Jamie Hopkins to leave Carson Group

We'll miss his leadership and passion for profession, says RIA

Jamie Hopkins, managing partner of wealth solutions at Carson Group, is stepping down for family reasons at the end of September.

The $28 billion RIA, backed by Bain Capital, says it fully supports Hopkins’ decision.

“We will begin a search immediately to backfill his role,” Burt White, managing partner and chief strategy officer for Carson, wrote in a statement. “We will miss his leadership, his passion for our profession, and his desire to always put the best interests of our clients first. His role in elevating the Carson brand over the past five years and serving as a vocal advocate on the importance of financial planning was a testament to furthering a mission larger than any one person or company.”

White added Hopkins will remain in his position on the board of directors of the FinServ Foundation, a Carson-backed nonprofit internship program for young professionals in the financial services sector. Aaron Schaben, Carson’s divisional president and Kelsey Ruwe, Carson’s chief human resources officer, also sit on the board.

Before joining Carson, Hopkins was an associate professor of taxation at The American College of Financial Services in the retirement income program and served as the director of the New York Life Center for Retirement Income.

Carson Group hired Hopkins in 2019 to serve as its director of retirement research. He had been working as a professor of retirement planning, insurance law and estate planning at the American College of Financial Services, a distance learning college that trains advisors to obtain professional designations such as CFP certification.

In 2021, Hopkins was promoted to managing partner of wealth solutions, where he was responsible for overseeing Omaha, Nebraska-based Carson’s financial and tax planning strategy, as well as its advisor coaching business, Carson Coaching.

The same year, he was named RIA Thought Leader of The Year by WealthManagement.com and was recognized by Think Advisor as one of the top 25 leaders in financial services. He was also featured by InvestmentNews as one of the top 40 financial services professionals under the age of 40 in 2015.

His most recent book, “Find Your Freedom: Financial Planning for a Life on Purpose,” is a Wall Street Journal bestseller.

Hopkins says it’s been an honor to be a part of Carson’s story for the past five years. “I’ve worked alongside some incredibly talented colleagues and partners while here, and I’m excited for what that means for Carson’s mission in the years ahead,” he wrote in a statement. “I’ll always feel a part of this passionate community.”