Mega-RIA Carson Group terminated an Indiana-based advisor after he allegedly failed to respond to upwards of a dozen deficiencies marked in an audit, according to regulatory disclosure filings.
Larry Weinzapfel of Evansville, Ind., was an investment advisor at Carson Wealth, an RIA subsidiary of Nebraska-based Carson Group, from December 2021 to his discharge on November 17, 2025. Carson Wealth (CWM, LLC) maintains compliance standards that require advisor representatives to respond to audits within 30 days, which Weinzapfel failed to do according to details published in the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure database.
“Audit deficiencies identified from the examination were sent to the office for formal review and response on August 20, 2025, with a requested response time frame of 30 days,” reads the allegations against Weinzapfel. “As of the date of the rep's termination, the rep failed to respond to the audit deficiencies. CWM, LLC sent repeat reminders and requests for response after the 30-day response deadline passed. The rep was consistently unresponsive to CWM, LLC. Eight of the twelve deficiencies were identified as repeat findings.”
An Instagram post from Carson Group dated January 2022 announced its partnership with Larry Weinzapfel and Weinzapfel Wealth Advisors. Weinzapfel Wealth Advisors was an SEC-registered RIA until June 2024, with its latest Form ADV filing showing the firm managed roughly $5.7 million in assets for 142 clients.
Representatives for Carson Group did not respond to email outreach seeking more information regarding Weinzapfel’s departure. InvestmentNews was able to make contact with Weinzapfel & Co., LLC via a phone number listed on the accounting firm’s LinkedIn page, but Larry Weinzapfel did not respond with comment for this story by press time.
A website for Weinzapfel & Co says Larry established the firm in 2001 and now serves as a managing partner with his wife Leigh Ann Weinzapfel as a partner. The company’s seven-person team page lists both Larry and Leigh Ann as being members of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Indiana CPA Society.
Carson Group manages more than $55 billion in assets for 54,000 client families across its network of over 150 partner offices, including more than 50 Carson Wealth locations. According to a map of advisors on Carson Wealth’s website, the firm still has three advisory teams based in Indiana.
Private equity giant Bain Capital took a minority stake in Carson Group in 2021, with the firm managing roughly $17 billion in assets at the time of that investment. Ron ‘Omani’ Carson, who founded the firm in 1983, remains the majority shareholder despite stepping away from his role as CEO of Carson Group in 2024 to be replaced by current chief executive Burt White. A former CMO for Carson Group also recently dropped her lawsuit against the mega-RIA.
Five low-cost index ETFs to anchor Trump Accounts as advisors weigh options against 529 and UTMA plans for clients
A bipartisan proposal aimed at aligning advisor compensation rules with modern business structures is headed to the full House.
Vanilla is extending its estate planning tech to Callan Family Office's ultra-high-net-worth business, while WealthFeed's organic growth engine will now be available to roughly 100 advisors at The Mather Group.
“We are helping families take an important first step toward building a financial foundation for the next generation,” said Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson
Richard Brothers Financial Advisors joins the fee-only RIA, adding its first Maine office and $240 million in client assets
Dan Biagini of American Equity says the steady decline of pensions, longer lifespans and a reset in interest rates are rewriting how advisors build retirement income
Direct indexing is on pace to outgrow ETFs and mutual funds. Northern Trust's Ken Lassner explains why the advisors who get it wish they had started sooner.
