Carson Group, the registered investment advisor aggregator with roots as a 1099-affiliated platform, has grown large enough in its integrated W-2 employee channel to create two separate business lines, according to CEO Burt White.
In practice, that means Carson has split its sales and recruiting teams into two divisions to serve the different channels. As a strategy, it means Carson’s home office employees will “wake up every day” focused on growth and sustainability for just one channel, rather than two, White said.
“Our view is to be about two-thirds integrated and one-third independent, which is about where we are now,” White said. “We want to make sure that we have a strong foothold in both because they’re so complementary in achieving scale and keeping entrepreneurial independence.”
Over the past several years, Carson has been one of the most active acquirers in the RIA sector, often bringing on firms as 1099 affiliates, which allowed them to gain access to Carson’s platform while still steering their own practices.
About four years ago, however, Omaha, Neb.-based RIA leaned into bringing firms into its own fully integrated channel. That division has since grown to 48 offices nationwide following last week’s transition by yet another partner firm, FFR Wealth Team, in Covington, Ky.
“We have a platform that, regardless of what advisors want to do, we are here to support them,” White said. “We want to make sure they never have to leave Carson for the next chapter of their life.”
A little over a month ago, White told Carson employees the firm would be taking a new direction, creating teams for each channel rather than having the same team oversee both. Through that transition, Carson has appointed its former head of business consulting, Scott Conroy, to lead the independent channel. Meanwhile, White and the team are actively recruiting an experienced RIA leader to take the helm of its integrated W-2 channel.
“Because it’s newer to us, we want someone with some experience and outside thinking that can come in and help us lead that group,” he said.
Scott Conroy has been tapped to lead Carson Group’s independent channel.
Popular Channel
One of the country’s largest RIAs, Mariner, has a similar dual-track approach with independent and W-2 channels. Last June, the Overland Park, Kan.-based RIA hired Rob Sandrew to oversee its independent channel, which has more than $40 billion in client assets.
Other large RIAs, such as Signature Estate & Investment Advisors and NewEdge Advisors, have previously spoken with Wealth Management about their work to offer 1099 affiliates the chance to move to their W-2 channels.
According to White, interest from existing Carson 1099 advisors has grown to the point that the RIA had a “backlog” of advisors who wanted to make the move.
One reason he points to is surging firm valuations and higher interest rates, which make it hard for second-generation advisors to buy out founders through succession planning. Another is advisors’ desire to get out of the day-to-day running of the business and focus more on working with clients.
“We see the trend of independent advisors considering W-2 as only accelerating over the years ahead,” White said. “It has been accelerating in the industry, accelerating here, and we think it’s only going to go further.”
John Orsini, a director at M&A bank and consultancy MarshBerry, also sees a continued shift of 1099 firms operating at least some W-2 business.
“As RIAs grow, the strategic objectives slide from adding assets and advisors to building a more integrated/institutional business,” Orsini said. “The W-2 model gives firms greater control of the client relationship, provides a more consistent client experience, and provides operating leverage across the platform, which are all drivers of long-term enterprise value.”
Orsini added, however, that the 1099 model will remain a large part of the RIA sector, with the strategy, like the one at Carson and other RIAs, more of an “evolution” of the larger firms.
“The independent channel is still an effective way to attract entrepreneurial advisors, expand distribution and build scale,” Orsini said. “It’s a low-cost entry point that allows advisors to leverage firm resources while remaining independent. Over time, if advisors are looking to transition over to a W-2 model, it gives the partner firm the inside track if they so desire to acquire the practice.”
Good Mix
According to Carson’s White, one advantage of the dual model is that firms in the 1099 channel and Carson can “date” for a period of years before making a full commitment.
“When you acquire a firm, you don’t know them very well at first,” White said.
Another benefit, in White’s view, is that the 1099 channel can provide capital to keep funding the M&A work, along with technology and infrastructure investments. He said the setup keeps Carson from constantly taking on debt to fund acquisitions—a fate he said pure W-2 integrators will face over time to keep growing.
“That growth that comes in allows us to not have to tie up a lot of capital,” White said. “We don’t have to go out and borrow.”
According to MarshBerry, 2026 may set yet another record year for RIA M&A, with over 400 deals. The 10 most active acquirers accounted for 32.1% of all transactions throughout the first half.
The leaders by number of deals are in a four-way tie, including Carson and Hightower Advisors, both multi-channel aggregators. The other two, however, are full-integrators Savant Wealth Management and Wealth Enhancement Group.
White said he expects other 1099-affiliate RIA aggregators will start bulking up on W-2 channels in a similar fashion to Carson. On the integrator side, he doesn’t envy firms that have grown solely through a W-2 model.
“That doesn’t sound good to me,” he said. “What comes with scale is a lack of independence, and that is not where we want to be at all—independence is so vital to us.”
