A conversation with the Founder and CEO of Carson Group
Overview
Ron Carson joins the show to discuss the key drivers behind the rise of the Carson Group, sharing his journey from a Nebraska farm to his tenure with Private Ledger, and on to how he built a nearly $20B independent wealth management enterprise.
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About this episode…
It’s hard to believe that the founder and CEO of a nearly $20B enterprise got his start in life as the son of hard-working farmers in Nebraska who had trouble making ends meet. So much so, they eventually lost the family’s livelihood.
Yet it was an experience that informs Ron Carson to this day—a story of caution and perseverance.
Because instead of being a victim of circumstance, Ron pressed forward, with the intent of finding a job that had the greatest potential.
And the rest would be an amazing story that Ron shares with Mindy Diamond in this episode, including:
His start in the wealth management world—and how an idea that he cultivated in his dorm room in the 80s served as the foundation for his later success.
- Ron’s early experience with Private Ledger, the predecessor to LPL—and how that became what the Carson Group is today.
- The composition of the Carson Group—and what unique value each business line offers to advisors and their clients.
- The most impactful actions he took along the way to go from zero to nearly $20B—and what advisors can do to fortify their own growth and success.
- The service model he envisions will drive the future of financial advice—and what key players outside of the wealth management space advisors should be watching closely.
- Plus, Ron shares the habits he feels are crucial to his own success—and much more.
Ron is a best-selling author, a go-to for the industry media, and a true legend in the wealth management world. But most importantly, he has valuable, actionable lessons to share—making this episode one that all advisors and business owners can learn from.
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Ron Carson
Founder and CEO
Ron Carson is Founder and CEO of Carson Group, which serves financial advisors and investors through its businesses including Carson Wealth, Carson Coaching, and Carson Partners. Founded in 1983, Carson Wealth has grown to become one of the largest wealth management firms in the country offering portfolio management and wealth planning services to high net-worth clients. Established in 1993, Carson Coaching has grown to become one of the leading advisor coaching programs in the country empowering advisors to overcome key business challenges through personalized coaching, proven strategies, marketing services, and a passionate community of thousands of advisors. Carson Partners empowers advisors to improve client service, efficiently run their practice, grow their business, and build a legacy through a turnkey integrated partnership. All three organizations are headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska but serve a broad base of advisors and investors across the U.S. and Canada.
Ron first began honing his core principles while working from his dorm room at the University of Nebraska in 1983: a tenacious focus on serving clients’ best interests; a relentless pursuit of excellence across every activity; and a burning desire to learn, grow intellectually, and innovate. These driving principles enabled Carson Group to grow to over $18 billion in AUM and have led Ron to receive many accolades. He is continually ranked among the top advisors in multiple publications, most recently to Investopedia’s Top 100 Financial Advisors (#4). He was one of only two independent advisors inducted into Barron’s inaugural Hall of Fame, was recognized as an InvestmentNews Innovator, and acknowledged as an Inc. 5000 CEO, marking Carson Group as a four-time participant in Inc.’s annual list of America’s Fastest Growing Private Companies, as well as one of the top in the Midwest. He also appears regularly on broadcast media for Fox Business and Reuters as a leading expert advisor and commentator.
Ron is one of the most celebrated and respected financial advisors and executives in the industry—he is a sought-after speaker, thinker, and investment strategist. In the spring of 2012, Ron continued to expand his industry leadership by co-founding aRIA (Alliance for Registered Investment Advisors). aRIA is a “think-tank” study group comprised of eight forward-thinking RIA firms with a commitment to growth, who seek to proactively improve the future of the RIA industry by building a culture and mantra of continuous learning.
Committed to serve advisors in multiple realms, in 2014 Ron joined The American College of Financial Services board of trustees for a three-year term. The College offers turnkey programs that produce effective advisors who are able to join a team and make an impact immediately, helping the industry by adding capacity, and building the next generation of advisors. Ron was also a previous member of the Financial Advisor Council of CNBC, where he provided insight and frontline perspective to the CNBC Digital news team.
Ron’s academic credentials include being a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and Certified Fund Specialist. Beyond this, he is a nationally acclaimed New York Times bestselling author, and has shared his success principles through several books, including 2005’s Tested in the Trenches, 2007’s Avalanche, 2012’s second edition of Tested in the Trenches, 2016’s The Sustainable Edge, and most recently, Proven in the Trenches: 11 Principles to Maximize Advisor Value and Transform Your Firm’s Future, which is a follow-up to his 2012 novel, in which advisors receive an actionable game plan touching on the core dimensions of a highly-functioning financial services firm. The book is available on Amazon, along with an audio version narrated by Ron himself during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ron is actively involved in charitable giving and his personal mission is to “do the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people.” He and his wife, Jeanie, co-founded the Dreamweaver Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to fulfilling end-of-life dreams for seniors with terminal illnesses. He also founded the American Charitable Foundation—a foundation established for a more efficient disposition of charitable assets. He supports more than 48 charitable giving organizations, served as a past President of the Child Saving Institute, has personal partnerships with charity: water and Global Coralition, and has helped his firm provide more than 600,000 meals to children in Kenya through work with No Hungry Children.
Ron and Jeanie reside in Omaha and have three wonderful children. He enjoys spending time with his family, collecting and drinking wine, hiking, flying, pheasant hunting, and he’s an avid Nebraska Cornhusker fan.
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