very people many managers hope to meet.

That realization changed how I think about conference preparation.

Think about the last important presentation you gave.

How many hours did you spend preparing for one hour in front of an audience? Five? Ten? Twenty?

Now consider CTAExpo.

Between the opening reception, the conference itself, and the closing reception, you'll have nearly twenty-four hours of opportunities to meet people who could influence your firm's future. Every conversation is an opportunity to learn something, begin a relationship, or open a door.

Why would you spend less time preparing for that than you would for a one-hour presentation?

Preparation Begins Long Before You Pack

Many first-time attendees focus on travel arrangements, hotel reservations, and deciding which sessions to attend.

Those things matter.

But Frank repeatedly emphasized something more important: People attend CTAExpo to meet people.

Investors can read your website before the conference. They can review your materials afterward. What they can’t do remotely is determine whether they trust you, understand your thinking, or believe you would be someone with whom they'd like to build a relationship.

That happens through face-to-face conversations.

Which means your preparation should focus just as much on those conversations as on your presentation materials.

Know Your Story

One of the most common networking mistakes is trying to tell someone everything.

Instead, be prepared to explain clearly:

• What your strategy is.

• What makes your approach different.

• Who your strategy is designed for.

• Why someone should want to continue the conversation.

Frank offered one piece of advice that applies well beyond CTAExpo:

"If you've covered your pitch... stop talking."

He laughed as he added that he's seen people "make a sale and then lose it because they kept talking."

That's a lesson many of us can benefit from.

Think Relationships, Not Transactions

Another theme throughout our conversation was that CTAExpo is about relationships.

Of course, everyone hopes to generate business. But business rarely begins with a sales pitch.

It begins with curiosity.

Ask thoughtful questions.

Listen more than you speak.

Learn about the other person's business before trying to explain your own.

Be sure both parties are interacting.

Those conversations often become the foundation for relationships that continue long after the conference ends.

Stand Out - for the Right Reasons

Frank also shared practical advice that made me smile.

He suggested that attendees avoid blending into a sea of identical dark suits. Whether it's a distinctive pocket square, an interesting tie, or another professional touch that reflects your personality, being memorable can make it easier for people to remember you later.

The goal isn't to attract attention.

The goal is to become professionally memorable.

Start Preparing Now

If you're planning to attend CTAExpo this October, don't wait until the week before the conference to think about your goals.

Start now.

·       Identify the types of people you hope to meet.

·       Clarify how you'll describe your firm.

·       Review your marketing materials.

·       Practice introducing yourself.

·       Research the attendees you'd most like to meet.

·       Most importantly, remember that every conversation is an opportunity to learn—not simply to sell.

After interviewing Frank, I'm convinced that the managers who gain the greatest value from CTAExpo don't necessarily have the largest firms or the longest track records.

They're the ones who arrive prepared. Preparation isn't just about being ready for the conference. It's about being ready for the opportunities the conference may create.

Sidebar: Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake #1: Showing Up Before Introducing Yourself

One of Frank's biggest frustrations is that 20% of the traders don't submit a “Trader Spotlight.”

Think about that.

Before the conference even begins, CTAExpo gives every participating manager an opportunity to introduce themselves in a brief, three-to-five sentence profile describing who they are and what they do.

Yet one out of every five doesn't bother to submit their Trader’s Spotlight piece.

As Frank put it, that's simply throwing away an opportunity.  He can't understand why anyone would pass up a free opportunity to introduce themselves to the very people they hope to meet. He's right.

In business, we're constantly looking for ways to differentiate ourselves. And here’s a free opportunity to let allocators, investors, intermediaries, and other attendees know who you are before they ever meet you.

Why wouldn't you take advantage of it?

Mistake #2: Walking In Without Knowing the Competition

Before you ever arrive in Chicago, Frank recommends spending time studying the other managers who will be attending the event.

He encouraged traders to visit CTAExpo's group on LinkedIn called Managed Futures https://www.linkedin.com/groups/99990/ before the conference, see who will be attending, and study them. Look at competitors' websites. Review their fact sheets. See how they describe their strategies. Notice what works - and what doesn't.

Then create your own fact sheet. Not one that's copied from everyone else.

One that's memorable.

Frank even talked about fact sheet details many people overlook: paper quality, thoughtful use of color, highlighting key information, and creating something people will actually remember after the conference.

That isn't about flashy marketing.

It's about making it easy for someone to remember you after meeting dozens of managers in two days.

Mistake #3: Treating Every Conversation Like a Sales Opportunity

The advice that surprised me most during our conversation was Frank's guidance about the opening cocktail reception.

Don't conduct business at the opening cocktail reception.

And don't spend lunch trying to close deals. At first, that sounds counterintuitive.

Isn’t networking the point? Yes.

But networking and selling aren't the same thing.

Frank's philosophy is that the opening reception is about meeting people as people.

·       Introduce yourself.

·       Learn about them.

·       Ask questions.

·       Relax.

·       Build rapport.

·       Business discussions can come later.

·       The same goes for lunch.

·       People need a break.

·       They don't want every meal to become another pitch meeting. 

I think that's terrific advice.

Too often, we become so focused on what we want from someone that we forget to get to know them first.

Relationships come before business.

Business follows relationships.

Meet the participants. Learn about them.

Build the relationships.

The business conversations will come later.

The link to register for CTAExpo is  https://www.cta-expo.com/. The conference fee is $600 for traders. Investors attend for free.

Next month we'll move from preparation to execution. We'll discuss how to make the most of the opening reception, conference sessions, lunches, and networking opportunities, along with additional insights Frank shared from his decades of building CTAExpo. Frank is happy to answer any questions and can be reached at 518-369-3834 or apmifsp@aol.com.

See you next month!

Carol R. Kaufman, Founder/CEO of Alternatives TLC, LLC has been consulting to emerging and seasoned alternatives managers and various types of industry businesses since 2005. She performs operational due diligence, using her Small Business Roadmap, helping firms find the resources they need to successfully scale. Most recently, she performs Form I-9 training and internal audits. Her first product, InvesTier^®, was acquired by SunGard in 2002. An entrepreneur for over 40 years, Ms. Kaufman’s specialties include public speaking, training, and software/ service-based solutions to organizational problems. She resides in Hawthorne, NJ.