[STRATEGIC] Wealth Management · RIA
Consolidation · Succession Planning —
CLOSED March 2, 2026
Carson Group Acquires $635M California RIA
Applied Financial Planning — Its 6th Partner Firm Acquisition in 2026
The Omaha-based $56B AUM wealth manager converts another
long-standing affiliate into a fully owned subsidiary: Applied Financial
Planning, a 40-year-old Irvine, California multigenerational planning firm
founded by tax strategist Bill O'Connor — the latest in Carson's accelerating
"full acquisition" roll-up strategy.
DEAL SNAPSHOT
|
TARGET AUM $635 Million (advisory +
brokerage assets) |
CARSON GROUP AUM POST-DEAL >$56 Billion |
|
CLOSED March 2, 2026 |
CARSON FULL ACQUISITIONS IN 2026 6th deal (as of March 2,
2026) |
|
DEAL VALUE Not disclosed |
PRIOR RELATIONSHIP Carson affiliate partner
since 2020 (5 years) |
THE PARTIES
|
ACQUIRER / LEAD INVESTOR Carson Group Omaha,
NE-based registered investment advisor and wealth management platform. CEO
Burt White. $56B+ AUM. Provides financial planning, investment management,
tax strategy, and estate planning through a network of partner advisors and
fully owned subsidiary firms. Has been executing an accelerating "full
acquisition" strategy in 2025-2026, converting long-standing affiliate
partners into wholly owned subsidiaries when succession planning, operational
scale, or legacy considerations make it logical. Carson is a portfolio
company of Bain Capital. |
TARGET Applied Financial Planning,
Inc. Irvine,
CA-based registered investment advisor. Founded 1986 by William C. O'Connor
CFP, EA, MPAS — originally as a tax-focused practice, evolved over 40 years
into a multigenerational comprehensive wealth management firm. Managing
Partners: O'Connor and Sean Walker MBA. 7 advisors, 11-person support team.
Approximately $635M in advisory and brokerage assets. Affiliated with Carson
Group since 2020 as an independent partner firm. Serves multigenerational
families in Southern California. |
DEAL OVERVIEW
Carson Group
announced and closed its full acquisition of Applied Financial Planning on
March 2, 2026 — marking its sixth full acquisition of a partner firm in 2026
alone, out of a broader ecosystem of affiliate partnerships. Under the
transaction, the Applied Financial team — O'Connor, Walker, seven advisors, and
11 support staff — joined Carson directly, with the firm rebranding to operate
as part of Carson's broader wealth management platform while maintaining its
existing client relationships.
The financial
terms were not disclosed, consistent with Carson's standard practice for
smaller RIA acquisitions. The acquisition value is implied by the AUM figure
($635M in client assets): RIA acquisition multiples in 2025-2026 have typically
ranged from 4-10% of AUM for practices of this size, implying a transaction
value in the range of $25-65 million — though the precise multiple depends on
the firm's revenue, growth rate, and client retention expectations.
"Sustaining a decades-long legacy requires operational scale,
succession strength, and the infrastructure to support clients at an
increasingly complex level. That is where Carson Group comes in."
— Burt White,
CEO, Carson Group
THE RIA CONSOLIDATION WAVE
Carson Group's
strategy illustrates the dominant M&A theme in U.S. wealth management:
platform consolidators are systematically converting independent registered
investment advisors into subsidiary businesses, providing succession solutions
for founding advisors while achieving the scale economies (technology,
compliance, investment research, tax planning) that are increasingly difficult
to maintain independently. Carson has built a two-stage playbook: (1) affiliate
relationship (advisor remains independent, uses Carson's platform); (2) full
acquisition (Carson takes ownership, advisor becomes an employee/partner).
Six full
acquisitions in the first two months of 2026 is an extraordinary pace that
reflects both the maturation of Carson's M&A infrastructure and the
accelerating succession wave among baby-boomer RIA founders. Carson is backed
by Bain Capital, which provides the capital for this programmatic consolidation
strategy.
ADVISORS
No financial
advisors were disclosed for either party. Given the long-standing affiliate
relationship between Carson and Applied Financial (since 2020), the acquisition
was negotiated directly between the parties.