Carson Wealth is adding a new $575 million affiliate, Spectrum Management Group, to its roster through an equity swap deal. Spectrum Management Group, a boutique wealth management firm based in Indianapolis is an eight-person team led by managing principals Bob Phillips and Leslie Thompson. The firm will rebrand as Carson Wealth.
"As we have followed Carson's evolution and thought about our own future, aligning with Carson made sense," Thompson said. "The pace of change in our industry is accelerating, so having a partner that is on the leading edge of that change will provide us the tools necessary to continue providing the highest level of service to existing clients.”
Phillips and Thompson previously worked at Raymond James and McDonald Investments before forming Spectrum Management Group in late 2011. They will both receive a small equity stake in Carson as part of the deal.
“We are as proud of adding them to our team as they are of adding us, as we look forward to growing our presence in Indiana,” said Ron Carson, CEO and founder of Carson Group.
Carson Wealth began pursuing equity stakes a little over a year ago. As part of its growth strategy, the firm takes a 25% equity stake in its partners’ businesses and receives a percentage of profits while offering the option for advisors to buy back ownership of their businesses should the two firms choose to separate. Carson executive Aaron Schaben has called the deals "alignments" with partner firms, helping them with capital and services to expand their practices.
Carson Group brought on nine new firms in the first quarter of 2019, representing $607 million in new assets. Overall, Carson has 58 partner firms managing $8.7 billion in assets.