Council

Investment advice and counsel are two of our most valuable assets we can share. They stem from our experiences - our successes and our failures - and develop into a wisdom that can be beneficial to those who choose to listen. Proverbs tell us, “How much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver!”

Who better then to partner with, to provide our athlete clients with wisdom and insight, than the Co-Founding members of the Constellation Sports Council, each of whom embodies the eight attributes that make up the culture essential to how we conduct our operation? Please click on the Co-Founders’ pictures below for anecdotes Jon shares about how they each practiced the cultural qualities during their careers.

Ray Allen

Principal and Co -Founder

Ray Allen

Principal and Co-Founder

Jon's Story on Ray

"June 18th, 2013. I took my then 7-year-old son, Nate, to a minor league baseball All-Star game that evening. Ray’s Miami Heat were in the NBA Finals but were down three games to two to the Spurs. Once in the car after the baseball game, I checked on the basketball score only to learn that the Spurs had a big lead. Nate and I chatted a bit until he fell asleep during our ride home. I turned the game back on, and Miami had come all the way back and cut the lead down to three. We all know now what happened as the clock ran down: a missed shot resulted in an offensive rebound, a pass out to Ray, who took a step back – knowing instinctively where his feet were on the court – and nailed the three-pointer that sent the game into overtime! Having heard the radio call of the play as I pulled into my driveway, I ran into the house yelling for my wife to go get our sleeping son out of the car so that I could turn on the TV to watch the replays. You don’t hit one of the most iconic shots in league history and become the all-time leader in three-point shots without a singular focus towards excellence. You don’t just know where your feet are during the frantic culmination of a game - of potentially the end of a series and of a season - without the dedication and perseverance that only true champions possess. And credit Ray’s open-mindedness for being willing to change his game to better mesh with the other two members of Boston’s Big Three, and by doing so win his first championship and help lead the Celtics to their first title in 22 years."

Jamey Carroll

Principal and Co-Founder

Jamey Carroll

Principal and Co-Founder

Jon's Story on Jamey

"During spring training in 2011, I was chatting with Jamey when he casually mentioned something about managing a game for the Dodgers at the end of the prior season. My jaw dropped (in fact, it has again as I type this), and I said, “Wait a minute. What?! During one of Joe Torre’s last games ever as a future Hall of Fame manager, he asked you to manage the game?” Almost embarrassed to have to recount it, Jamey described to me that Torre did this as a signal to a player who he thinks has what it takes to someday manage. Joe is there to back you up, Jamey said, but otherwise, you are completely in charge, from setting the lineup to making all in-game decisions to addressing the media afterward. Torre must have seen the authenticity in Jamey that prompted Tony Dungy, the great NFL coach, to write in his book about what a former Rockies player/teammate said in an organizational meeting about Jamey: “He makes everyone around him better. He does the little baseball things, like hitting behind runners, bunting, and other personal sacrifices that won’t show up in box scores, but in the process, everyone around him rises to a higher level. He’s the best teammate I’ve ever had.” It simply does not happen that a ballplayer is called up from the minors at age 28 and sticks for 11 seasons (and 1,000 career hits) without a hustle that is extraordinarily rare."

Barry Larkin

Principal and Co-Founder

Barry Larkin

Principal and Co-Founder

Jon's Story on Barry

"While visiting future NFL players at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, AL one year, I received a call from Barry. It was January, and he had been named the NL MVP two months earlier. Knowing his affinity for the Michigan Wolverines, I shared with him that I had just spent time with one of their defensive linemen. Barry asked if I had told the player that Barry was a client, and I replied that I had not as I keep information like that confidential. He then asked me, “Do you think he knows who I am?” I stared at the phone for a second, then kind of laughed and said “Yeah, I’m pretty sure everyone who follows sports knows who you are!” That kind of humility is what makes a great leader, and what drove Barry, as team captain, to learn how to speak Spanish to better communicate with teammates. It took a special honesty for Barry to admit during his Hall of Fame induction speech that as a young player he lacked a sense of urgency, causing a couple of veteran teammates to call him out and challenge him to get better. Weaker people falter when that happens, and some just get defensive and angry. Barry credits that encounter with being the defining moment that spurred him to become the world champion, the MVP, and the Hall of Famer that others saw in him."

David West

Principal and Co-Founder

David West

Principal and Co-Founder

Jon's Story on David

"In April of 2012, I attended David’s final regular-season game in Indianapolis. This was his first year with the Pacers, and we went out to eat after the game. During dinner, he had to apologize for the number of texts he was receiving from and sending to teammates, imploring them to not get too caught up in the excitement of just making the playoffs but to maintain their focus and intensity throughout. The Pacers had made the playoffs the year before for the first time in five seasons but lost to Chicago in the first round. Not at all surprising to those of us who know David, the team did win that first-round series in '12 and made it to the conference finals the next two seasons. His demand of accountability from the rest of the locker room resulted in one of the best stretches in team history. Chris Paul said during their time as teammates in New Orleans that there was no other power forward he would rather play with, as David’s selflessness creates an atmosphere where the team succeeds, not just the individual. The history of sports at its highest levels is full of teams who never achieved or sustained the success that should have because they didn’t have leaders like David West."

J. Jonathan Hayes

President & Founder

Jon Hayes

J. Jonathan Hayes

President & Founder

Jon’s career in finance and wealth management spans over three decades, with the bulk of that time dedicated to working with professional athletes and others in the sports industry. He earned his MBA from the University of Notre Dame, graduating magna cum laude, and is frequently brought back to South Bend to lecture. Undergraduate degrees in Economics and in Management were earned from Earlham College, where Jon played both baseball and football. He serves on the Ohio state board of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Golf is a passion, and he leads the LINKS Fellowship at his club. More than anything, he enjoys spending time with his family and living vicariously through the sporting endeavors of his three kids.

Jon's sports highlights would come in college, where in the fall of his senior football season his four catches on his 21st birthday earned him Player of The Week honors and followed that next spring by pitching a three-hitter against the 18th ranked baseball team in the country.

Tim Hightower

Client Relationship Associate

Tim is a Client Relationship Associate and a member of the client service team. Prior to joining the firm, Tim provided operations support at J.P. Morgan Asset Management. He attended Indiana University and studied psychology and economics. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his wife and young daughter.