Recorded on location at the Steward Symposium, host Ryan Nauman welcomes Jim Gold, CEO of Steward Partners, to discuss the rapid evolution of wealth management and how Steward is positioning itself to lead. Gold shares his background from Smith Barney and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and explains Steward’s execution-focused growth, describing “unstoppable” momentum and a culture built on respect, responsiveness, partner voice, and broad equity ownership. He outlines Steward’s differentiated M&A approach centered on “sell and stay,” multi-generational teams, and preserving advisor identity rather than forcing short contracts or major changes. Gold describes the advisor of the future as more planning- and relationship-focused, highlights AI as both the biggest opportunity and key competitive risk, and reiterates the value of independence and fiduciary alignment for clients. He closes with Steward’s ambition to reach $100B in assets and notes significant recent asset growth.

Learn more about Zephyr here:

Learn more about Steward Partners here.

00:00 Welcome and Disclosures

00:40 Steward Symposium Setup

01:32 Meet Jim Gold

01:57 Steward Origin Story

02:53 Building Something Different

04:01 Unstoppable Culture

06:03 Scaling Without Losing Culture

07:25 Staying Competitive With M&A

10:06 Protecting Culture as You Grow

12:30 Advisor of the Future

15:15 AI Risks and Opportunities

17:58 Recruiting Top Talent

20:08 Why Independence Matters

22:12 Lessons and Five Year Vision

24:11 Closing Thanks and Where to Listen

Connect with Ryan Nauman:

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Welcome to the Adjusted for Risk podcast.

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Join myself, Brian Namath, as I talk

markets, investments, economics- Let's get

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started … and life as I help prepare you

for the upcoming week in markets I work

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for Zephyr, and all opinions expressed by

myself and my podcast guests are solely of

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their own opinions and do not reflect the

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opinion of Zephyr or

Informa, its parent company.

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This podcast is for informational

purposes only and should not be

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relied on for investment decisions.

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Hello, everyone, and welcome to

Zephyr's Adjusted for Risk podcast.

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We are recording on location at the

Steward Symposium, which is going to be

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a great few days of fun conversations

and great content and insights.

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There has been a major shift in taking

place in the wealth management space

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over the past few years, and the

innovation and evolution of the space

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doesn't look to be slowing anytime soon.

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Well, my next guest is leading the

charge here at Steward Partners,

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and he's going to share his thoughts

about the evolution of the space and

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what Steward Partners is doing to

continue to be an industry leader.

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But first, today's episode is sponsored

by the award-winning Zephyr, which

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helps investment professionals

make more informed investment

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decisions on behalf of their clients.

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All right, I've already talked enough.

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I'm going to go ahead and

bring on the star of the show.

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I'd like to give a very

warm welcome to Jim Gold.

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Jim is the chief executive

officer at Steward Partners.

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Jim, thank you so much

for coming on again.

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Like we said, I think

this is your third time.

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That's it.

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I'm, I'm- I'm a repeat offender.

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Yeah.

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I'm glad, uh, I'm glad I haven't

scared you away, um, in the years.

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No, always a pleasure, and

grateful for the opportunity.

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I've always enjoyed our conversations.

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Can you please tell us a little bit more

about yourself and Steward Partners?

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Yeah, so again, thanks

for the opportunity.

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Great to be with you as always.

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Um, I, I spent my career

in wealth management.

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I started out at Smith Barney back

in the '90s, was a financial advisor.

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And you know, Smith Barney I thought

was really, had a lot of wisdom, sort

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of corporate wisdom, and one of them

was they wanted field leadership to be

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people that actually had done the job.

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So I went into branch management, held

various roles, and then ultimately, you

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know, wound up at Morgan Stanley Smith

Barney through the merger, and then

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left in 2013 to help found Steward.

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Fantastic.

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So , you know, Steward Partners

has grown into one of the most

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talked-about names in wealth management.

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You guys are very active in bringing

on new advisors, whether it's M&A

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or just from the wire house space,

very active and, and growing.

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Right.

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Growing at a fantastic clip.

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Um, when you look back at where this firm

started versus where it stands today, what

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moment made you realize you were building

something really, truly different?

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Was that day one?

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You were like, "Oh, we're doing something

really different and good here."

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I mean, the plan, the

plan was always terrific.

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Um, but, you know- … ma- many

business plans are great, and

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the execution doesn't happen.

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Yeah.

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So it really is about execution, and we

have executed on the vision of the firm,

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the, how the firm is run, and things

we do, and attributes of the company

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have evolved over time, and I always

say great companies need to evolve.

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Um, so yeah, we're…

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Listen, we're remarkably proud of where

we are, but we're also remarkably focused

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on what we have to do ahead of us.

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Mm-hmm.

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Yeah, I love that, where you…

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I feel as if some people, they're

like, "You know what worked before"-

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Right … it can work today," whether

you're a financial advisor or just the

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leader of, you know, a convenience store.

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Right.

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Right?

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You've got to evolve.

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Right.

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So it, it, it…

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And especially, you know, with all

the technology and, and AI, um, you've

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always gotta be willing to evolve.

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I've seen the word unstoppable a

lot, um, whether getting ready for

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the symposium, doing research on

the website on Steward Partners.

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What does that mean to you culturally

and strategically, and how do you make

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sure it's more than just a tagline?

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Yeah, listen, my, my father had a

lot of great sayings, and one of

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them was, "Facts are stubborn."

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So we are unstoppable.

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It's a fact, right?

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If you look at the firm, you

look at our growth, um, our

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growth continues to accelerate.

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We look at, you know, the company, and I

was talking about this at our last board

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meeting, when Cynosure invested, they

were our first investor, we were, you

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know, almost six years at, at, at Steward.

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We had $8 billion in assets

total after almost six years.

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We'll bring in probably

12 billion this year.

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So what took eight, you know, six years

is happening in, in six months now.

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So that's the unstoppable momentum.

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But the number one attribute

of the company that we

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focus on is culture, right?

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Because you really set out to say, is it,

you know, most things in life are simple.

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We said, "Look, let's build a firm

that people are treated with respect.

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They're partners.

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They have a voice in the firm.

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You are responsive to their needs.

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You know, no reasonable request

is refused type of thing."

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And we kicked off last night, you know,

with our top producers and a top producer

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dinner, which was really just social.

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And there was, you know- Mm-hmm … 80

people in the room, and a couple of

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members of the management team, a

couple of board members, and it's

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really just keeping that personal

connection that you, you wanna make

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sure you don't lose, 'cause that's why

you started the firm at the beginning.

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You know, Jim, I think that's fantastic.

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I hear culture a lot.

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Right.

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And I've spoken to you a handful of times.

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I've had Jeff on, other members

of Steward Partners on, and you

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can just tell the culture that

you've built here is fantastic.

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It's, you know, everyone feels included.

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Right.

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I, you know, just in my short

couple hours here at the

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symposium, you can just sense it.

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Um, so you guys have done

a great job with culture.

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And I'm gonna have more conversations

about this later, but as you grow, is

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it harder to maintain that culture?

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It is and it isn't.

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You, you have to be…

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It's a caretaker and it's

a relationship, right?

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So I'm married 35 years.

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You can't say, "Hey, we got

married, and now, you know, now

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I'm done being nice to you," right?

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So there's, there's an ongoing

relationship you need to, you sort

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of need to maintain and foster.

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Um, but I think we, we do focus a

lot on the culture and the people,

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and I think it also starts with,

you know, who joins the firm.

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So we talk about this a lot, which is

you wanna work with great people who

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happen to run a great business, right?

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Mm-hmm.

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And listen, the better

advisors are not needy.

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That's, that's a big misnomer, where they

just wanna be able to run their business.

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They w- all wanna follow the rules.

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Just make it as painless

as possible, right?

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They understand there's gonna be

some pain of following the rules.

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That's okay.

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And, you know, don't make changes

to their comp plan, and when they

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need your help, respond, right?

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So again, like most things in life,

it's remarkably simple to run a place

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that people feel really good about.

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I think we have this, you know,

secret weapon of having everyone

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here being an equity owner as well.

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Okay.

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Yeah.

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That probably…

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You know, that gives them

the sense of ownership.

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Yeah.

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And I'm gonna tell my son that

following the rules is painless.

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Yeah.

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No, as painless as possible.

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Yeah, painless.

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Not painless.

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Yeah.

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Yes.

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Um, the independent wealth management

space has become incredibly competitive.

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I mean, the entire space, whether

an asset manager, wealth manager,

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independ- it's very competitive now.

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What is Steward Partners' philosophy

that, uh, keeps you ahead of

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other firms that might have more

resources or longer histories?

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W- how do you guys stay competitive

and stay ahead of those?

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I think it's our outlook on the

business and how things should be, and

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it doesn't mean we're right or wrong.

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It just means we have a different

way of looking at things.

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So we look at M&A as a good example.

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There are very few firms that have

built an M&A chassis that is, is

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predicated on the real concept of

selling and staying, and having a

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multi-generational team where the senior

partners aren't given a 18-month or

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two-year contract, and then, you know,

sort of pushed out the door after that.

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So- When I talk to people in M&A,

that's w- one of the most common

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things I hear is, "Hey, I hear

great things about your company.

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I'm excited about being an equity owner,

but I gotta tell you, everyone else was

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looking to push me out the door within

two years, get rid of my team name.

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I had to change all my asset

management to how they do business."

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So basically they're just taking

a giant bottle of White Out and

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they're erasing me from … My whole

career is being erased in 18 months,

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and that's just not who we are.

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Doesn't mean … Listen, there's

plenty of fine firms that do that

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and people who want that transaction.

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It's just never how we've looked

at it, but I tell you, that's a

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We don't mean it as a selling

point, but it's become one.

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Well, it's interesting you say … when

you say that, as you were explaining

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that about just wiping away their firm

basically, why not then just go to

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a wirehouse or something, you know?

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If you're thinking about going

independent, that doesn't

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sound like independent to me.

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Well, these are independ-

these are independent M&A.

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Okay.

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Right?

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So you're looking to monetize

your practice you've built.

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You know, there are people that

just say, "Hey, I'm looking at

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it like I'm selling my house.

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Like I'm, I'm just-" Yeah … selling

to the best bidder, and

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whoever moves in is fine.

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I don't care."

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Um, so I think the, the sell and stay

was a really meaningful change- Yeah

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and very different approach to it.

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Uh, I talked to a great team a few weeks

ago, and they said, "We're … We've

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had eight or nine other conversations.

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You're the only one that has a

viable option for us to monetize

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what we've built and help set

it up for our next generation."

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No, that's fan- because

that's so important too, is

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that next generation, right?

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100%.

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Um, America's aging.

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Our clients are aging.

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Yeah.

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How do you bridge that gap?

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D- we talk about it all the time.

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It feels as if the Great Wealth Transfer

has been going on for a decade now.

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Right.

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Right.

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And, uh, here we are.

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Right.

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So it's so important.

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We talked a little bit about the

culture already, but how does

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How do you protect, um, you

know, what makes Stewart special?

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Stewart's a special place.

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You know, culture, you know, is one

of the reasons why it's special.

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How do you protect that as you grow to

continue to make sure it remains special?

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So what you try to do is you focus

on, listen, the, everyone here needs

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to be involved in the organization.

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They need to have a voice.

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I think if you asked any CEO of

any company, "How's your culture?"

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They're gonna say, "It's great."

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I always say, "But ask their

people the same question when

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the CEO's not in the room."

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That, that's the real answer, right?

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Is how, how do the people

feel at the company?

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Not … management always

thinks the culture is great.

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Um, so I think it really is, it's

listening, it's being involved, it's

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having, you know, giving them the

respect and courtesy they deserve.

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You know, we, we treat our

people like our clients, right?

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Mm-hmm.

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And if they need something,

we're there to help them.

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And I always say, "If we can't

do it, we're not gonna do it.

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If there's a reason we can't do it,

we'll help you understand why, and

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then we're gonna try and fi- find

you an alternative solution," right?

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So, like we have our advisor

council in this week, we have our

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administrative council in this week.

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I'm gonna sit in the room with both

of them for, you know, an hour,

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and what's on their mind- Mm-hmm

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and what else could we be doing.

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And I always focus on, I think

there's a, a maintenance of an

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organization, kinda like, you know,

get your s- fall cleaning, your spring

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cleaning at your house type of thing.

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And we always go back every year or

so and say Give me some things we're

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doing that can be done more efficiently.

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Give me some things that are slowing

you down a little bit, right?

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And sometimes there isn't a fix,

it's just- Mm-hmm … regulations or

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technology or whatever it might be, and

sometimes there could be, you know, an

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operational process where it's like you

gotta fill out this form and then call

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this and do that and ba-da-ba, and maybe

you can have one less step and you're

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still following the rules, and that

makes everyone's life easier, great.

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So we try to focus on their view mo-

means more than what I think is important.

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That's the key.

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Yeah, and v- with technology, too,

building a technol- it's what the

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outside- Right … is talking about.

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Now, y- you might think you have

the greatest idea inside your house,

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but, you know, you gotta speak to

the people on the outside to figure

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out exactly what they need- Yeah

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or what they want.

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Yeah, what do the neighbors

say about your house?

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Yeah.

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Exactly.

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They don't like the new

color as much as you do.

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Yes, exactly, or all the,

all the kid toys out front.

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Yeah, exactly.

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Yeah.

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What does the advisor

of the future look like?

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You talked about the young,

you know, generational move.

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Yeah.

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Next gen, I hear that next gen advisor-

Right … term thrown out a lot.

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What does it look like, and

how is Steward building itself

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around that person right now?

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Yeah.

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You know, I, I've been, I coined

a phrase, um, or sort of a thought

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around this whole thing, where you,

you really have to step back and look

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at the evolution of the role, right?

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So I started in the '90s.

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You cold-called 3 or 400 times a

day, so the, the advisor of the

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'80s, '90s, even early 2000s,

you were a pure hunter, right?

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Today, what you're seeing is there's

an evolution into farmers, right?

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So look at these very significant

teams that have built a practice, and

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they're bringing in that next generation

behind them, which comes in with much

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better understanding of technology and

tools and social media and marketing

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and all the things that are going on

out there, but think of the you've

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now built the Yellowstone Ranch.

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You don't have to go build

your own Yellowstone.

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You're gonna be a

caretaker on the ranch now.

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So the advisor of the future

tends to be highly accredited, you

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know, the CFP designation, great

planners, understand the business.

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I think the movement away from,

they don't want to run money,

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they're not looking to have their

own discretionary models, right?

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So they're more of that

relationship caretaker.

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Um, and there's nothing wrong with that.

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So I think for us, we've acco-

accomplished a lot of that with

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teams that are both, you know, here

as recruited partners and in M&A,

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that we've had a really healthy

next gen, uh, lift in the firm.

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And a lot of these people are obviously

sourced and brought in by the, the

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senior partners, which is great.

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Yeah, Jim, I completely agree.

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We've seen that at Zephyr too, just

when I started, you know, advisors,

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they wanted to know about kurtosis and,

you know, omega, all these different

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analytics because they managed their

own … They were so much more hands-on-

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Yeah … in the investment management.

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Now people are getting away from that.

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They're looking at the overall plan.

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Yeah.

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How do we get that from

point A to point Z?

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Right.

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Right.

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Right.

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Um, less in the weeds in

investment management.

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Right.

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Exactly correct.

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Not sitting at their desk going,

"Wait, you know- … so and so

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is reporting earnings at 4:15."

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"I gotta hear the analyst call," you know?

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Yeah, exactly.

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It's like, I'm not an analyst.

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And I don't, I don't go to many

advisors' offices anymore, m- but

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when I started, everyone had CNBC on.

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Yep.

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Everyone had- Yep … Bloomberg on the TV.

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Yeah.

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Um, that's probably not the case so much.

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Maybe it is.

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Well, they're not even in the office

now with, with- … remote working.

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That's another story.

333

Yeah.

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We'll, uh, we'll make

that podcast number four.

335

There you go.

336

There you go.

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So as we talked about, the industry has

evolved, um, in tremendously in recent

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years, whether it's fee compression,

we have AI, which is a whole nother

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conversation- Yeah … demographic

shifts that we've already talked about.

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Which of these forces keeps

you up at night, and which

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one excites, excites you most?

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I think the answer is the

same, which is probably AI.

343

Oh.

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Right?

345

So I'm excited about it.

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Um, I, I'm not, I'm not worried about

it, 'cause I think, listen, I think

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it's gonna be a remarkable tool, and I

think ultimately it will be a new, you

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know, new opportunity for clients to

interact with their advisors, right?

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So the industry overall has always lagged

in technology a- adoption, mainly because

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you have to say, "Well, hold on a second.

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We're sharing confidential information,

and what's the ri-" So there's

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an appropriate reason for it.

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It always shocks people, and I guess I'm

old, because people don't realize, like

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when I was at Smith Barney in the '90s,

we had no external email Think about that.

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So the industry's always had to

figure that out because they were

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like, "Well, email's correspondence

and it has to be approved the

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same day, and how do you do that?"

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So there's a real push towards that now.

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Uh, we're fortunate to have Mohan

Gerapaki in here, who has won some

360

awards last year as our chief information

officer, so he's all over that.

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We've already adopted tools that are AI.

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Every tool now is AI, right?

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Mm-hmm.

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And so, um, but there's some tools

we put in place already around, you

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know, client interaction, so I think

it's gonna be huge for the industry.

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I think the risk here is the lower

end of the producer spectrum, right?

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You're gonna have to up your game because

the bigger are gonna get bigger, and

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the teams that have AI and tools and

technology, no matter how much you're

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a nice person, the client's gonna say,

"Hey, I work with the other team I've

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talked to, and they have this, this,

this," and you're kind of, "I feel like

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I'm talking to the guy in the '90s again."

372

Um, so I think that's the risk.

373

I think the bigger are gonna get bigger.

374

I think the client under 3 or $400,000

in assets is going to be using

375

some type of do it yourself tool.

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So that do it yourself market is

gonna continue to move up as well.

377

That's interesting.

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I love that you said AI for both.

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I agree.

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Yes, some of the worries out there might

be warranted- Right … but I do think

381

the opportunity is greater to use it

than, you know, not using it- Right,

382

right … because if you don't use AI,

you're gonna, you g- get left behind.

383

Right.

384

And whether it's just through, you know,

practice efficiencies- Right … or,

385

you know, however you wanna use it,

but there's a lot of opportunities

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out there, and Mohan is fantastic.

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I had a great conversation with

him a couple weeks ago about AI.

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Yeah.

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I think it lasted a couple hours.

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We're, we're thrilled to have him here.

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He's great.

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Yeah, he is fantastic So you've

attracted some of the most talented

393

people in the industry to Steward.

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What's the pitch you make to a

top advisor executive who has

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a ton of different options?

396

It, it's very competitive when you're

trying to recruit- Mm … whether it's

397

an advisor or somebody on your staff.

398

What's your pitch, without

giving away the secret?

399

Yeah, the really…

400

You know, it's funny, there's no secret.

401

Um, you know, in the early days, i- it's,

people don't real- obviously wouldn't

402

realize that no one knew who we were,

no one knew what we were doing, and so

403

you were this sort of like small group

of people, you know, that were doing

404

the Steward thing, whatever that meant.

405

So with the size and scope of the

organization today, so much of all of

406

our, our joins, whether they're recruits

or management, are coming as referrals,

407

or someone who says, "Hey, I've been

watching you guys for five years.

408

I've seen what you're doing," or,

"I have friends that are at Steward.

409

They love it over there."

410

Um, I think it's important, and I

do it all the time, and, and I, you

411

know, say to me, it's my obligation

that anyone that has an interest in

412

joining the firm, if they want to speak

to me, they're- I'm happy to do it.

413

And I hear that all the time,

and again, I- I'm not, I don't

414

know if it's better or worse.

415

People say, "Wow, I can't believe

that you're the CEO and you actually

416

took 45 minutes to talk to me."

417

I said, "Listen, you're making

a really important decision.

418

I think I'm qualified to give you

all the answers about Steward and

419

what we are and what we're not.

420

Um, and if it helps you make a good

decision, we'd love you to join us."

421

So I think it's access.

422

You know, people talk about things in

concept, but even doing that in practice

423

on the way in, that's who we are.

424

Like, everyone here is our partner,

so people get treated with respect.

425

But I think the momentum of the name, you

know, we had the dinner last night, and

426

so many of the guys were like, "Oh, I got

two friends, they've been talking to me.

427

I gotta, gotta, gotta get

you guys set up with them.

428

They wanna come too now."

429

You know, so it's been great.

430

We're really fortunate.

431

Yeah.

432

Referrals are, are still

very, uh, powerful.

433

Yeah, yeah.

434

They still are today.

435

No doubt.

436

But, uh, that's fanta- And

you set the stage, right?

437

You have that initial conversation

for 45 minutes, and- Yeah … it's

438

probably very important that they

understand from that moment what the

439

culture is gonna be like and- Right

440

who you are as a leader.

441

Right.

442

So very important.

443

You know, we talk a lot about

independence, and being truly independent

444

is a core part of Steward's identity.

445

Why does that matter so much to clients?

446

And is that message landing in the market?

447

How is it…

448

Um, obviously it's landing

well, being very receptive.

449

Right.

450

The market's been very receptive to it.

451

But why, why does it matter so much?

452

I think it gives advisors, you know,

which ultimately gives the client, right?

453

And that's where I think the industry

got lost is 30 years ago, the client

454

was the most important in- i- entity in

a relationship with a company, right?

455

The advisor was second because they served

that client, and the company was last.

456

We've kept that hourglass

turned the right way, right?

457

So the clients love it because the

advisor says, "Hey, listen, I'm at a

458

company where nothing's pushed upon me.

459

I have no pay, you know, incentive

to do any type of product or offer

460

you a mortgage or credit card or

whatever else might be offered.

461

Um, you can truly run the

business the way you run it.

462

We pay you exactly the same."

463

They also love that, you know, they feel

like joining a large RIA, that they're,

464

they're held to the fiduciary standard at

a higher level than they were previously,

465

and the clients like that as well.

466

So I think they feel like they're more

empowered to act on their client's behalf.

467

They have better technology

and tools and resources.

468

We're big enough to have the capital to

invest in that, but nimble enough to, you

469

know, if we try something that doesn't

work, we can, you know, say, "Okay,

470

we're, we're not, we're done with this.

471

We're moving on to the next thing."

472

Yeah.

473

I completely agree about the independence

and not having to push product.

474

I'm not gonna say the firm names

or anything- Right … like that,

475

but earlier in my career working

as a, um, portfolio manager, we,

476

the firm owned an asset manager.

477

Yeah.

478

Well, guess what- Right … was,

we were, had to push.

479

Guess who had a lunch meeting

every Friday in your office?

480

Yes, exactly.

481

So, um, the conflict of interest- Yes, sir

482

was big there.

483

Yes, sir.

484

So I love this question.

485

If you could go back and tell yourself

one thing before building Steward, what

486

would it be, and would the younger version

of you had listened, have listened?

487

Yeah, I heard somewhere they said that

Freud said the Irish are impervious

488

to psychoanalysis, so I probably

wouldn't have listened to myself.

489

I would tell myself it's gonna be so

much harder and so much better than you

490

ever imagined, so just, just keep going.

491

I love that.

492

Yeah.

493

That's really what it is.

494

I, I, I knew it was gonna be hard.

495

It was like when I built a business as

a trainee and it, it's- Yeah … it's

496

10 times harder than you thought,

but 10 times more rewarding

497

when you get to the other side.

498

Yeah.

499

I completely agree.

500

And yeah, sometimes you might wanna

give up- Yeah … 'cause it's hard, but,

501

uh- Yeah … that makes it more real.

502

If it's easy, then you go home and

it's like, "Well, was it that?"

503

And there, there'll be no reward

'cause everyone could do it then.

504

Yeah.

505

Yeah, exactly.

506

Exactly, Jim.

507

Lastly, let's go back to unstoppable.

508

What's that look like in five years

from now and, uh, what does Stewart

509

Partners become in five years?

510

So yo, listen, we, we l- we love ambitious

goals an- and the goal is something that

511

the organization embraces, you know,

across the spectrum of their roles.

512

So yeah, we're, we're looking at,

you know, how quickly can we grow the

513

right way to 100 billion in assets.

514

So we think we'll be closer to north

of 60 billion at the end of this year.

515

And just putting that in perspective, end

516

So that's the unstoppable,

is think about a firm that's

517

doubled in size in three years.

518

That's, at that time, nine

years in the business, right?

519

It's just unheard of.

520

Mm-hmm.

521

And we are the only firm ever built to

our size that did it with taking at, in

522

no capital for five and a half years.

523

There's, we're a one of one.

524

Wow.

525

Yeah, and that's, that's pretty telling,

especially with, um, private equity.

526

Right.

527

Right.

528

Right.

529

So, so prevalent now.

530

Jim, thank you so much.

531

It's always such a pleasure

and honor to have you on.

532

I learned so much.

533

I'm gonna go back and probably

listen to this a couple different

534

times before I, uh, post it.

535

Um, it's always a pleasure.

536

It's so fun.

537

And thank you for having me here

at, uh, the Stewart Symposium.

538

And thank you everyone for

listening to this episode of

539

Zephyr's Adjusted for Risk podcast.

540

You can watch all of our other episodes

on the Zephyr YouTube channel, Spotify,

541

and wherever else you get your podcasts.

542

Thank you very much and have

a great rest of your week.

543

Let's get started