DFX Intelligence
RIA Intelligence
Registered investment advisers, the advisors registered through them, the capital they report, the private vehicles they run and the people who own them, as a graph with a filing date behind every number. RAUM is what the adviser filed, a move is two registration dates, and a class is a rule you can read.
SEC-registered adviser
Townsend Asset Management Corp.
Latest filing Feb 27, 2026
First filing on the tape Feb 24, 2012 · 24 filings
SEC status approved since Dec 6, 1982
RAUM
$480M
reported, Item 5.F
Discretionary
97%
of RAUM
Private clients
99%
$474M individuals and HNW
Advisors
3
registered through the firm on IAPD
RAUM per advisor
$160M
derived; firm RAUM over IAPD count
Employees
7
4 advisory (5.B.1)
Offices
0
beyond the principal office
Private funds
0
reported on Schedule D
History
24 filings and snapshots on the tape
RAUM$480M as of Feb 27, 2026
Feb 24, 2012$97.2M then
HNW client RAUM$389M as of Feb 27, 2026
Jan 30, 2018$121M then
State-registered IARs (5.B.3)3 as of Feb 27, 2026
Feb 24, 20120 then
Employees (5.A)7 as of Feb 27, 2026
Feb 7, 20136 then
Private funds: no history
RAUM +7.6% over the last fiscal year+11% a year over threeIARs 3 to 3
Practice profile
derived from the filing of Feb 27, 2026; every figure names its basis
Archetypes, each a printed rule
- HNW wealth manager · private-client share of RAUM at least 50 percent and HNW share of private-client RAUM 50 to 90 percent
- Independent boutique · a wealth manager with no broker-dealer, bank or insurance affiliate, 2 to 25 advisors, one to three offices, no public reporting company control
- Solo or small team · one advisor, or a wealth manager with up to three advisors and one office
- RAUM per advisor
- $160MderivedRAUM over IAPD advisors; not a book size
- Clients per advisor
- 127derivedindividual and HNW clients (5.D) over advisors
- Average HNW client
- $3.3MderivedHNW RAUM over HNW clients
- Average account
- $424,416derivedRAUM over accounts (5.F.2.f)
- Discretionary
- 97%derivedof RAUM
- Institutional
- 0.9%derivedpensions, charities, corporations, government, insurance, banks, other advisers
- Employees per advisor
- 2.3derivedItem 5.A over advisors
- Advisors per office
- 3.0derived1 offices incl. principal (1.F.5)
- RAUM growth, one year
- +7.6%derivedbetween the last two annual amendments
- Advisor growth, one year
- +0.0%derivedItem 5.B.3 between annual amendments
- Client growth, one year
- -9.5%derived
- Compensation
- percentage of assets, hourly, fixed feesreportedItem 5.E
- Advisory activities
- financial planning, portfolio management for individuals, portfolio management for businesses and institutions, educational seminarsreportedItem 5.G
- Custody
- $205M, 171 clientsreportedItem 9.A
- Ownership
- no PE, bank or public-company owner found on Schedule Aderived
- Advisor book size
- not public; not estimatedreported
Also answered yes on Form ADV
- buys or sells securities as principal to or from clients (8.A.2)
- has discretionary authority over which securities are bought or sold (8.C.1)
- receives research or other products from a broker-dealer, soft dollars (8.E)
- has custody of client cash or bank accounts (9.A.1.a)
- has custody of client securities (9.A.1.b)
- marketing includes testimonials (5.L.1.c)
Where the RAUM sits
Form ADV Item 5.D, latest filing
- High-net-worth individuals$389M81%
- Individuals$84.6M18%
- Pension and profit-sharing plans$3.9M0.8%
- Corporations and businesses$1.2M0.3%
- Charitable organizations$544,5250.1%
- Individual clients
- 264reported
- HNW clients
- 118reported
- Pension plan clients
- 4reported
- Charitable clients
- 12reported
- Accounts
- 1,130reported
- Financial planning clients
- 251-500reported
- Wrap fee programs
- noreported
- Custody of client assets
- $205M for 171 clientsreported
- Compensation
- % of AUM, fixed, hourlyreported
- Class basis
- private_client_share=0.99 fund_share=0.0 institutional_share=0.01 related_bd=false related_bank=false bd_reps=0.0derived
Advisors registered through the firm
3 on IAPD today, longest tenure first
| Name | Branch | Here since | In industry | Prior firms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caleb Robert GriffithCertified Financial Planner | Raleigh, Nc | Feb 21, 2012 | 20 y | 0 |
| Arne W Morris | Raleigh, Nc | Jul 26, 2017 | 27 y | 1 |
| James Michael TarkentonChartered Financial Analyst | Raleigh, Nc | Nov 27, 2018 | 18 y | 0 |
Advisor movement
0 left, 0 joined in 12 months
net 0 in 12 months0 left in 90 days0 joined in 90 daysdeparture rate 0.0% of current headcount0 left over 36 months
Left, latest
- James Patrick Kniffen to James P. Kniffen Portfolio Management, LLCMay 15, 2019 · Other
- Jason William Carter to First Allied Advisory Services, Inc.Jan 15, 2014 · Other
- Nathan Ross Hymiller to Beacon Financial Strategies Corp.Dec 3, 2004 · Other
Joined, latest
- James Patrick Kniffen from Time, Life And Money, LLCJul 26, 2017 · Other
- Arne W Morris from Choreo, LLCJul 26, 2017 · Other
- Jason William Carter from LPL Financial LLCFeb 23, 2012 · Other
Private funds
No private fund reported.
Owners and control persons
Schedule A and B, latest filing
- Robert Caleb Griffith · Chief Compliance Officercontrolsince 11/2019 · owns less than 5%
- W Arne Morris · Secretarycontrolsince 04/2020 · owns 25% to 50%
- Michael James Tarkenton · Presidentcontrolsince 04/2020 · owns 50% to 75%
- Alan Gerald Townsend · Ceocontrolsince 10/1982 · owns 5% to 10%
- Lee Katrina Townsend · Ownercontrolsince 10/1982 · owns 10% to 25%
Related persons
Schedule D 7.A
No related person reported.
Office movement
IAPD branch city; joins and departures in 12 months
| Office | Advisors | Joined | Left | Teams out | Forming |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raleigh, Nc · principal | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Offices
Schedule D 1.F, the 25 largest
No branch office listed.
ADV anomalies
1 against comparable advisers; where to look, not conclusions
- very high RAUM per advisorStatic outlier · filing Feb 27, 2026RAUM per registered advisor of $159,863,213 against a peer median of $55,716,044 (3252 comparable advisers, 100.0th percentile, 3.6 robust deviations)peers: independent wealth managers, $100M to $500M (3,252) · 100% percentile
What changed
consecutive filings, newest first
- Accounts · 1,179 to 1,130Mar 11, 2025 to Feb 27, 2026
- Advisory activities · 3 to 4Mar 11, 2025 to Feb 27, 2026
- Charity clients · 11 to 12Mar 11, 2025 to Feb 27, 2026
- Corporate clients · 5 to 6Mar 11, 2025 to Feb 27, 2026
- HNW clients · 125 to 118Mar 11, 2025 to Feb 27, 2026
- Individual clients · 297 to 264Mar 11, 2025 to Feb 27, 2026
- Assets in custody · $181M to $205MMar 11, 2025 to Feb 27, 2026
- Employees · 8 to 7Mar 11, 2025 to Feb 27, 2026
- Discretionary RAUM · $428M to $465MMar 11, 2025 to Feb 27, 2026
- HNW RAUM · $368M to $389MMar 11, 2025 to Feb 27, 2026
- Individual RAUM · $72.9M to $84.6MMar 11, 2025 to Feb 27, 2026
- Non-discretionary RAUM · $17.3M to $14.4MMar 11, 2025 to Feb 27, 2026
- Pension RAUM · $3.2M to $3.9MMar 11, 2025 to Feb 27, 2026
- RAUM · $446M to $480MMar 11, 2025 to Feb 27, 2026
- Accounts · 1,137 to 1,179Mar 15, 2024 to Mar 11, 2025
- Advisory employees · 5 to 4Mar 15, 2024 to Mar 11, 2025
- Charity clients · 10 to 11Mar 15, 2024 to Mar 11, 2025
- HNW clients · 118 to 125Mar 15, 2024 to Mar 11, 2025
- Individual clients · 274 to 297Mar 15, 2024 to Mar 11, 2025
- Assets in custody · $143M to $181MMar 15, 2024 to Mar 11, 2025
- Financial planning clients · 251-500 to 251-500Mar 15, 2024 to Mar 11, 2025
- State-registered IARs · 4 to 3Mar 15, 2024 to Mar 11, 2025
- Discretionary RAUM · $359M to $428MMar 15, 2024 to Mar 11, 2025
- HNW RAUM · $321M to $368MMar 15, 2024 to Mar 11, 2025
- Individual RAUM · $74.0M to $72.9MMar 15, 2024 to Mar 11, 2025
- Non-discretionary RAUM · $42.4M to $17.3MMar 15, 2024 to Mar 11, 2025
- Pension RAUM · $5.2M to $3.2MMar 15, 2024 to Mar 11, 2025
- RAUM · $401M to $446MMar 15, 2024 to Mar 11, 2025
- Accounts · 1,043 to 1,137Dec 21, 2023 to Mar 4, 2024
- Corporate clients · 4 to 5Dec 21, 2023 to Mar 4, 2024
- HNW clients · 106 to 118Dec 21, 2023 to Mar 4, 2024
- Individual clients · 253 to 274Dec 21, 2023 to Mar 4, 2024
- Assets in custody · $135M to $143MDec 21, 2023 to Mar 4, 2024
- Employees · 10 to 8Dec 21, 2023 to Mar 4, 2024
- Discretionary RAUM · $307M to $359MDec 21, 2023 to Mar 4, 2024
- HNW RAUM · $277M to $321MDec 21, 2023 to Mar 4, 2024
- Individual RAUM · $64.0M to $74.0MDec 21, 2023 to Mar 4, 2024
- Non-discretionary RAUM · $39.2M to $42.4MDec 21, 2023 to Mar 4, 2024
- Pension RAUM · $4.4M to $5.2MDec 21, 2023 to Mar 4, 2024
- RAUM · $346M to $401MDec 21, 2023 to Mar 4, 2024
Signals
3 dated events
- Michael James Tarkenton (Portfolio Manager) appeared on Schedule A of Townsend Asset Management Corp.Mar 23, 2021 · Control person joined · fact
- Lawrence Michael Solomon (Tax Advisor, Chief Compliance Officer, And Chief Technology Officer) no longer on Schedule A of Townsend Asset Management Corp. (listed 2019-03-11, absent 2019-11-19)Nov 19, 2019 · Control person left · inference
- Robert Caleb Griffith (Chief Compliance Officer) appeared on Schedule A of Townsend Asset Management Corp.Nov 19, 2019 · Control person joined · fact
Across DFX
shared identifiers only, never a name match
No identifier-backed link to the venture, private equity, family office or sponsor graphs.
How to reach
public business contact points only, each with its source
- Business phone
- 919-782-9689reportedpublished by the firm, firm site, Sep 16, 2026
- Business phone
- 919-783-0226reportedpublished by the firm, firm site, Sep 16, 2026
- Firm profile
- linkedin.com/company/townsend-asset-management-corp-reportedpublic record, Form ADV, Sep 17, 2026
- Website
- northcarolinawealthmanagers.comreportedpublic record, Form ADV, Sep 17, 2026
- Principal office phone
- 919-782-9689reportedpublic record, Form ADV, Feb 27, 2026
- Contact form
- northcarolinawealthmanagers.com/contactreportedpublished by the firm, firm site, Sep 16, 2026
Provenance
- Form ADV
- SEC filing data 2011 to 2024 and the monthly roster 2025 onreportedadviserinfo.sec.gov
- Advisors
- IAPD individual compilation feed, dailyreportedadviserinfo.sec.gov
- Class
- Independent wealth managerderiveda rule over Items 5.D and 7.A
- RAUM per advisor
- $160Mderivedfirm RAUM over the IAPD count; not a book size
- Loaded
- Sep 14, 2026