By David Wignall

Steward Partners expanded its presence in the Bay Area this week, acquiring a team with $1.1 billion in client assets.

Founded in 2010, Danville-based Consilium Wealth Management serves roughly 150 clients, the overwhelming majority of whom are high net worth individuals. Prior to the acquisition, Consilium was majority-owned and led by advisor John H. Seo, according to regulatory filings.

Before founding Consilium, Seo worked at YCMNet Advisors, a Walnut Creek-based wealth management firm. He started his career as a financial planner in 1998 at Prudential Financial and also worked as an advisor at Merrill Lynch, according to BrokerCheck, a public database maintained by industry self-regulatory organization Finra. Seo will become a partner at Steward.

Consilium will join Steward Partners' legacy division, the company's dealmaking arm which is designated to aid advisors with succession planning. Steward also operates its own investment advisory business and runs an institutional consulting practice.

"This isn't about transactions -- it's about relationships," says Scott Danner, an executive vice president and head of the legacy division at Steward. "John's expertise and the high-caliber clients he serves are a testament to the momentum we've built, and adding this incredible team accelerates that trajectory even further."

Steward Partners' legacy division is growing quickly. In March, Steward acquired an independent five-advisor team with $700 million of client assets. In November, Steward recruited part of a team that managed $850 million at Ameriprise.

In 2024, Steward was No. 18 on Barron's list of top 100 RIA firms (but behind a separate list of seven "mega" RIAs). Steward, which has $40 billion of total assets according to a representative, is primarily owned by its employees. Alternative investment firms Cynosure Group and the Pritzker Organization also own minority stakes in Steward.

Consilium, which caters to clients with portfolios exceeding $10 million in assets, has an affiliate -- Simplex Wealth Management -- that focuses on clients with $1 million or more in assets. Simplex will also join Steward as part of the transaction.

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 02, 2025 14:47 ET (18:47 GMT)

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