Stifel forms asset management unit

Stifel Financial Corp. has formed an asset management subsidiary called Choice Financial Partners Inc.

Stifel Financial Corp., parent company of Stifel Nicolaus & Co. Inc., has formed an asset management subsidiary called Choice Financial Partners Inc.
The new subsidiary will focus on the asset management businesses offered to individual and institutional investors through Stifel Nicolaus and directly to third parties.
One of the first objectives of Choice Financial Partners will be to launch EquityCompass Strategies as a research and investment advisory business.
“We want to go after opportunities outside the Stifel Nicolaus purview, and we are dealing with clients in Europe and the United States that would rather deal with us as a registered investment adviser,” said Richard E. Cripps. He will serve as chief investment officer of EquityCompass Strategies and senior portfolio manager for Choice Financial Partners.
Stifel Nicolaus, a broker-dealer that has 1,000 registered investment advisers and manages $350 million in assets, wanted to create a separate registered RIA division to remove conflicts of interest.
Stifel Financial, Stifel Nicolaus and Choice Financial Partners are located in St. Louis.