Founder's hire by Lincoln triggers firm's restructuring as planners follow. A partnership with broker-dealer Lincoln Financial Advisors' (LFA) Sagemark Consulting will help the De Witt, N.Y.-based Carta Group offer more sophisticated technological services as well as a fee-based financial planning platform.

The deal is not an acquisition. Rather it stems from LFA's hire of Carta Group founder Garry Payne as a managing principal in Sagemark's Syracuse office.

Meet the new boss

"As [Payne] is still considered president of the Carta Group, he wanted to carry that brand and his loyal colleagues with him to his new company," Carta managing director Katrina Price told the Central New York Business Journal. "Six financial planners of the Carta Group -- not technically employees -- have changed their affiliation to [LFA], the new broker-dealer. The three Carta Group staff employees -- including myself, the receptionist, and the office manager -- are now technically employees of LFA."

But the old Carta operation will continue to use its old branding. "Lincoln Financial Advisors has allowed all nine of us to still use the Carta Group marketing name for branding purposes," says Price.

Payne says Carta will benefit as an affiliate of because of the larger company's "in-depth planning processes" make Carta competitive with the larger company's rivals such as MetLife and Northwestern Mutual.

Founded in 2003, Carta had been affiliated with John Hancock. The firm caters mainly to small businesses and their proprietors.

Sagemark is the fee-based planning arm of LFA. -FWR

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