How to Build a $1 Billion Business: Ron Carson's Recipe for Growth

Ron Carson, the founder and CEO of the Carson Group, which oversees close to $8 billion in assets — about 40% directly managed — contends that financial advisory firms can grow their businesses substantially despite the current “massive disruption” in the industry.

In a session at TD Ameritrade’s National LINC conference in San Diego, Carson told a roomful of hundreds of financial advisors how to build a $1 billion business in the face of new regulations, emerging technologies and an uncertain market environment.

Carson himself is both a wealth manager who leads Carson Wealth and the head of the Peak Advisor Alliance and Carson Institutional Alliance, which help advisors grow and improve their businesses. He recently left an affiliation with LPL Financial after more than 26 years to join Cetera Advisor Networks.

(Related on ThinkAdvisor: Ron Carson Completes Move From LPL to Cetera

Here are the recommendations he imparted to advisors at the conference, which include some that appear to be somewhat unconventional:

1 “Have a simple message. It trumps ‘value proposition’ every day.”

2. Note that regulations can provide a competitive edge, if you comply with them.

3. Have investment strategies that can make money in an environment where interest rates are near zero, including alternative strategies which are getting better and are more liquid.

4. Choose the right partners and grow that relationship, maintaining a continuous dialogue.