Long Ridge Announces Carson Group Investment Exit

News & Ideas

July 14, 2021

Long Ridge Equity Partners is pleased to announce that its portfolio company, Carson Group, an industry-leading provider of wealth management technology and services to financial advisors and clients, has received a strategic investment from Bain Capital, valuing the business at over $1 billion and providing a full exit for Long Ridge’s Fund I investment.

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 more than $17 billion in assets and serves more than 37,000 families among its advisor network of 110 partner offices, including 30 Carson Wealth locations.

Long Ridge led a minority growth investment in Carson Group in 2016. During Long Ridge’s partnership with Carson Group, the company achieved exceptional growth and significant strategic milestones. Select highlights are provided below:

Grew AUM 5x to over $17 billion through organic and inorganic growth initiatives
Constructed a highly accretive M&A engine, closing over 10 acquisitions and 21 subsidiary acquisitions
Recruited and built a world-class team that drove development of industry-leading advisor technology and client experiences

Read the full press release here.

Founder & Managing Partner

Jim Brown

Jim is the Founder and Managing Partner of Long Ridge. He is also a member of the Firm’s Investment Committee.

Jim has over 25 years of experience investing in and supporting high-growth companies across the financial and business services sectors. At Long Ridge, Jim leads the overall strategy and direction of the firm, in addition to leading deal teams focused on the sourcing, evaluation, and management of the Firm’s portfolio companies. Over his long career, Jim has partnered with some of the most successful and innovative players in the financial services space and has served as a board member and advisor to numerous public and private companies.

Prior to founding Long Ridge, Jim was a Partner at TH Lee Putnam Ventures, a $1.1 billion growth capital firm, where he led the firm’s financial services investment efforts. Before THLPV, Jim served as a Senior Vice President of GE Equity where he led investments in financial services, technology, consumer, and media companies. Prior to joining GE Equity, Jim worked at Lehman Brothers as a Vice President and at Bain & Company as a Consultant.

Jim received a B.S. from New York University and an M.B.A. with Honors from the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Portfolio Companies:

Managing Partner

Kevin Bhatt

Kevin joined Long Ridge in 2010 and serves as a Managing Partner and a member of the Firm’s Investment Committee.

Kevin leads the overall strategy and direction of the Firm, in addition to managing deal teams focused on the sourcing, evaluation, and management of Long Ridge’s portfolio companies. Over his investing career, Kevin has served on the boards of numerous public and private financial services and business services companies, partnering with visionary managers to build leading companies across a range of sectors.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Kevin was a Vice President with AEA Investors, a private equity firm with over $10 billion of committed capital. Before joining AEA, Kevin was a member of the financial services and business services teams at TH Lee Putnam Ventures, a $1.1 billion growth capital firm. Kevin started his career in McKinsey & Company’s New York office, serving as a consultant to financial institutions.

Kevin received a A.B. in Economics with Honors from Princeton University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Portfolio Companies:

Partner, Chief Financial Officer, & Chief Compliance Officer

Donna Little, CPA

Donna joined Long Ridge in 2013 and serves as Partner, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, and a member of the Firm’s Investment Committee.

At Long Ridge, Donna is responsible for the Firm’s financial operations, including financial reporting, compliance matters, tax preparation, investor relations and internal controls.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Donna worked for five years as CFO and Partner at Alternative Investment Management, LLC (“AIM”), an independent, privately-held investment management firm. While at AIM, Donna served as a member of the Investment Committee, managed all operations functions and implemented their first Operational Due Diligence program. Prior to that, Donna worked for Och-Ziff Capital Management Group, a leading hedge fund, as a Controller/Senior Accountant. While there, Donna focused on the daily & monthly financial reporting for a multi-billion dollar hedge fund that traded in a broad range of products including convertible arbitrage, distressed securities and long/short equities. Prior to Och-Ziff, Donna was an Accounting Manager at International Fund Services (IFS), a State Street Company, and a Senior Mutual Fund Accountant at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers.

Donna received a B.S. in Business Studies (accounting concentration) with honors from Stockton University. She is a member of Delta Mu Delta, the International Honor Society in Business Administration. Additionally, Donna is a Certified Public Accountant.

Partner

Angad Singh

Angad joined Long Ridge in 2012 and serves as a Partner and a member of the Firm’s Investment Committee.

At Long Ridge, Angad leads deal teams focused on all aspects of the Firm’s investments, from origination and due diligence through deal structuring, execution, and post-investment portfolio management. Angad also serves on several portfolio company boards and works closely with Long Ridge’s executive teams to accelerate growth.

In addition to his investment responsibilities, Angad enjoys the business-building aspects of growing the Firm, including recruiting and training junior members of the investment team.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Angad was an Associate at Alinda Capital Partners, a leading private equity firm focused on infrastructure investments. At Alinda, Angad primarily invested in the energy and telecom sectors. Angad started his career as a Business Analyst at McKinsey & Company, where he worked in the Corporate Finance Group. While at McKinsey, Angad focused on growth strategy projects in the financial services and energy sectors.

Angad received a B.A. in Biology with Honors from Haverford College.

Portfolio Companies:

Partner

Andrew Cedar

Andrew joined Long Ridge in 2016 and serves as a Partner.

At Long Ridge, Andrew leads deal teams focused on all aspects of the Firm’s investments, from origination and due diligence through deal structuring, execution, and post-investment portfolio management. Andrew also serves on several portfolio company boards and works closely with Long Ridge’s executive teams to accelerate growth.

In addition to his investment responsibilities, Andrew oversees the Firm’s sourcing operation and analyst program.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Andrew worked at McKinsey & Company, where he reported directly to the Global Managing Partner and previously was a consultant advising companies in the U.S., Middle East, Latin America, and Africa. Previously, Andrew worked on the Obama Administration’s national security and foreign policy team, as Senior Director for Global Engagement at the White House National Security Council, an advisor at the State Department, and on the Obama-Biden transition team in 2008. Andrew also has experience as an investor at a $25bn hedge fund focused on special situations.

Andrew received a B.A. in Political Science summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Yale University, an M.Phil in International Relations from Cambridge University, and an M.B.A. with distinction from Harvard Business School. Andrew is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and was named a Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum.

Portfolio Companies:

Partner

Jason Melton

Jason joined Long Ridge in 2014 and serves as a Partner.

At Long Ridge, Jason leads deal teams focused on all aspects of the Firm’s investments, from origination and due diligence through deal structuring, execution, and post-investment portfolio management. Jason also serves on several portfolio company boards and works closely with Long Ridge’s executive teams to accelerate growth.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Jason worked at Barclays in the Financial Institutions Group, where he advised financial technology and services companies on M&A and capital markets transactions.

Jason received a B.S. in Business Management, with a focus on Entrepreneurship and Finance, from Babson College.

Portfolio Companies:

Principal

Doug Nelson

Doug joined Long Ridge in 2018 and serves as a Principal.

At Long Ridge, Doug leads deal teams focused on all aspects of the Firm’s investments, from origination and due diligence through deal structuring, execution, and post-investment portfolio management. Doug also serves on several portfolio company boards and works closely with Long Ridge’s executive teams to accelerate growth.

In addition to his work at Long Ridge, Doug is an Advisory Board member for the FinTech Sandbox, a non-profit accelerator that provides financial data, hosting, and mentoring to FinTech startups.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Doug was an investor with F-Prime Capital, a global venture capital firm affiliated with Fidelity Investments. Doug also previously worked in strategy for Fidelity Investments, product management for Amazon and finance for Flywire.

Doug received a B.A. in History magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Portfolio Companies:

Principal

Devin Stearns

Devin joined Long Ridge in 2016 and serves as a Principal.

At Long Ridge, Devin is actively involved in all aspects of the Firm’s investment process, including sourcing, due diligence, deal execution and managing and monitoring portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Devin worked at Fenox Venture Capital, an early stage technology-focused venture capital fund, and Wells Fargo Securities.

Devin received a B.A. in Economics with Honors and a certificate in Finance from Princeton University.

Portfolio Companies:

Vice President, Business Development

Hugh Miles

Hugh joined Long Ridge in 2024 and serves as a Vice President.

At Long Ridge, Hugh is responsible for coordinating proprietary sourcing efforts, evaluating investment opportunities, and assisting portfolio companies execute M&A strategies.

Prior to Long Ridge, Hugh started his career at Ernst & Young specializing in Research and Development Tax, before spending 5 years at K1 Investment Management, an LA based growth equity fund focused on B2B software.

Hugh received a B.A. in Commerce, majoring in Accounting and Corporate Finance from the University of Western Australia.

Vice President

Rachel Philbin

Rachel joined Long Ridge in 2022 and serves as a Vice President.

At Long Ridge, Rachel is actively involved in all aspects of the Firm’s investment process, including sourcing, due diligence, deal execution and managing, and monitoring of portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Rachel worked at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) where she advised clients across financial services, healthcare, and education. Rachel also previously worked on the program team at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) and on the Innovation team at Gentera, a Mexico City-based microfinance bank.

Rachel received a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Portfolio Companies:

Vice President, Portfolio Operations

Michael McMillan

Michael joined Long Ridge in 2024 and serves as a Vice President.

At Long Ridge, Michael is responsible for leading portfolio operations and value creation efforts at portfolio companies.

Prior to Long Ridge, Michael worked at Vista Equity Partners and Growth Street Partners, executing projects focused on strategy development and go-to-market optimization for their respective portfolio companies. Michael also previously led strategy and product management at a supply chain risk software company in the Vista portfolio.

Michael received a B.A. in Public Policy with a concentration in Economics and a minor in Managerial Studies from Vanderbilt University.

Vice President

Sohum Daftary

Sohum joined Long Ridge in 2019 and serves as a Vice President.

At Long Ridge, Sohum is actively involved in all aspects of the Firm’s investment process, including sourcing, due diligence, deal execution and managing and monitoring portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Sohum worked at Millstein & Co., a boutique restructuring investment bank, and Arena Investors, a middle-market private credit firm.

Sohum received a B.S. in Finance, summa cum laude, from The Wharton School and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering.

Portfolio Companies:

Senior Associate

Anshita Khandelwal

Anshita joined Long Ridge in 2023 and serves as a Senior Associate.

At Long Ridge, Anshita is actively involved in all aspects of the Firm’s investment process, including sourcing, due diligence, deal execution, and managing and monitoring portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Anshita worked in investment banking at J.P. Morgan where she advised companies across the technology and healthcare industries on M&A and capital markets transactions.

Anshita received a B.A. in Economics from Williams College and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Senior Associate

Scott Kaden

Scott joined Long Ridge in 2021 and serves as a Senior Associate.

At Long Ridge, Scott is actively involved in all aspects of the Firm’s investment process, including sourcing, due diligence, deal execution and managing and monitoring portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Scott worked at Houlihan Lokey, a boutique investment bank, in their Technology, Media & Telecom (TMT) Group.

Scott received a B.S. in Economics, magna cum laude, from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, with concentrations in Finance and Business Analytics.

Portfolio Companies:

Investor

Ben Hilkert

Ben joined Long Ridge in 2021 and serves as an Associate. At Long Ridge, Ben is actively involved in the Firm’s investment process, including sourcing, due diligence, deal execution and managing and monitoring portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Ben Co-Founded Honesti, a wellness and peer to peer support platform designed specifically for college students, and worked at Guggenheim Partners, a boutique investment bank.

Ben received a BBA with concentrations in Accounting and Finance, Cum Laude, from The Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Portfolio Companies:

Investor

Zach Khazzam

Zach joined Long Ridge in 2022 and serves as an Associate.

At Long Ridge, Zach is actively involved in sourcing new investments and screening prospective opportunities for the Firm. He also works on due diligence, deal execution and with portfolio company executive teams.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Zach worked at WestCap, a technology-focused growth equity firm.

Zach received a B.S. in Statistical Science from Duke University.

Investor

George Wilde

George joined Long Ridge in 2024 and serves as an Associate.

At Long Ridge, George is involved in all aspects of the Firm’s investment process, including sourcing, due diligence, deal execution, and managing and monitoring portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, George spent three years at Frontier Growth where he focused on investing in growth-stage vertical software companies.

George received a B.A. in Economics from Brown University.

Investor

Sophia Africk

Sophia joined Long Ridge in 2023 and serves as an Analyst.

At Long Ridge, Sophia is actively involved in sourcing new investments and screening prospective opportunities for the firm. She also works with portfolio company executive teams and performs deal diligence and execution.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Sophia worked at Tesla, in the Manufacturing Finance group, and at Microsoft, in the Azure Data organization.

Sophia received a B.S.E in Systems Science and Engineering summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Engineering and Applied Science and a B.S. in Finance summa cum laude from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Investor

Charlie Chen

Charlie joined Long Ridge in 2023 and serves as an Analyst.

At Long Ridge, Charlie is actively involved in sourcing new investments and screening prospective opportunities for the Firm. He also works on due diligence, deal execution and with portfolio company executive teams.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Charlie worked at Silversmith Capital Partners, a Boston-based growth equity firm.

Charlie received a B.A. in Economics from Boston College.

Investor

Katherine Hu

Katherine joined Long Ridge in 2024 and serves as an Analyst.

At Long Ridge, Katherine is actively involved in sourcing new investments and screening prospective opportunities for the Firm. She also works on due diligence, deal execution and with portfolio company executive teams.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Katherine invested in software and AI businesses at Insight Partners, a venture capital and growth equity firm. She also worked at Highland Capital Partners, a venture capital firm focused on software investing.

Katherine received a B.S. in Economics, with a concentration in Finance, from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Investor

Paige Schultz

Paige joined Long Ridge in 2024 and serves as an Analyst.

At Long Ridge, Paige is actively involved in sourcing new investments and screening prospective opportunities for the firm. She also works on due diligence, deal execution, and with portfolio company executive teams.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Paige worked on the investment team at Antler, an early-stage accelerator and Venture Capital fund based in New York.

Paige received a B.S. in Policy Analysis and Management from Cornell University.

Senior Accountant

Laura Orr

Laura joined Long Ridge in 2023 and serves as a Senior Accountant.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Laura worked as a Supervisor at SEI Investments, a global fund administrator. She was part of their Private Equity Fund Administrator Group and oversaw reconciliations, capital activity, and financial reporting for private equity clients.

Laura received a B.S in Music and from Temple University, an M.B.A. from Villanova University, and an M.S. in Accounting Practice from the University of Delaware. Additionally, Laura is a Certified Public Accountant.

Senior Accountant

Cindy Joya

Cindy joined Long Ridge in 2024 and serves as a Senior Accountant.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Cindy worked as a Senior Accountant at Meadow Partners, a real estate private equity firm. Prior to that, Cindy worked as a Tax Associate in the Real Estate Tax group at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

Cindy received a B.S in Public Accounting and Business Management & Finance from Brooklyn College. Additionally, Cindy is a Certified Public Accountant.

Office Manager & Executive Assistant

Krystina Romano

Krystina joined Long Ridge in 2019 and serves as the Firm’s Office Manager and as Executive Assistant to Jim Brown and Kevin Bhatt.

At Long Ridge, Krystina is responsible for overall office operations as well as assisting with the planning and execution of the Firm’s special events, including annual meetings and offsites.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Krystina worked for Marcum LLP as the scheduling coordinator for the assurance department.

Krystina received a B.A. in English Language, Literature, and Criticism from Hunter College.

People Operations Manager

Victoria Mussalli

Victoria joined Long Ridge in 2018 and serves as People Operations Manager.

At Long Ridge, Victoria assists the Firm with managing recruitment, immigration and visa procurement, cybersecurity compliance, IT oversight, event planning, and more.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Victoria had extensive experience in administrative roles across various industries, including healthcare, education, and film production.

Outside of Long Ridge, Victoria works as a voice actor, specializing in commercial and character work, and has worked with companies like: Nexplanon, WIRED, Fancypants Baking Co., Timken, and HMH. She has also been featured in scripted podcasts alongside Bethany Joy Lenz (One Tree Hill, Dexter), Clive Standen (Vikings, Doctor Who), and Michael O’Neill (Jack Ryan, Dallas Buyers Club).

Victoria graduated summa cum laude in three years and received a B.S. in Television-Radio with a minor in Spanish from Ithaca College.

Executive Assistant

Whitney Baldwin

Whitney joined Long Ridge 2021 and serves as Executive Assistant to Angad Singh, Andrew Cedar, and Jason Melton. Whitney also supports the planning of Long Ridge’s annual Executive Summit and other firm events.

Prior to joining Long Ridge, Whitney planned festivals and events and served as the Executive Assistant to the CEO of Linder Global Events in Washington, DC.

Whitney received a B.A. in Communication with an emphasis in Public Relations and graduated Cum Laude from Virginia Tech.

Executive Assistant

Jessica Barr

Jessica joined Long Ridge in 2023 and serves as an Executive Assistant to Doug Nelson and Devin Stearns. At Long Ridge, Jessica is also responsible for assisting with the operations of the office.

Prior to Long Ridge, Jessica co-founded a retail company Daily Soulshine where it focused on products with uplifting phrases.

Jessica graduated Cum Laude from Florida State University where she received a B.S. in Management Information Systems and a minor in Psychology.