Stifel Independent Advisors, a dually registered platform for independent advisors created by Stifel Financial, added two new teams and 11 advisors in the first months of the year.
In Joliet, Ill., a distant suburb of Chicago, Stofan Agazzi Investments is led by President Mark Stofan and includes advisors George Stofan, Carroll Klotz, Irene Celander, Jessica Martin, Daniel Murphy and Ron Lambert. Previously responsible for $650 million in client assets at LPL Financial, the team joined Stifel last month.
Stofan Agazzi offers investment management and comprehensive financial planning along with insurance, banking and trust, investment banking, business succession and corporate executive services.
Citing “deep resources, long-term perspective and experience,” as well as the “level of support and attention” available at Stifel, Mark Stofan said in a statement that it offered the best platform from which the team can continue to grow.
Columbia Crest Financial Advisors, a four-advisor team overseeing $335 million while affiliated with Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, joined the Stifel platform this month.
Richard Reith and Laura Nelson lead the team, which includes Silas Newkirk, Trina Whitton and four support staff from headquarters in Chehalis, Wash., about midway between Portland and Seattle. Whitton and one staff member work from a satellite office in Roseberg, Ore.
Together, they provide investment advice and insurance along with planning around retirement, taxes and estates.
Calling Stifel IA “the perfect fit,” Reith and Nelson said in a joint statement the firm’s “approach to client service and their focus on collaboration creates a high-level experience for everyone.”
In other Stifel IA news this week, President and CEO Alex David is leaving the firm to oversee the Northeast division of Raymond James’ independent advisor channel.
Based in St. Louis, Stifel Independent Advisors reported overseeing more than $6.5 billion in brokerage and advisory assets in October, a little less than half of which is managed, for 5,325 individual and almost 100 institutional clients. It represents a small fraction of the $390 billion overseen across Stifel Financial’s global wealth management businesses, which accounted for approximately 65% of Stifel’s total revenue in 2022.
