Steward Partners, a network of employee-owned financial advisory practices that oversees about $32 billion in client assets, added 14 advisers in the first two months of the year.
Steward created a new office in Nashville, Tenn., by acquiring Seven Arrows Financial, an eight-person team led by Luke Aull, who has partnered under a 1099 contract. Previously, the hybrid firm associated with SageSpring Wealth Partners for advisory services and Raymond James for brokerage.
The recruitment of a pair of JP Morgan advisors north of Atlanta created another new Steward location in Kennesaw, Ga. Frank Smith, a vice president and financial advisor, and Patrick Connolly, an investment associate, joined Steward as W-2 employees.
Four more W-2 recruits, one in New York City and three in Mobile, Ala., brought Steward to more than $1 billion in new assets. Christina Munn joined as managing director in New York, and three new partners moved from Wells Fargo to Alabama – Laureen Lynn, Doug Whitmore and Katherine Pitman.
established in 2013, Steward has recently focused on providing options to attract consulting talent. The firm has W-2, Only RIA AND 1099 affiliation models, created a division dedicated to shopping AND went with great care with the addition of Pershing last year. A “refresh” of the 2023 brand was completed in February when Steward Partners dropped Global Advisory from its name.
“We believe that advisors should feel empowered when they come to our firm, and we're proud to be able to encapsulate that,” Steward Chief Recruiting and Division President Jeff Gonyo said in a statement. “This is evident in the new options we've created over the past year, and it's something we intentionally built to ensure Steward Partners is a good fit for every advisor.”
Steward has grown assets from $50 million to $32 billion over the past decade, initially through recruiting off the wire. The firm is majority employee-owned and backed by equity from Cynosure Group and the Pritzker Organization, as well as a $140 million credit facility.
In 2023, Steward added more than $6 billion through recruitment, primarily of off-network and bank advisors. According to Monday's announcement, the firm “expects to double the recruitment flow success and have significant M&A activity moving forward in the second quarter of the year.”