Carolyn Armitage, who was was terminated from her role as head of Thrivent's advisor network in July, launched its own consulting firm aimed at helping wealth management CEOs with strategic planning and executive leadership skills.
State of Minnesota recently banned non-compete agreementsso Thrivent sent Armitage an email, saying the company would no longer implement it.
Armitage said he interviewed at a number of industry organizations, but none of them matched what he wanted to achieve next. She announced the launch of Carolyn Armitage Consulting on LinkedIn. The new business will focus on helping leaders of registered investment advisers and hybrid firms with succession planning, team management and strategic decisions.
“I've spent most of my career — while I've done a lot of corporate development — it's always been centered around advisor development as well,” Armitage said, in an interview with WealthManagement.com.
Much of her focus will be on helping these leaders hire the right people and keep them within the organization.
“I've definitely seen a gap in the industry where advisors are being challenged in running the people side of their business,” she said. “I've talked to a lot of executives who just don't like leading people, and we're in the people business. Having executive leadership skills are essential to being a successful CEO, or you hire him in another role.”
She has about a dozen potential clients interested in signing the new firm. She'll charge an hourly rate for clients who just want to pick her brain on things, or a flat rate for larger projects.
Armitage was fired by Thrivent as part of a larger reorganization of the wealth management business. Thrivent let go four more people on Armitage's team, including business development officers Tom Pistole and Erik Feldman, Growth Program Manager Lori Sherman and Business Development Consultant Katie Tram. The firm has also stopped recruiting new advisers for its RIA.
Prior to that, Armitage served as a managing director at investment banking and RIA consulting firm Echelon Partners.
Thrivent hired Armitage to replace him Luke Winskowski, which the firm tapped at the time to lead the new advisory and wealth management division. Winskowski has since left Thrivent to be president of 49 Financialan Austin, Texas-based hybrid RIA with just under $1 billion in assets.