There aren't many events in the world capable of bringing together, for three days, an Oscar-winning actor, a former US Treasury Secretary, a former US Secretary of State, an Olympic champion, one of the greatest historians of our time, CEOs of the largest Brazilian companies, and investors who influence the direction of the market.
This combination of such distinct voices has transformed Expert XP into a unique event on the global calendar. In its 16th edition, the festival reaffirms this vocation by bringing together some of the personalities who most influence the course of the economy, technology, business, and society itself.
Between July 23rd and 25th, São Paulo Expo will host a program that brings together names such as Janet Yellen, former US Secretary of the Treasury; American actor Will Smith; British historian Niall Ferguson; former tennis player Andre Agassi; former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; tennis phenomenon João Fonseca; as well as some of the country's leading businesspeople.
The 2026 edition marks a double celebration. While XP celebrates 25 years of history, Expert reaches its 16th edition, consolidated as the largest investment festival in the world, with the expectation of receiving 50,000 participants.
According to Renato Preter, Partner and Head of Live Marketing at XP, the evolution of the event reflects the company's own transformation, which broadened its reach by opening Expert to an audience far beyond financial market professionals.
Over time, the programming has come to incorporate discussions on innovation, geopolitics, artificial intelligence, sustainability, sports, behavior, and leadership, reflecting an increasingly broad view of the challenges faced by companies, governments, and investors.
“Nine years ago, we made the decision to open the event to the end customer, and that's when we truly gained the reputation of being the world's largest investment festival,” says Preter.
In 2026, the event will undergo a significant change. After visiting more than ten international trade shows and conferences over the past two years, Preter realized that the most successful in-person events were abandoning a model focused solely on lectures.
The global trend has shifted towards favoring environments that foster encounters and generate business opportunities throughout the visitor's entire journey.
“Content is no longer the end product; today it is the starting point for relationships, networking, and people's actual experiences,” says Preter.
This new logic translates into the festival's format. The main plenary session will be integrated into the pavilion, bringing speakers, the public, sponsors, and exhibitors closer together in an environment designed to extend conversations far beyond the stages.
This edition also debuts new spaces. One of them is the Connection Space, designed for training, networking, practical learning, and business generation, bringing together partners from the financial market, educational institutions, and companies.
Another new feature is the Experience Room, equipped with LED panels for immersive presentations and brand activations.
The changes stemmed from extensive research conducted with clients, advisors, sponsors, and attendees of previous editions. In addition to high-quality content, the audience increasingly values the opportunity to expand their network and build professional relationships.
At a time when information is available on any digital platform, the in-person experience needs to offer something that no screen can replicate.
“Today, nobody leaves home just to consume content. People want to exchange information, do business, and live experiences that they can’t have in front of a screen,” says Preter.
The new concept is also reflected in access to the festival. For the first time, all audiences will participate in all three days of programming. The previous model reserved one day primarily for investment advisors. Now, clients, businesspeople, investors, and market professionals will share the same environment from the start of the event.
This doesn't mean that the training of advisors has lost ground. On the contrary. One of the five stages at the plenary session was reserved for this audience, with a program focused on topics such as artificial intelligence, financial consulting, leadership, portfolio management, and client relations.
The diversity of topics is reflected in the program. Janet Yellen will discuss monetary policy, inflation, and the relationship between the United States and China, while Niall Ferguson will analyze geopolitical transformations from the perspective of economic history. In turn, Mike Pompeo will address the new world order and its impacts on businesses and investors.
In the sports section, eight-time Grand Slam winner Andre Agassi will share his experiences on leadership. João Fonseca, the rising Brazilian tennis star, and Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, Olympic champion in giant slalom at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, will participate in a panel discussion on brand building and high performance.
Will Smith, winner of the Best Actor Oscar for King Richard , will bring his artistic and entrepreneurial journey to the stage to discuss creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
The corporate world will also have prominent figures. One of the most anticipated debates will bring together Gilberto Tomazoni, global CEO of JBS; Paulo Moll, CEO of Rede D'Or; Ederson Muffato, director of Grupo Muffato; and André Bier Gerdau Johannpeter, chairman of the board of directors of Gerdau.
“Expert is a trade fair designed to generate business, for people to connect, learn about the vastness of the financial market, and leave much stronger than when they arrived,” says Preter.
By bringing together some of the world's leading figures on the same stage, Expert reaffirms its commitment to interpreting the major transformations in the economy and shedding light on the trends that will shape the future of business.
