Carson Wealth Management is poised to switch broker-dealers, according to a source familiar with the firm. Led by Ron Carson, the group has been affiliated with LPL Financial since 1989 but is likely set to join a broker-dealer within the Cetera Financial Group over the next few weeks or months.
Carson Wealth's website states that the group still trades securities through LPL and that Robert Moore – the current CEO of Cetera and former-president of LPL Financial – is a board member. (Both LPL and Cetera declined to comment on the matter.)
As of Oct. 31, Carson Wealth had $2.6 billion of assets with LPL, $1 billion on its advisory platform and $1.6 billion on its brokerage platform.
In March 2015, Moore joined the executive board of Carson Institutional Alliance, a support platform for RIAs, after leaving LPL.
"We value our longstanding relationships with both Ron and Robert," said LPL Chairman & CEO Mark Casady, in a statement at the time. "The advice and counsel Robert will bring to Alliance Partners and Carson Wealth Management as part of the board will add to their continued success. We are pleased that Robert will remain connected to LPL in this manner."
Carson Wealth has offices in Omaha, Nebraska; Vincennes, Indiana; and San Rafael, California. In addition to Ron Carson, it has 12 wealth advisors.
Carson's Growth Spurt
In May, Carson Group Holdings – the parent company of Carson Wealth, Carson Institutional Alliance and the advisor-coaching group Peak Advisor Alliance – received a $35 million infusion from Long Ridge Equity Partners for investments in "advisor solutions, technology, and resources, as well as additional strategic support," the two entities said in a press release.
Founded in 1983, Carson Wealth had $6.5 billion in assets under advisement at the time of this announcement. Its institutional operations, launched in 2012, included 37 partner firms; Carson Wealth says this business has grown assets 100% in each of the past few years.