Steward Partners Eyes Growth Through M&A and Culture
Recording on-site at the Sward Symposium, host Ryan Nauman welcomes Scott Danner (Chief Development Officer) and Valerie Rivera (Chief Operating Officer) to discuss the evolution of wealth management. Danner shares that he built Freedom Street Partners and joined Steward in 2023, noting Steward’s growth from about $30B to $50B in AUM, mostly through acquisitions. Why does Steward frame the task as “strategic development” rather than recruitment, emphasizing the relationship between attraction, culture and marketing? Rivera emphasizes the priorities of advisors beyond clients, employees, succession and transition support while describing due diligence, integration, communication and iterative processes. Danner addresses misconceptions, the importance of scalable, team-based practices, and Steward’s long-term goal of becoming a $100B organization.
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00:00 Welcome and disclosure
00:41 Symposium setup and development theme
01:30 Meet Scott and Val
01:54 Scott’s professional and pastoral development
03:26 Val background and partnership
04:24 Why Steward called it progress.
06:32 The beginning of the North Star connection
08:34 Val view on transitions
12:18 When the counselors really agreed
15:35 Hard work beyond measure
16:46 Large-scale works for development
18:28 M&A vote cut
20:56 Misconceptions and practical value
25:35 Scott and Val complement how
26:53 Future vision and closure
