Ron Carson is in a hurry. He has exactly one hour to catch a flight to a conference in Denver, so he is simultaneously packing, thinking and talking at 90 miles per hour. He also is calmly dealing with a pending SEC audit of the firm he has spent the past 20 years building.

His frenetic nature is exactly what led him to an extraordinary business decision only three years ago — to break away from the largest independent broker-dealer in the world, LPL Financial, to form his own registered investment adviser.

Today, his Carson Wealth Management consistently ranks among the top 10 investment firms in the United States, with more than $4 billion in assets under management. In late 2012, Carson launched another division, Carson Institutional Alliance, serving advisers with clients who have $75 million to $700 million in assets. Carson says the division is performing well and “has exceeded our wildest expectations.”

Of more immediate attention is focusing on the