stifel financial corp. type public traded as nyse sf industry investment services founded 1890 ; 126 years ago 1890 headquarters st. louis missouri u.s. key people ronald j. kruszewski chairman of the board president and ceo products asset management financial services investment banking investment managing revenue us 2.2 billion 2014 1 number of employees 5 266 2012 2 website www.stifel.com stifel financial corp. nyse sf is a financial services holding company created in july 1983 and listed on the new york stock exchange on november 24 1986 . its predecessor company was founded in 1890 as the altheimer and rawlings investment company and is headquartered in downtown st. louis missouri . stifel offers securities related financial services in the united states and europe through several wholly owned subsidiaries . its clients are served through stifel nicolaus & company incorporated stifel nicolaus in the u.s. a full service retail and institutional brokerage and investment banking firm through stifel nicolaus canada inc. in canada and through stifel nicolaus europe limited snel in the united kingdom and europe . its other subsidiaries include thomas weisel partners llc twp century securities associates inc. csa an independent contractor broker dealer firm and stifel bank & trust a retail and commercial bank . the company s broker dealer affiliates provide securities brokerage trading investment banking investment advisory and related financial services to individual investors professional money managers businesses and municipalities . stifel bank & trust offers a full range of consumer and commercial lending solutions . stifel trust company n.a. offers trust and related services . contents 1 history 2 recent acquisitions and highlights 3 overview 4 organization 4.1 global wealth management 4.2 institutional group 5 major locations 6 controversies 6.1 securities and exchange commission lawsuit 7 references 8 external links 8.1 data history edit 1890 founding of the stifel nicolaus predecessor firm named altheimer & rawlings investment company in st. louis 1917 the firm was named stifel investment company 1923 company renamed stifel nicolaus investment company 1931 the first branch office was established in chicago 1958 stifel became a member of the new york stock exchange 1960 acquired albert theis & sons 1962 acquired cruttenden podesta & miller louisville office 1970 acquired dempsey tegeler office 1981 acquired altorfer podesta & woolard 1982 acquired bacon whipple 1983 stifel s holding company stifel financial corporation formed and goes public . in july stifel becomes a publicly owned corporation as a result of a 1 442 870 share offering 1985 acquired scherek stein & frane 1987 stifel financial corp. was listed on the new york stock exchange nyse 1988 acquired rowland simon 1997 purchase of 15 % of stifel nicolaus common stock by western southern life insurance company 2000 merged with hanifen imhoff 2005 acquired the legg mason capital markets business from citigroup 2006 acquired private client group of minneapolis based miller johnson steichen kinnard inc. mjsk 2007 acquired ryan beck & co. from bankatlantic bancorp. purchased first service bank which was renamed stifel bank & trust 2008 acquired butler wick & company from united community financial corporation 2009 acquired 56 branches from ubs 2010 acquired thomas weisel partners 2011 acquired stone & youngberg llc 2012 acquired miller buckfire 2013 merged with keefe bruyette & woods kbw 2015 acquired sterne agee 2015 acquired barclays u.s. wealth management unit recent acquisitions and highlights edit on december 1 2005 stifel financial closed on the acquisition of the legg mason capital markets business lm capital markets from citigroup inc. the lm capital markets business acquired included investment banking equity and fixed income research equity sales and trading and taxable fixed income sales and trading 22 offices in the us and europe and 500 associates . these assets gave the company substantial research and capital market capabilities and transformed the company from a regional firm to a national one . 3 in 2006 the company acquired the private client group of minneapolis based miller johnson steichen kinnard inc. mjsk 7 offices and 50 financial advisors . 3 in 2007 the company completed the acquisition of ryan beck & co. from bankatlantic bancorp 43 offices in 14 states and 1 100 associates . the acquisition significantly increased the company s presence in the east coast . the firm also opened several private client group offices in the state of california and branched out across the entire west coast . during the same year the company completed the acquisition of first service financial company and its wholly owned subsidiary firstservice bank a st. louis headquartered missouri chartered bank . as a result of the transaction the company became a bank holding company and a financial holding company . 3 in 2008 the company completed its 12 million acquisition of butler wick & company inc. from united community financial corp. butler wick a youngstown ohio based provider of financial advisory services had offices in ohio pennsylvania and new york 23 offices in three states and 175 associates . 3 in 2009 the company acquired 56 branches from the ubs wealth management americas ubs branch network 56 offices in 24 states and 500 associates . 3 in 2010 the company completed its acquisition of thomas weisel partners group inc and created an enterprise with one of the largest u.s. equity research platforms and expanded institution equity business both domestically and internationally . 3 in 2011 the company announced an agreement to acquire stone & youngberg llc a financial firm specializing in municipal finance and fixed income securities . 3 in 2012 the company and keefe bruyette & woods kbw announced a strategic merger . during the same year the company expanded its investment banking capabilities and restructuring advisory expertise by acquiring miller buckfire . in 2014 the company was set to acquire the london stockbroker oriel securities . 4 in june 2015 the group announced it would acquire barclays us wealth and investment management unit for an undisclosed fee . 5 overview edit stifel global headquarters in st. louis missouri as of 2012 6 stifel financial employed over 5 000 associates in over 330 global locations . the ceo is ronald j. kruszewski . 7 corporate headquarters in st. louis capital markets headquarters in baltimore investment banking 1 u.s. equity underwriter for issuers with market caps 500 million since 2005 citation needed extensive advisory and capital raising expertise across 15 industry focused groups research stifel capital markets headquarters in baltimore maryland one of the largest providers of u.s. equity research with over 1 000 stocks under coverage citation needed 85 senior research analysts most 1 awards in 2011 ft starmine survey citation needed institutional sales & trading senior team leaders with 15 years of experience 200 equity & 250 fixed income professionals citation needed global wealth management over 136 billion in assets under management citation needed more than 2 000 financial advisors & 300 locations 8 over 3 billion in assets at stifel bank & trust 9 organization edit stifel financial corp. operates in three segments global wealth management institutional group and other . global wealth management edit the company s global wealth management segment offers securities transaction brokerage and investment services including equity securities ; fixed income securities which comprise municipal corporate and government agency securities ; preferred stocks ; and unit investment trusts . this segment also provides managed fee based products ; and insurance and annuity products as well as securities based lending services . in addition it offers retail and commercial banking services to private and corporate clients including personal loan programs such as fixed and variable mortgage loans home equity lines of credit personal loans loans secured by certificates of deposit or savings and securities based loans ; and commercial lending programs such as small business loans commercial real estate loans lines of credit credit cards term loans and inventory and receivables financing . as of december 31 2011 this segment operated a network of 1 833 financial advisors located in 291 branch offices in 44 states and the district of columbia ; and 154 independent contractors . institutional group edit its institutional group segment offers research equity and fixed income institutional sales and trading investment banking public finance and syndicate services . this segment distributes equity research products to institutional investors ; provides financial advisory services principally with respect to mergers and acquisitions and the execution of public offerings and private placements of debt and equity securities ; and coordinates marketing distribution pricing and stabilization of managed equity and debt offerings . it serves individual investors corporations municipalities and institutions . major locations edit st. louis missouri u.s. global headquarters baltimore maryland u.s. capital markets headquarters san francisco california u.s. new york city new york u.s. pensacola florida u.s. london united kingdom european markets headquarters controversies edit securities and exchange commission lawsuit edit the securities and exchange commission sued stifel nicolaus on august 10 2011 claiming the firm duped five wisconsin school districts into buying 200 million in unsuitable securities tied to collateralized debt obligations . the investments which the school districts had purchased in 2006 with 163 million in borrowed funds and 37 million of their own money were far more risky than stifel nicolaus advertised to the school districts the s.e.c. alleged and the firm hid the risks through a series of falsehoods and misrepresentations . the school districts credit ratings were lowered and they lost their investments which were intended to fund school employees retirement benefits . stifel nicolaus said in a statement that it was deeply disappointed by the misplaced action and that it would vigorously defend its behavior in the transactions . the s.e.c. said the firm had claimed that the investments were so safe that it would take 15 enrons or some other unexpected catastrophe for the investments to fail but the first increment of securities did badly and credit agencies issued a negative watch on part of the portfolio within days of its closing . 10 on march 19 2012 it was announced that a settlement had been reached with the school districts to jointly pursue a 200 million lawsuit against royal bank of canada alleging that they are liable for the original misrepresentation . 11 royal bank of canada had already settled with the securities and exchange commission in september of 2011 for 30.4 million . as of december 2013 stilfel was still pursuing rbc . 12 references edit stifel financial corp. 2014 10 k . 2012 3rd quarter earnings pdf . stifel financial corp. a b c d e f g our history pdf . stifel financial corp. agnew harriet 7 may 2014 . stifel financial set to announce acquisition of oriel securities . financial times . london financial times . retrieved 16 may 2014 . richa naidu 9 june 2015 . stifel to buy former lehman brokerage from barclays . reuters . retrieved 9 june 2015 . building the premier middle market investment bank pdf . stifel financial corp. stifel . stifel ronald j. kruszewski board of directors investor relations . stifel.com . stifel . stifel find a financial advisor . stifel.com . stifel bank & trust . stifelbank.com . protess b 2011 08 10 . s.e.c. sues stifel nicolaus over wisconsin school investments . nytimes.com . retrieved 2012 08 05 . http www.stifel.com docs pdf pressreleases 2012 opeb settlement.pdf http www.superlawyers.com wisconsin article schooling banks and brokers 1e144df8 703e 422f b3b2 bc559c55d5af.html external links edit official website stifel investor relations stifel press releases stifel branch locator stifel find a financial advisor stifel board of directors stifel bank & trust website stifel trust website equitycompass strategies website missouri valley partners website thomas weisel global growth partners website timberline asset management website washington crossing advisors website century securities associates website washington crossing advisors is a stifel investment advisory program . equitycompass strategies is a research and investment advisory unit of choice financial partners . choice financial partners missouri valley partners timberline asset management and thomas weisel global growth partners are wholly owned subsidiaries and affiliated sec registered investment advisers of stifel