Carson Group lands $405M Atlanta practice from Northwestern Mutual

Carson Group has brought a $405 million Atlanta practice into its independent channel, days after hiring a veteran recruiter to expand that part of its business. InvestmentNews reported the move on Thursday. The addition extends a string of moves as the Omaha firm works to grow a national presence among advisors who want to keep their own practices.

The practice, Yari Capital, was founded in 1995 by Kurt Mattson, a certified financial planner. Mattson had been registered with Northwestern Mutual since 1997, according to his BrokerCheck record. The team joining Carson includes Olivia Payne, a CFP who served as Yari's director of financial planning, and a support staff of three. Yari works with executives, physicians, attorneys and business owners, handling planning matters that range from cash flow and tax to retirement, investment and estate decisions. Mattson said the firm's model has always put client goals ahead of product sales.

Carson's national sales director, Gregg Johnson, said Mattson has spent more than three decades building a practice on trust and planning, and that such advisors do well at Carson. Mattson said his job has always been to help clients make decisions based solely on their best interest, and that financial planning has anchored the firm from the start. He was drawn to Carson after speaking with other advisors who had already gone through the firm's affiliation process, and described the move as a chance to expand what he could offer clients without giving up the independence he built the practice around.

The Atlanta deal lands in a busy period for Carson's independent channel. Earlier this week, the firm hired Kevin Peterson, an industry veteran with nearly three decades in advisor recruitment, to help draw more talent into that channel, according to InvestmentNews. The two moves arriving within days suggest the channel is picking up momentum.

The practice's client list—executives, physicians, attorneys, business owners—reads like a target list for an independent RIA. Yari gives Carson more than the $405 million on its books; it offers a working example of the kind of practice Carson wants to attract: founder-led, three decades in the making, serving high earners through advice rather than product sales. The pairing suggests a two-step strategy: Peterson finds the prospects, and Mattson's story helps persuade them. When the next advisor questions whether the independent channel can support a planning-driven business, Mattson's path is the answer. He did his own due diligence, talking to advisors who had already made the switch, and that reference check is a story Carson can sell.

For Northwestern Mutual, the departure removes a representative who had been with the firm since 1997, per BrokerCheck. The reference that matters is the one Mattson heard himself.