STAMFORD – Steward Partners, a registered adviser, on June 9 announced a strategic partnership with Zelniker Dorfman Private Wealth that adds $2.4 billion in client assets to Steward’s M&A Channel platform, marking the largest wirehouse breakaway in its history.
The deal is the result of a former UBS advisory team jumping ship to Steward Partners. A wirehouse is a full-service brokerage firm that provides wealth management, investment banking, and trading services.
With this partnership, Steward Partners deepens its presence across the Northeast Corridor – with offices in New York City and Connecticut – and expands its footprint along Florida’s East and Gulf coasts. Steward has more than $50 billion in assets that is manages. Zelniker and Dorfman is headquartered in both New York City and Sarasota, Florida.
Led by partners Scott Zelniker and Peter Dorfman, the 11-person team – six of which are advisors – brings more than 100 years of combined industry experience. The team, now operating as Zelniker Dorfman Private Wealth at Steward Partners, represents the kind of sophisticated breakaway Steward Partners believes it is built to attract bringing a fully integrated, multi-generational practice with deep specialization across complex client segments serving business owners navigating liquidity events, multi-generational families, and professional athletes and entertainers.
The partnership announcement follows Steward’s acquisitions of Wisdom Rock Advisory Group for $500 million to add to its M&A Channel and an Ameriprise practice for $500 million.
The team also serves women in wealth and a growing gaming and content creator practice through a next-generation segment.
“Over the course of my career, I have had the privilege of watching families grow across generations and finding a partner in Steward who shares that long-term vision made this decision clear,” said Scott Zelniker, partner, wealth advisor, Zelniker Dorfman Private Wealth at Steward Partners. “I started working with clients when their parents were the decision-makers. Now those clients are grandparents themselves, and we are working with their children and grandchildren.
“That continuity is not something you stumble into; it is something you build deliberately. The way we have constructed this team, with members ranging from their 20s to their 50s, is a direct reflection of that philosophy.”
Peter Dorfman, Partner, Wealth Advisor, Zelniker Dorfman Private Wealth at Steward Partners, described how his firm had its sights set on Steward Partners for nearly a decade.
