Carmel-based Shepherd Financial fueling growth with acquisitions

Carmel-based Shepherd Financial LLC is planning to grow its workforce by 50 employees, tripling its statewide staff.

Leah Hill, a partner and director of retirement plan services for Shepherd Financial, said the wealth advisory firm is planning to invest a half-million dollars on an expansion and hire the 50 employees over the next five years. A majority of the new employees will work from the company’s expanded headquarters in Carmel.

“We are in a growth-oriented position today,” Hill said. “It’s a byproduct of organic growth and having been fortunate enough to win a significant amount of new business.”

Shepherd Financial, an offshoot of Shepherd Insurance, was formed in 2015 to advise corporate entities on their retirement plans and individuals with wealth management.

Hill attributed much of Shepherd Financial’s growth to recent acquisitions, including a merger with insurance agency Logan Lavelle Hunt in Jeffersonville in 2018, and the addition of two former LPL Financial wealth management advisers, George Lauck and Alex Sylvester, in January.

Shepherd Financial occupies about 2,500 square feet of the 19,000-square-foot space Shepherd Insurance LLC started leasing in the Congressional building, 111 Congressional Boulevard (near North Meridian and East 116th Street), in 2012.

Shepherd Financial plans to grow that space to 6,120 square feet to accommodate 12 new hires by the end of this year.

But the growth won’t stop there. Hill said Shepherd Financial is eyeing another space within building for its next expansion.

Commercial real estate firm Lauth Group Inc. has leased about 14,500 square feet in the building since 2012, but the company plans to move its headquarters to Carmel’s Proscenium development in the summer.

If Shepherd Financial can’t secure that space, Hill said the firm will have to find other accommodations for another 20 or so Carmel-based employees it plans to add from 2021 to 2024.

“We’re all working out exactly where we’re going,” Hill said.

Outside of Carmel, Hill said the firm plans to hire about six employees in its Evansville offices and 12 in New Albany. The company currently has 23 employees across six locations.

All new positions will be salaried, with compensation ranging from $40,000 to $150,000 a year.

“We have positions available within administrative levels, but we’re also looking for lots of different financial consultants and relationship managers,” Hill said. “It’s a range of positions, across the board.”

Shepherd Financial is currently in discussions with the Indiana Economic Development Corp. to receive about $900,000 in Economic Development in conditional tax credits, based on the job-creation plans.

“We’re going to reinvest in the business itself to innovate and remain cutting edge in the services we provide,” Hill said.