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.

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

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