Steward Partners Adds $488M with Double Acquisition

Steward Partners, a financial services firm, announced the acquisitions of financial advisory firms Monaco Capital and Saling Simms under Steward Partners’ Freedom Street merger.

The two firms will add five advisors and a combined $488 million in client assets to Virginia Beach, VA-based Steward Partners’ team and will become equity partners.

Monaco Capital is also based in Virginia Beach, VA and manages $175 million in client assets. The deal marks the expansion of Steward’s Virginia Beach office.

Columbus, Oh-based Saling Simms’ has four financial advisors managing $314 million in client assets. With more than 70 years of experience, Saling Simms’ President Jim Saling and VP Brent Simms will join the team. The acquisition is the first office in Ohio for Steward Partners.

The transactions expand Steward Partners’ recently established legacy model, created after the firm’s acquisition of Freedom Street Partners last year to allow advisors seeking a succession plan.

“Since establishing the model last December, we have seen tremendous growth in our already successful business, and we are excited to work alongside our new partners as we continue this trajectory,” said Jim Gold, CEO and Co-Founder of Steward Partners.

The firm, which is majority-owned by employees and funded by Cynosure Group and the Pritzker Organization, as well as a $140 million credit line, has increased its assets from $50 million to $32 billion over the last decade, mostly through the recruitment of wirehouse breakaways.