Office address: 8605 E. Raintree Drive, Suite 280, Scottsdale, AZ 85260
Website: ashtonthomaspw.com
Year established: 2010
Company type: financial services
Employees: 114+
Expertise: asset management, wealth planning, securities brokerage, financial planning, portfolio management, retirement plan consulting, estate planning, insurance brokerage, tax advisory, foundations and endowments
Parent company: Arax Investment Partners
Key people: Aaron Brodt (CEO), Joseph Lanzisera (president), Erica Bloudek (COO), Drinan Gorney (general counsel), Kevin Kading (head of finance), Lance Knight (head of business development), Cary Carbonaro (managing wealth advisor)
Financing status: private equity-backed
Ashton Thomas Private Wealth (ATPW) is an SEC-registered RIA headquartered in Scottsdale. The company offers wealth planning, portfolio management, and retirement consulting to affluent individuals, families, and institutions. It operates multiple offices across 12 states and managed about $10 billion in client assets as of 2025.
ATPW got its start in 2010 when Aaron Brodt launched the firm in Scottsdale. Brodt had spent years as a portfolio manager at a multifamily office before creating the company. The firm then grew across the Southwest first, then pushed into California and the Rocky Mountain states.
Ashton Thomas Private Wealth hit a turning point on August 31, 2023, when wealth platform Arax Investment Partners acquired it. Arax, backed by private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners, brought fresh capital and M&A resources to the business.
The deal also brought in Excel Securities, a broker-dealer the Lanzisera family had started in upstate New York in 1978. Excel was renamed Ashton Thomas Securities (ATS), which gave ATPW a combined RIA and broker-dealer under one roof.
ATPW moved fast after the acquisition and started adding established advisor teams across the country. The firm entered Hawaii in 2025 by welcoming Kobo Wealth Conservancy to its network. By October 2025, it managed about $10 billion in client assets across 12 states.
Ashton Thomas Private Wealth also has a foothold in wealthtech through Amplify Technology, a fintech platform Brodt co-founded. Amplify's platform served over 550 advisors with a combined $18 billion in assets as of early 2025.
Later that year, ATPW-linked Amplify debuted QuantumRisk, a portfolio risk tool built to account for extreme market events. Ashton Thomas and its advisors earned multiple awards in 2025 as well:
$100M Club: Top Female Advisors 2025 Hover or tap to see honoree
ATPW uses a fee-based model to provide advisory services for both private and institutional clients:
Ashton Thomas Private Wealth also runs a Women and Wealth program aimed at supporting female clients and financial professionals.
Ashton Thomas Private Wealth describes its culture as "client-centric" and "values-based." The firm says it operates under five guiding principles it calls the CREDO:
ATPW says it supports its teams with dedicated resources and infrastructure. Employees receive a base salary based on experience and performance-based incentives. Advisors get technology access across all major custodians, white glove transition support, and done-for-you back-office infrastructure.
Ashton Thomas Private Wealth also launched a Women and Wealth program. Managing wealth advisor Cary Carbonaro leads it to serve women clients and financial professionals.
Aaron Brodt is founder and CEO of both Ashton Thomas Private Wealth and Amplify Technology. Brodt worked as a financial advisor and portfolio manager at a multi-family office before founding ATPW. He started his career as an oil trader at Tosco, now part of ConocoPhillips, and holds the CIMA designation.
Brodt is supported by key people at Ashton Thomas Private Wealth, who include:
Each leader oversees a distinct function, from legal and finance to operations and business development. Together, the team manages ATPW's multi-entity structure across its offices in the US.
In late 2025, the firm acquired Day Hagan, a Sarasota-based wealth manager known for model-driven investment strategies. The deal brought co-founder Don Hagan on board as ATPW's new chief investment officer. For Ashton Thomas Private Wealth, the move added investment leadership and a Florida foothold as it continues to grow.
ATPW also pushed further west in early 2026 by adding Collin Rigler, a 30-year industry veteran from Raymond James. Rigler joined alongside colleague Eric Montijo and Kayleigh Nakamura and brought about $200 million in client assets. The additions deepened the firm's Southwest and West Coast presence as it looked to extend its national network.
Also, Cetera OSJ Wilde Wealth scoops a new COO from Ashton Thomas, while Texas-based Willis Johnson Wealth names its next CEO as part of a multigenerational succession.
Poughkeepsie-based $1.5 billion firm The Oak Group has left Wells Fargo to join Arax Advisory Partners, the $42 billion RIA platform backed by RedBird, whose portfolio includes sports investments in the Boston Red Sox, AC Milan, and the YES Network.
The platform's addition of a multi-generational practice, led by a veteran advisor from Cetera, extends its footprint further in the Northeast.
Ashton Thomas has also expanded its ranks with an experienced duo from Raymond James, while a Commonwealth advisor ends his two decade-plus affiliation by joining Cetera.
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Elsewhere, a deal in Florida gives Ashton Thomas Private Wealth a new CIO, while Moneta expands its reach further into Colorado.
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"QuantumRisk, by design, recognizes that these so-called "impossible" events actually happen, and it accounts for them in a way that advisors can see and plan for," Dr. Ron Piccinini told InvestmentNews.
"RedBird's pedigree investing in sports and media has been thematically an important part of what we're building," Arax CEO Haig Ariyan told InvestmentNews.
Meanwhile, Merchant is continuing to expand its support for RIAs by partnering with a South Dakota-chartered trust company.
Meanwhile, $34 billion independent First Manhattan welcomed New Jersey-based Roanoke Asset Management, an RIA firm with more than 40 years of history.
The industry's best and brightest were honored at a glitzy red-carpet ceremony on Tuesday night in New York City.
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