Through the Steward Partners Freedom Street merger, Monaco Capital and Saling Simms, two independent financial advice businesses, have been bought by Steward Partners, a full-service, employee-owned financial services company.

Both companies will bolster Steward Partners’ clientele with five advisers and $488m in total funds under management.

The deals represent an extension of Steward Partners’ recently developed model, which was made possible by the company’s acquisition of Freedom Street Partners and provides financial advisers with both growth potential and a platform for business transformation.

Moreover, advisers for Monaco Capital and Saling Simms will join Steward Partners as personnel and equity partners following their integration with Freedom Street Partners.

Monaco Capital, situated in Virginia Beach, VA, will provide their experience managing $175m in client assets to Steward Partners.

With the acquisition, Steward’s Virginia Beach office expands, having grown steadily since December 2023 when it was acquired by Freedom Street Partners.

Saling Simms’s wealth management company provides Steward Partners with a path to grow into the Columbus, Ohio region, where the company is establishing its latest office.

The company employs four financial advisers in its network who oversee $314m in client assets.

As part of this move, Saling Simms President Jim Saling and Vice President Brent Simms, together with their teams, will join Steward Partners. Between them, they have over 70 years of industry expertise.

Jim Gold, CEO and co-founder of Steward Partners stated: “The acquisition of both Monaco Capital and Saling Simms marks another step in our commitment to deliver excellence to our advisers, partners, and clients through our legacy model. 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.”

Scott Danner, CEO of Freedom Street Partners added: “The teams at these two respective firms have spent their entire careers shouldering the financial burden of their clients. Our goal at Steward is to shoulder it for them, ensuring smooth continuity as these adviser’s transition into the next chapter of their careers and their clients into the next phase of their lives. This acquisition is a testament to Steward Partners’ standing as an industry leader, our firm’s breadth of expertise and the strength of our leadership team that continues to propel us forward. I have no doubt that this will be a smooth transition for everyone involved.”

This comes after Steward Partners’ acquisition of Freedom Street Partners, which closed on 19 December 2023, and was completely integrated into Steward Partners on 15 March 2024.