Steward Partners – Weekly Recap

Steward Partners is an employee-owned, advisor-centric wealth management firm that continued to advance its national growth strategy over the past week, with notable developments in platform expansion, governance, capital structure, and industry recognition. Founded in 2013, the firm now supervises nearly $50 billion in client assets and is positioning itself as a leading independent RIA destination for advisors seeking institutional-quality infrastructure with an ownership stake.

Operationally, Steward Partners closed 2025 with a significant build-out of its wealth management platform. The firm added 11 advisor teams and individual advisors overseeing approximately $3.87 billion in client assets and opened seven new offices across key U.S. markets, particularly in fast-growing regions of the Southeast and Midwest. This expansion was supported by the firm’s technology stack, multiple affiliation models, and nationwide support network designed to offload non-revenue tasks from advisors, enhancing both practice growth and client service. The Legacy M&A division executed several notable transactions, providing incoming teams with immediate scale and structured long-term succession options, reinforcing Steward Partners’ appeal to both breakaway advisors and those pursuing M&A-driven transitions.

From a capital and governance perspective, the firm is benefiting from a previously announced $475 million investment from Ares Credit funds, structured as an expanded lending facility and a non-controlling minority equity stake. This financing strengthens the balance sheet while preserving operational control with Steward’s leadership and partner-owners, enabling continued funding for national expansion, advisor recruitment, acquisitions, and technology enhancements. Governance was further reinforced by the appointment of long-time director Keith Taylor, a Managing Director at The Cynosure Group, as Chairman of the Board, succeeding founding chairman Michael McMahon, who remains involved in an honorary role. This transition more closely aligns board leadership with a key strategic capital partner while maintaining continuity in oversight and culture.

Geographically, Steward Partners is sharpening its regional footprint with new offices and the establishment of Sarasota, Florida, as a Southeast hub, underscored by CEO Jim Gold’s relocation there. This move is intended to deepen relationships in high-growth Sunbelt markets and streamline advisory operations in the region.

The week also showcased substantial third-party validation. Steward Partners moved up to No. 9 on Barron’s 2025 Top 100 RIA Firms list from No. 18 in 2024 and earned repeat inclusion on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies. The firm was recognized by Financial Advisor Magazine’s 2025 Top RIA rankings, Financial Planning’s Best RIAs to Work For, USA Today and Statista’s Best Financial Advisory Firms, as well as AdvisorHub’s RIA Firms to Watch. Multiple advisor teams were named to the 2026 Forbes | SHOOK Best-In-State Wealth Management Teams list across several states, while individual leadership recognition, including CIO Mohan Gurupackiam’s “CTO of the Year” honor in ThinkAdvisor’s 2025 Luminaries, underscored the firm’s focus on technology and advisor enablement.

Taken together, the accelerated advisor and asset growth, enhanced capital resources, strengthened governance, regional expansion, and broad industry recognition point to a constructive week for Steward Partners and support its continued evolution as a scaled, nationally relevant independent wealth management platform.