Carolyn Armitage, who was laid off from her role as head of Thrivent Advisor Network in July, has launched her own consulting firm aimed at helping wealth management CEOs with strategic planning and executive leadership skills.
The state of Minnesota recently banned non-compete agreements, so Thrivent sent Armitage an email, saying the company would no longer enforce hers.
Armitage said she had interviewed at a variety of industry organizations, but none of them were a match for what she wanted to accomplish next. She announced the launch of Carolyn Armitage Consulting on LinkedIn. The new business will focus on helping executives at registered investment advisors and hybrid firms with succession planning, team management, and strategic decisions.
“I’ve spent most of my career—while I’ve done a lot of corporate development—it’s always been centered around advisor development as well,” Armitage said, in an interview with WealthManagement.com.
Much of her focus will be on helping these executives hire the right people and keep them within the organization.
“I’ve definitely seen a gap in the industry where advisors are being challenged in running the people side of their business,” she said. “I’ve talked to a lot of executives who just don’t enjoy leading people, and we are in the people business. Having executive leadership skills are paramount to being a successful CEO, or you hire that into another role.”
She has about a dozen potential clients interested in signing onto the new firm. She’ll charge an hourly fee for clients who just want to pick her brain on things, or a flat fee for larger projects.
Armitage was laid off from Thrivent as part of a larger reorganization of the wealth management business. Thrivent let go four other people on Armitage’s team, including business development officers Tom Pistole and Erik Feldman, Growth Program Manager Lori Sherman and Business Development Consultant Katie Tram. The firm has also halted recruiting new advisors to its RIA.
Prior to that, Armitage served as a managing director at investment bank and RIA consulting firm Echelon Partners.
Thrivent hired Armitage to replace Luke Winskowski, who the firm tapped at that time to lead its new advice and wealth management division. Winskowski has since left Thrivent to be president of 49 Financial, an Austin, Texas-headquartered hybrid RIA with just under $1 billion in assets.