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Carson Group

Founded in 1983 by Ron Carson and headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, Carson Group serves financial advisors and investors through its three businesses — Carson Wealth, Carson Coaching, and Carson Partners. Carson Group has created an ecosystem dedicated to helping financial advisors unleash the full potential of their firms by providing marketing, compliance, technology, investment strategies, succession planning, M&A support, and coaching. The company currently manages $20 billion in assets and serves more than 43,000 families among its advisor network of 130+ partner offices, including 35 Carson Wealth locations.

Non-Custodial RIA Support Platforms
Finalist

Excell 2021

Excell 2021 was one of the first conferences to return in-person after the pandemic. Through a blend of healthcare and technology, we were able to gather 1,500 advisors, sponsors, speakers and stakeholders safely in Las Vegas. Excell was brought to life in an innovative way by sharing the experience through an interactive social media campaign that connected in-person and remote attendees with the content, speakers, and the mission of the conference, to bring advisors back together and make an impact. We used website, emails and the Excell mobile application ahead of the conference to collect Carson provided, at-home COVID-19 test results and vaccination status and implemented daily health screenings via the mobile application throughout the event to maintain a COVID-free status for the four days.

Succession/Ownership Transition Services – Non-Custodian/Broker Dealer
Finalist

Succession Plan

Carson Partners was formed to help advisors pursue strategic transactions, including succession solutions. 103,000 of advisors are retiring in the next 10 years. Of that – 26% say they do not have a succession plan. Carson’s offering acts a backstop for business continuity so advisors can work confidently knowing their business, family and clients are taken care of. By forming custom succession plans, advisors can weigh options – merger, acquisition, internal succession. Carson’s M&A team helps evaluate, structure, value and negotiate transactions, while our legal team provides templates and guidance. With this strategy, unique circumstances can be conquered. This was what occurred when Carson Partner Jon Baker of Jon Baker Financial Group in Atlanta, Georgia passed away from brain cancer last fall.

Individual RIA Firm Leaders| Rising Star of the Year
Finalist

Ana Trujillo Limón

Director of Coaching & Advisor Content

Ana Trujillo Limón is a rising star in our profession and a leading force for DE&I efforts. She is Carson’s Director of Coaching and Advisor Content. In this role, she focuses on producing inclusive and authentic content for advisors and industry leaders. To accomplish this, Ana is the co-host of the Framework podcast with Jamie Hopkins, a writer for industry trade publications that focus on DE&I and belonging, and a founding member of the FPA Latino Group and Carson’s IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Education, Action) Council. She and Dana Wilson (CEO & Founder of CHIP) run a quarterly digital magazine for Latino and Black professionals, called “The Brief.” She also co-founded a financial literacy club for middle and high school students called Mini Money Runners.

Individual RIA Firm Leaders| Thought Leader of the Year
Finalist

Ron Carson

CEO and Founder

Ron Carson, a 38-year industry veteran, is an entrepreneur, hall-of-fame advisor, $1 billion-business founder and visionary who has materially changed the financial advice profession for the better. Carson Group is growing at 137% YOY, establishing their presence as an innovative industry leader with the recent grand opening of their headquarters; a symbol of Ron’s commitment to building a 100-year firm. Growing the business by 20X in the past decade, Ron attributes recent success to an unparalleled focus on company culture. Named one of the Best Places to Work in Omaha, he truly believes being a good leader starts with a vision focused on making an impact. He leads by example, exemplifying the culture and attracting top-tier professionals, and inspiring them to keep pushing forward.

Non-Custodial RIA Support Platforms
Finalist

DE&I Initiative

As we moved into our new $80M headquarters this past year, Carson Group sought to continue to advance our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion efforts inside our new walls, and further efforts beyond them in our local community. The building itself was actually a core piece of our DE&I strategy. Who else can say that in financial services? In 2020, we formed the Carson IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Education and Action) Council. In its first full year, this group accelerated efforts within the organization, leading monthly IDEA Chats, reinstating our local CODE (Commitment to Opportunity, Diversity, and Equity) membership, and expanded both our communication and nation-wide efforts.

Chief Marketing Officer of the Year| Individual RIA Firm Leaders
Finalist

Mary Kate Gulick

Mary Kate Gulick is an award-winning marketing veteran, content marketing pioneer and Amazon bestselling author. As CMO, she is the creative, strategy and cultural leader for the marketing and events teams of nearly 40, and a member of the Carson Group executive leadership team. She joined Carson Group in 2021, following her exit from TD Ameritrade, and provides marketing expertise for Carson Group’s 300 stakeholders and 135 Carson Partner offices nationwide. Mary Kate is responsible for Carson Group’s brand expression and messaging, digital marketing transformation, the 2022 lead-generation initiative, sales enablement and event strategy, and the industry-leading marketing offering that empowers Carson Partner firms to maximize business growth. Most importantly, she’s responsible for the professional growth and high performance of Carson Group’s award-winning marketing team.

Individual RIA Firm Leaders| Rising Star of the Year
Finalist

Nick Engelbart

Chief Financial Officer

At 32, Nick Engelbart is one of the youngest Chief Financial Officers in financial services. In his role at Carson Group, Nick is responsible for capital allocation, M&A, strategic planning, and financial strategy. He also manages a team of 22 stakeholders and is looking to double that number over the next five years. Nick has been the key integrator in recent special projects, including our new $80M headquarters. He was responsible for assisting with the build out, overseeing budget, spending, and financial decisions. Beyond this, Nick led our 2021 search for an equity partner and spearheaded the relationship with Bain Capital. He led this initiative over 6 months, which led to Carson Group’s $1 billion dollar valuation, the first of its kind for RIAs.

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Kate Healy

Kate Healy is a financial services industry Marketing executive and NextGen advocate, purposefully building brands.

Healy is widely recognized as a leading advocate for the next generation of financial planners, for women advisors and for the financial planning profession. Wealthmanagement.com named her to the 2018 “Ten to Watch” list. In 2016, Investment Advisor magazine named Healy as one of the industry’s 25 most influential people. Healy was named to InvestmentNews’ inaugural “Women to Watch” in 2015. Additionally, she was TD Ameritrade’s 2014 Impact Award winner for Diversity and Inclusiveness.

She is the 2021-2022 board chair for the Foundation for Financial Planning and clerk of the Invest in Others board. Kate also is a founding member of the CFP Board’s Women’s Initiative (WIN) Council, the Center for Financial Planning’s Advisory Council, and the Center’s Diversity Advisory Board. She was formerly managing director for TD Ameritrade Institutional, leading marketing and Generation Next.

Healy is a frequent contributor to industry publications and podcasts, including Barron’s: The Way Forward, WealthManagement.com, and InvestmentNews, and is a repeat speaker at industry events including FPA, NAPFA, FA Magazine, and TD Ameritrade’s LINC national conference.

Healy holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Rutgers College.

Scott Smith

With more than 20 years of financial services industry experience, Scott leads Cerulli’s research efforts focused on investor behavior and advisory relationships. In his time at Cerulli he has authored more than two dozen in-depth reports on topics ranging from wholesale distribution to digital advice platforms. His research helps Cerulli’s clients understand how to optimize their platforms given the evolving demand for financial advice.

Scott, who received his B.A. from The Johns Hopkins University in Economics and his M.B.A. from Bryant University, started his career wearing a headset at Putnam Investments’ service center, before moving to more strategic roles at MFS Investment Management and then to Cerulli in 2007.

Abby Salameh

“It’s lonely at the top, so make sure to bring your friends!”

Abby Salameh is a seasoned, executive-level professional with over 25-years of experience focused on building solutions to drive growth for independent advisory businesses and the organizations that serve them.

Having held multiple leadership positions at firms like InvestmentNews, TD Ameritrade, NFP and most recently as CMO of Hightower Advisors, Abby brings deep knowledge of martech (marketing technology) solutions, practice enrichment programs, and overall growth strategies required in the industry. She is also a dynamic, transformative leader who serves her teams with passion.

Specializing in strategic thinking and planning, driving top-line solutions, expanding revenue and growth through scaling marketing, strategic partnerships and fresh ideas, Abby won the 2020 “Thought Leader of the Year” Wealthies award.

Abby resides in New Jersey with her husband, three teenagers and her two beloved French bulldogs.

Tina Powell

Tina Powell is the CEO of C-Suite Social Media, a high-performance digital marketing and social media agency for the financial services industry. With over 20 years of hands-on digital marketing campaign and strategy, Tina’s extensive experience has kept her on the leading edge of marketing and social media. Prior to founding C-Suite Social Media, Tina was a partner at Beacon Wealth Management, an SEC-registered RIA firm based in Hackensack, New Jersey later acquired by Mercer Advisors.

Tina is a TEDx Speaker and host of In the Suite Podcast, a show that explores contemporary themes for mid and senior women in the financial services and wealth management industry, listened in 54 countries and over 1003 cities around the globe. Tina is also a judge for the WealthManagement.com Industry Awards, a Grant Judge for Invest in Others Foundation, the 2021 Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service, and a member of the 2022 Women|Future Conference Advisory Board.

Tina graduated with honors from New York University with an M.A. in Graphic Communications Management and Technology and taught Integrated Marketing and Leadership in the Graduate Program. She also earned a B.S. in Business Management, magna cum laude, from Fairleigh Dickinson University and holds a Series 65 license. Tina was named to The Ten Most Empowering Women in Business for 2021 by Insights Success Magazine and Industry Era’s Ten Best Women Leaders of 2020.

Craig Pfeiffer

Craig Pfeiffer is the President & CEO of the Money Management Institute MMI is the leading voice for the global financial services organizations that provide advice and professionally managed investment solutions to individual and institutional investors. MMI enables, facilitates, and shepherds industry dialogue through national and thematic conference, education and professional development initiatives, thoughtleadership publishing, regulatory affairs, and next generation initiatives. 

Additionally, Craig is engaged in leadership roles across the financial services landscape. He is active as 

  • Co-founder and Chair of the Advisory Board for RiskBridge Advisors; RiskBridge is an OCIO asset manager focused in the non-profit, endowments and foundations space 
  • a Board Director and Lead Director for Westfield Group’s Ohio Farmers Insurance Company
  • and an Operating Partner at the private equity firm Corsair Capital. 

Craig is a proven senior financial services executive, following 29 years with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and its predecessor firms. He transitioned from MSSB in 2012 where he was Vice Chairman and on the Executive Committee. From 2003 to 2011, he held a progression of senior positions including the National Sales Group with responsibility for marketing strategy and client communications, desktop technology, and brokerage-based banking. Additionally, he has been responsible for businesses including retirement services and corporate equity solutions. From 1982 to 2003, Craig advanced through field management roles, starting as a Financial Advisor, and transitioning into field management at all levels.

Craig is an alumnus of Indiana University Kelley School of Business and most proud of his wife Cissy, their 40-year journey, their two married children and their six grandchildren.

Matt Lynch

Matt Lynch is the Managing Partner of Strategy & Resources, LLC, a financial services consulting firm. Matt, who has over 25 years of industry experience, has had a successful career as a financial services senior executive and consultant. He is sought after for his ability to link strategy with the art of the possible in terms of implementing change. Matt serves senior executives at financial services companies by focusing on corporate-level strategy, resource optimization and change management.


Matt’s professional background includes progressive senior leadership roles as President & CEO of an independent broker-dealer and RIA, Capital Analysts Incorporated, CFO of Lincoln Financial Advisors, and field management roles with New York Life. His consulting credentials include Moss Adams, LLP, where Matt was a Director of the business consulting group where he was widely recognized for his industry expertise in succession planning, M&A, and financial services distribution strategies.


Matt is a frequent keynote speaker at company events and industry conferences for firms and organizations throughout North America. He also serves on the board of directors and/or in board advisory roles for a number of financial services companies.


Matt is a native of Dayton, Ohio and received his MBA from Xavier University in Cincinnati. He holds the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) professional designations from The American College.

Tom Lydon

Tom Lydon is the CEO of ETF Trends and ETF Database. ETFtrends.com is the global leader in virtual ETF education, while ETFdb.com is the world’s largest, independent ETF-centric website focused on ETF research and fund flow decisioning tools. Together, the two companies total five million monthly impressions and have over 100,000 financial advisors register for their webcasts and virtual investment conferences annually.

Lydon started ETF Trends in 2005 on the heels of founding Global Trends Investments, an asset management firm located in Orange County, CA. He is also a contributor to many major media outlets including CNBC, Fox, Yahoo, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, and MarketWatch.

As the author of iMoney and The ETF Trend Following Playbook, Lydon is a highly sought-after speaker and ETF influencer. He serves as a trustee on the Guggenheim Funds Board and is also a director on the US Global Investors (GROW) corporate board.

Julie Littlechild

Julie Littlechild is the Founder and CEO of Absolute Engagement, a firm that provides innovative technology, tools and guidance to help advisors – and advisory firms – use input from clients to drive profound engagement and significant growth.

Julie has worked with and studied successful financial advisors and their clients for more than twenty years and conducts one of the largest investor research studies to examine what clients need, want and expect. She is the author of a popular blog The Pursuit of Absolute Engagement.

Julie sat on the national board of the Financial Planning Association, was twice identified as one of the 25 Most Influential People in Financial Planning and won an Influencer Award in practice management. She works in the US, Canada, UK and Europe and holds an MBA from the University of Toronto.

Greg Friedman

Greg Friedman is an innovator and advocate for exceptional wealth management. He is co-founder and CEO of Private Ocean, one of the West Coast’s leading wealth management firms, and also the co-founder and former CEO of Junxure, an industry-leading CRM for advisors.

He was named by Investment Advisor Magazine as a Top 25 most influential financial advisor in 2008, 2009 and 2010. In 2007, Charles Schwab honored him with its prestigious IMPACT Award® for “Best in Tech” award, in 2008 Financial Planning Magazine included Friedman in its elite list of financial “Movers and Shakers” and he was recognized in 2017 on InvestmentNews Icons and Innovators list.

In 2018, Greg was named CEO of the Year at the WealthManagement.com Industry Awards. He is the author of two books for advisors, Advisory Leadership: Using the Seven Steps of Heart Culture to Create Lasting Success for Any Wealth Management Firm, published in 2015, and the Financial Advisor M&A Guidebook, published in 2018.

Prior to joining Gartner, Mr. Courtney held positions at CEB, Scudder, Stevens & Clark, Columbia Asset Management, MFS Investment Management, AARP Financial and The Hartford. He is a frequent speaker at industry and company events and is often quoted in the financial trade press. He has nearly 30 years of financial services experience in operations, client service, sales, product management and business development roles.

Mr. Courtney earned his M.A. from Northeastern University and B.A. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He also holds a certificate in Advanced Financial Planning from Merrimack College and is a Certified Financial Planner professional.

 

Amy Flourry

Amy Flourry is a Principal at Rehmann in the firm’s Lansing, Michigan office.

Flourry has held operational roles in the financial services industry since 1998 and she joined Rehmann in 2001. As the Director of Operations for Rehmann’s Wealth Management department, she represents the wealth management division across the firm.

She has extensive experience in management, business development and overseeing daily operations such as: supervising staff, providing training on systems and processes, managing technology, assisting with business combinations by acting as a liaison between Rehmann Wealth and the parent firm, onboarding and offboarding.

Flourry was instrumental in developing Rehmann’s broker dealer practice. She holds a unique perspective in the financial services industry due to her experience with both registered investment advisors and broker dealers.

Additionally, Flourry serves as chair of the Rehmann Women’s Initiative Network (WIN) Council and has been a member since 2012.

Flourry holds a bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan University.

Darrin Courtney

Darrin Courtney is a VP Analyst, Global Financial Services Industry (Analysis & Evaluation), Research & Advisory, specializing in wealth management. Mr. Courtney advises executives on their most pressing challenges, focusing on both business and technology initiatives, via strategy sessions, inquiry calls and event participation. His research advisory areas include tools that enhance advisor/client collaboration, including financial planning, portfolio management, client reporting, aggregation, digital tools and other wealth-related platforms.

Prior to joining Gartner, Mr. Courtney held positions at CEB, Scudder, Stevens & Clark, Columbia Asset Management, MFS Investment Management, AARP Financial and The Hartford. He is a frequent speaker at industry and company events and is often quoted in the financial trade press. He has nearly 30 years of financial services experience in operations, client service, sales, product management and business development roles.

Mr. Courtney earned his M.A. from Northeastern University and B.A. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He also holds a certificate in Advanced Financial Planning from Merrimack College and is a Certified Financial Planner professional.

 

T. Neil Bathon

T. Neil Bathon is managing partner of Fuse Research Network, a leading-edge decision support firm that employs a highly refined market intelligence capability to deliver informed, decisive and forward-looking guidance to firms in the asset management industry. Fuse Research Network delivers tactical research-based, client-specific recommendations that improve the productivity and effectiveness of the resources devoted to sales, marketing, and product management.

Timothy D. Welsh

Timothy D. Welsh, CFP® is president, CEO and founder of Nexus Strategy LLC, a leading consulting firm to the wealth management industry. Nexus Strategy’s primary focus is working with leading financial services and technology firms to distribute products and services through the advisor channel.

Prior to founding Nexus Strategy, Tim was director of business consulting services for Schwab Advisor Services, where he led the development and marketing of practice management resources for independent advisors. While at Schwab, Tim also held senior roles in Strategy, Marketing, Advertising, PR and Industry Content development.

Prior to joining Schwab, Tim was vice president at Merrill Lynch, where he was responsible for marketing, product development and financial advisor training for the financial planning group. Tim is frequently quoted in the wealth management media on a wide range of business management and industry topics. He is the author of a number of industry white papers, a guest columnist for RIABiz, Investment News and WealthManagement.com, and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and events. Tim earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California, Berkeley and an MBA in finance from the University of Colorado.

Tim holds the Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) designation and is an active member of the Financial Planning Association (FPA), where he serves in a leadership role on a number of task forces and committees, and was formerly an elected member of the National Board of Directors.

Toussaint Bailey

Toussaint Bailey is the founder and CEO of Uplifting Capital—a tech-forward impact investing platform that enables financial advisors and their clients to personalize impact through private market investments. Prior to Uplifting Capital, Toussaint was the founding CEO of private wealth firm Enso Wealth Management. Before financial services, Toussaint spent over a decade as a practicing attorney. Toussaint serves in several advisory and board capacities, including Advisory Board to Institutional Investor RIA Institute—Impact Investing and Implementation segment, and Alternative & Direct Investment Securities Association—Impact and ESG subcommittee.

Outside of finance work, Toussaint created the Just Listen Project, which is endeavored to heal racism by feeling into the personal experiences of unheard colleagues and friends. He is an avid student of the science of well-being and emotional health. He serves on several nonprofit boards, including Search Inside Yourself, a practical mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and leadership training organization spun out of Google. Most importantly, Toussaint is a proud Girl Dad to the third power.

David Armstrong

David Armstrong is the editor-in-chief and executive director of content and user engagement for WealthManagement.com and its print component, Wealth Management magazine.

His journalism career began at Fox News, where he was one of the first business reporters for Foxnews.com. He worked at Forbes magazine for eight years, covering everything from entrepreneurs to technology to finance. There, he was a co-editor of the Forbes 400, the annual ranking of the 400 richest people in America.

In addition to his journalism background, Armstrong was a senior editor at HNW, a boutique marketing company, crafting messages and communications directed at high-net-worth clients of financial advisors from clients including Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, Wells Fargo, UBS and Northern Trust. In that role, he also helped spearhead major bespoke research projects—both qualitative and quantitative, on HNW investors and their relationship with financial advisors—for clients like Fidelity, Lincoln Financial and RBC Wealth Management.

He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has taken post-graduate courses at the New School for Social Research.