

The Caron Group

Our Mission Statement
Welcome
- Comprehensive Wealth Planning
- Pre-Liquidity Planning
- Investment Management
- Proprietary Investment Opportunities
- Risk Management
About PWM
- Manage investments with an unwavering focus on your financial strategy and personal goals
- Create comprehensive, multigenerational wealth management plans based on your needs, challenges and the values that guide your life and legacy
- Simplify financial complexity to help you achieve clarity and control
- Approximately 300 teams specialized in assisting individuals and families with $20MM+ in investable assets
- Over $1.2 trillion in AUM
- Comprising 26% of the Barron’s Top 100 Financial Advisors list for 2025
- Direct access to ultra high net worth experts in philanthropy, family dynamics, wealth transfer, lifestyle advisory and other areas of interest to ultra high net worth families
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Morgan Stanley offers a robust platform for alternative investments, providing clients with access to a diverse array of opportunities beyond traditional asset classes. Our offerings include private equity, private credit, real estate, infrastructure, and hedge funds, all curated through a rigorous due diligence process to ensure quality and potential for growth. With exclusive access to select funds and institutional-level pricing, we aim to help qualified investors enhance returns, manage risk, and achieve their financial goals. Our dedicated team of professionals is committed to delivering insightful guidance and personalized service to navigate the complexities of alternative investments. Please note that alternative investments are not suitable for all investors and are available only to those who meet specific eligibility criteria.
- Exclusive access with personalized guidance
- Rigorous investment and operational due diligence
- Opportunities to invest directly into private companies
- Values-based investing
- Private Equity
- Private Credit
- Real Estate / Real Assets
- Hedge Funds
- Digital Assets
- Tax-Advantaged Strategies
Our Relationships
We advise an exceptional client community and influential individuals, their families, businesses and foundations. Our clients come from diverse backgrounds and have distinct wealth creation stories, but they also have a lot in common. They share an entrepreneurial ambition, a passion for creative solutions and a deep confidence in their own abilities. They have a sophisticated understanding of the capital markets, but recognize that they need a deeply-trusted thought partner to strengthen their wealth and family legacy.
Global non-profits, foundations, and mission-driven institutions face a unique challenge: balancing long-term financial sustainability with the need to advance meaningful impact. Our team works with organizations to help align investment strategy, governance, liquidity planning, and philanthropic objectives with their broader mission. Whether the focus is preserving capital, funding future initiatives, managing endowments, or building a more intentional investment framework, we aim to provide tailored guidance rooted in transparency, stewardship, and long-term perspective.
Families with significant wealth often require a coordinated approach that extends beyond traditional investment management. Our team works with family offices, family enterprises, and closely held entities to help support the organization, preservation, and transfer of wealth across generations. We understand that each family's structure is different. We help clients evaluate their goals, priorities, and existing structures so they can make informed decisions with clarity and confidence.
With many decades of experience working with entrepreneurs, company founders, and executives, our team can help you navigate the intricate and elaborate challenges that come with creating a new business and assist you in planning for future liquidity events. In our thoughtful approach, we provide feedback and resources at critical stages in your professional and personal lives.
We guide and support you in taking the proper steps to attain your private wealth management goals tax efficiently, allowing you to focus on the multitude of demands required to take a company public. These discussions and steps may include option exercise analysis, concentrated stock positions, transfer strategies, and Qualified Small Business Stock.
Our team has a demonstrated track record of successfully supporting C-suite executives with their personal and company's financial requirements. Some of these services include providing complex solutions for concentrated equity positions including 10b5-1 plans, exchange funds, hedging strategies, and other diversification strategies as well as assessing incentive compensation packages.
Investing in private companies creates unique wealth management considerations. We supply you with tailored solutions regarding your portfolio's asset allocation, risk management, liabilities guidance, philanthropy endeavors support as well as advising on trust and estate structures.
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Meet The Caron Group
About Don Caron
With a focus on comprehensive financial strategies, Don, and his team work closely with clients whose needs often span personal, family, and business priorities. These clients include owners of privately held businesses, CEOs, CFOs, senior partners at leading law firms, and mission-driven nonprofit organizations. The Caron Group is a relationship-driven, solutions-oriented practice built on deep personal connections developed over many years and, in many cases, across multiple generations.
Don believes effective wealth management begins with understanding each family’s values, goals, dynamics, and desired legacy. The strength and breadth of The Caron Group allow the team to help clients address sophisticated financial planning, investment, and wealth transfer considerations, while also coordinating with clients’ estate, tax, insurance, and other professional advisors. Through this collaborative approach, Don and his team seek to serve as a trusted resource throughout the client relationship.
Don began his career in 1988 with Kidder, Peabody & Co. and joined Smith Barney in 1994. In 2007, he was invited to join Citi Family Office, a division of Smith Barney, and later became part of Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management following the merger of Smith Barney and Morgan Stanley. Over the course of his career, Don has been recognized by leading industry publications, including Barron’s.
In addition to his work with clients, Don is committed to serving his community and is a member of the Board of Directors of Northern Virginia Family Services. Outside the office, he stays active as an avid tennis player, enjoys golf, visiting local farmers markets, and traveling.
Don earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from The Pennsylvania State University. A native of Saratoga Springs, New York, he currently resides in Washington, D.C. and Virginia with his wife, Lorraine. He has four daughters, a stepson, two grandchildren, and a dog named Lucky.
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About Eleanor Peters
Eleanor started her career in financial services in 2014 as a Client Relationship Manager at FNC Title Services, LLC. Prior to moving overseas, she was a Registered Client Service Associate at Morgan Stanley from 2017-2019, then spent some time as a Work Life Wellness Coordinator at the U.S. Embassy Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She rejoined Morgan Stanley as an Associate Private Banker in 2021.
Eleanor received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at Syracuse University and a Master of Science in Management and Finance at University of Durham Business School, UK. She currently resides with her spouse in Washington, D.C. Outside of the office, she enjoys playing recreational tennis and notably was a Professional Tennis Player with the Women’s Tennis Association.
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About Madeline Walsh

Contact Don Caron
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Portfolio Insights
Private Wealth Management Podcast
- Intergenerational Planning
- Philanthropic Giving
- Non-Traditional Assets
- Managing Family Wealth
Managing Significant Wealth
- Investment Management
- Wealth Transfer & Philanthropy
- Cash Management & Lending
- Family Governance & Wealth Education
- Lifestyle Advisory
- Business Services
Insights and Outcomes
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC does not accept appointments nor will it act as a trustee but it will provide access to trust services through an appropriate third-party corporate trustee.
Asset Allocation does not assure a profit or protect against loss in declining financial markets.
The securities/instruments, investments and investment strategies discussed on this website may not be suitable for all investors. The appropriateness of a particular investment or investment strategy will depend on an investor's individual circumstances and objectives. The views and opinions expressed on this website may not necessarily reflect those of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (“Morgan Stanley”). This website and its associated content are intended for U.S. residents only.
Morgan Stanley and its Private Wealth Advisors do not provide tax or legal advice. Visitors to this website should consult their tax advisor for matters involving taxation and tax planning and their attorney for matters involving trust and estate planning and other legal matters.
Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Advisers may only transact business in states where they are registered or excluded or exempted from registration. Transacting business, follow-up and individualized responses involving either effecting or attempting to effect transactions in securities, or the rendering of personalized investment advice for compensation, will not be made to persons in states where Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Advisers are not registered or excluded or exempt from registration.
For more information, please see the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC Client Relationship Summary.
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Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Center for Financial Planning, Inc. owns and licenses the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER®, and CFP® (with plaque design) in the United States to Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., which authorizes individuals who successfully complete the organization's initial and ongoing certification requirements to use the certification marks.
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Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC offers insurance products in conjunction with its licensed insurance agency affiliates.
Life insurance, disability income insurance, and long-term care insurance are offered through Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC's licensed insurance agency affiliates.
Lifestyle Advisory Services: Products and services are provided by third party service providers, not Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (“Morgan Stanley”). Morgan Stanley may not receive a referral fee or have any input concerning such products or services. There may be additional service providers for comparative purposes. Please perform a thorough due diligence and make your own independent decision.
Private Bankers are employees of Morgan Stanley Private Bank, National Association.
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC is a registered Broker/Dealer, Member SIPC, and not a bank. Where appropriate, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC has entered into arrangements with banks and other third parties to assist in offering certain banking related products and services.
Investment, insurance and annuity products offered through Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC are: NOT FDIC INSURED | MAY LOSE VALUE | NOT BANK GUARANTEED | NOT A BANK DEPOSIT | NOT INSURED BY ANY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGENCY
Awards Disclosures | Morgan Stanley
Please read the important disclosures below.
1) Morgan Stanley Wealth Management secured Money Management Institute/Barron’s Industry Awards for Wealth Manager Platform of the Year. The Wealth Manager Platform of the Year category recognizes a wealth manager platform that exemplifies innovation in delivering better outcomes for investors and Financial Advisors. This award has been secured in 2024, 2021, 2020, 2019 & 2018. The winners were selected by a specially appointed MMI Industry Awards Steering Council. The Steering Council consists of representatives from all segments of the MMI membership. After carefully reviewing the nominations submitted, the Steering Council determined a slate of finalists in each award category. The primary contacts at each of MMI’s 207 member firms were eligible to vote to determine the winners. Nominations were reviewed and evaluated to determine finalists June 2024 - July 2024. Finalists were voted on to determine a winner August 2024. MMI/Barron’s does not receive compensation from the participating firms in exchange for the award and Morgan Stanley did not pay a fee to MMI/Barron’s in exchange for its receipt of the award. Morgan Stanley is a member of MMI and pays a fee to MMI as part of its membership dues. Morgan Stanley’s receipt of this award is not indicative of any future performance. These awards were granted to Morgan Stanley based on the time period from October 2023 to June 2024. There were 6 firms considered for the Wealth Management Platform of the Year Award and 12 firms considered for the Distribution Excellence Award. The Money Management Institute (MMI) is the industry association representing financial services firms and Barron’s is a financial magazine; both groups are responsible for the award. Accolade qualifications for past years may vary; additional information available upon request.
2) Industry’s top tax-optimization technology refers to tax management capabilities developed by Eaton Vance and Parametric, affiliates of Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley is a leading provider of direct indexing strategies. According to Cerulli Associates’ Q1 2026 Managed Account Edition, Morgan Stanley ranked first among 15 firms in Direct Index SMA assets under management based on reported industry assets. The ranking reflects scale of assets and does not evaluate tax outcomes, performance, or quality of technology. Tax outcomes will vary and are not guaranteed.
3) The Celent Model Wealth Manager 2025 Awards for Data and Analytics and Essential and Emerging Technologies were granted to Morgan Stanley following an evaluation process conducted by Celent analysts. To be considered for this award, Morgan Stanley submitted Model Wealth Manager 2025 Nomination Award Worksheets to Celent on or about January 30, 2025. Celent judged each submission on three criteria: (1) Measurable business benefits of live initiatives; (2) degree of innovation relative to the industry; and (3) technology or implementation excellence. In order to win, the initiatives must demonstrate clear business benefits, innovation, and technology or implementation excellence. Celent does not receive compensation from the participating firms in exchange for the award and Morgan Stanley did not pay a fee to Celent in exchange for the award. Morgan Stanley is not affiliated with Celent. Based on their submission on January 30, 2025 for Celent’s 2025 Model Awards program, Celent granted Morgan Stanley their awards in June, 2025 and publicly shared the news in June, 2025. Celent is a global financial services research and advisory firm and is responsible for determining the recipient of this award.
4) Q4 2025 Securities Based Lending McLagan Survey – 6 Firm Report. Based on both Non-Purpose Lending and total SBL balances. Borrowing against securities may not be appropriate for everyone. Clients must be aware that there are risks associated with a securities based loan, including possible maintenance calls on short notice, and that market conditions can magnify any potential for loss.
Not all products, tools, platforms, and services referenced are available to all clients. Please speak with your Financial Advisor for eligibility criteria.
Investing in securities involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Diversification does not guarantee a profit or protect against loss in a declining financial market.
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC does not accept appointments nor will it act as a trustee but it will provide access to trust services through an appropriate third-party corporate trustee.
Alternative investments are often speculative and include a high degree of risk. Investors can lose all or a substantial amount of their investment. They may be highly illiquid, can engage in leverage, short-selling and other speculative practices that may increase volatility and the risk of loss, and may be subject to large investment minimums and initial lock-ups. They may involve complex tax structures, tax inefficient investing and delays in distributing important tax information. They may have higher fees and expenses that traditional investments, and such fees and expenses can lower the returns achieved by investors.
Cash management and lending products and services are provided by Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, Morgan Stanley Private Bank, National Association or Morgan Stanley Bank, N.A, as applicable.
Borrowing against securities may not be appropriate for everyone. Clients must be aware that there are risks associated with a securities based loan, including possible maintenance calls on short notice, and that market conditions can magnify any potential for loss. For details please see the important disclosures below.
Important Risk Information for Securities Based Lending: Clients must be aware that: (1) Sufficient collateral must be maintained to support the loan and to take future advances; (2) Clients may have to deposit additional cash or eligible securities on short notice; (3) Some or all of the pledged securities may be sold without prior notice in order to maintain account equity at required collateral maintenance levels. Clients will not be entitled to choose the securities that will be sold. These actions may interrupt long-term investment strategy and may result in adverse tax consequences or in additional fees being assessed; (4) Morgan Stanley Bank, N.A., Morgan Stanley Private Bank, National Association or Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (collectively referred to as "Morgan Stanley") reserve the right not to fund any advance request due to insufficient collateral or for any other reason except for any portion of a securities based loan that is identified as a committed facility; (5) Morgan Stanley reserves the right to increase the collateral maintenance requirements at any time without notice; and (6) Morgan Stanley reserves the right to call securities based loans at any time and for any reason.
With the exception of a margin loan, the proceeds from securities based loan products may not be used to purchase, trade, or carry margin stock (or securities, with respect to Express CreditLine); repay margin debt that was used to purchase, trade or carry margin stock (or securities, with respect to Express CreditLine); and cannot be deposited into a Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC or other brokerage account.
To be eligible for a securities based loan, a client must have a brokerage account at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC that contains eligible securities, which shall serve as collateral for the securities based loan.
Securities based loans are provided by Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, Morgan Stanley Private Bank, National Association or Morgan Stanley Bank, N.A, as applicable.
There is no guarantee that tax-loss harvesting will achieve any particular tax result. Clients may elect Tax Management Services for the account by notifying their Financial Advisor, and indicate what Maximum Tax or Realized Capital Gain Instruction is desired for the account, if any. The Tax Management Services Terms and Conditions attached to the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC Select UMA ADV brochure as Exhibit A will govern Tax Management Services in the account. Review the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC Select UMA ADV brochure carefully with your tax advisor.
Industry acclaimed risk platform refers to Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC’s (“Morgan Stanley”) Portfolio Risk Platform. The assumptions used in the Report incorporate portfolio risk and scenario analysis employed by BlackRock Solutions (“BRS”), a financial technology and risk analytics provider that is independent of Morgan Stanley. BRS’ role is limited to providing risk analytics to Morgan Stanley, and BRS is not acting as a broker-dealer or investment adviser nor does it provide investment advice with respect to the Report. Morgan Stanley has validated and adopted the analytical conclusions of these risk models. The analysis provided is illustrative only. Morgan Stanley cannot predict a portfolio’s risk of loss due to, among other things, changing market conditions or other unanticipated circumstances. The analysis is based purely on assumptions made using available data and any of its forecasts are subject to change.
The footnotes below apply to the industry-leading claims referenced above. More information is available upon request.
Morgan Stanley Wealth Management is the trade name of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, a registered broker-dealer in the United States. Securities based loans are provided by Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, Morgan Stanley Private Bank, National Association or Morgan Stanley Bank, N.A, as applicable.
Investment, Insurance and annuity products offered through Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC are NOT FDIC INSURED | MAY LOSE VALUE | NOT BANK GUARANTEED | NOT A BANK DEPOSIT | NOT INSURED BY ANY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGENCY
Morgan Stanley offers a wide array of brokerage and advisory services to its clients, each of which may create a different type of relationship with different obligations to you. Please visit us at www.morganstanley.com/wealth or consult with your Morgan Stanley Financial Advisor to read about those differences.
The sole purpose of this material is to inform, and it in no way is intended to be an offer or solicitation to purchase or sell any security, other investment service, or to attract any funds or deposits. Investments mentioned may not be appropriate for all clients. Before making any investment, each investor should carefully consider the risks associated with the investment, as discussed in the applicable offering memorandum and make a determination based on their own particular circumstances that the investment is consistent with their investment objectives and risk tolerance.
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