Stifel Financial appoints Launny Steffens as vice chairman, asset management

Stifel announced that Launny Steffens will join the firm as Vice Chairman of Asset Management. In this newly created role, Steffens will focus on growing Stifel’s financial advisor network, advancing the firm’s asset management capabilities, and sourcing strategic investment banking opportunities. Steffens brings decades of extensive experience, including a distinguished 38-year career at Merrill Lynch. There, he held multiple leadership positions including President of Merrill Lynch Consumer Markets, Vice Chairman of Merrill Lynch & Co., and Chairman of the firm’s U.S. Private Client Group. Following his tenure at Merrill Lynch, Steffens and former McKinsey executive Greg Ho co-founded Spring Mountain Capital, a private investment management firm focused on alternative asset investing. As part of Steffens and Ho’s move to Stifel, the firm will acquire more than $1 billion in assets under management from Spring Mountain, along with key investment professionals who will remain actively involved in managing them. The transaction is expected to close later this year, subject to customary conditions.