Steward Partners announced the acquisition of Jazz Wealth, a Tampa Bay-area wealth management firm overseeing approximately $450 million in client assets, further strengthening Steward Partners’ footprint across Florida’s Gulf Coast and the broader Southeast region.
The acquisition adds Jazz Wealth to Steward Partners’ M&A Channel, which is designed to help established advisory firms maintain their branding and client relationships while leveraging Steward Partners’ operational infrastructure and national platform.
Jazz Wealth has built a differentiated wealth management practice focused on a younger, multigenerational client base, with an average client age in the mid-forties. The firm manages approximately 3,500 client relationships and has become known for its personalized investment strategies and digital-first engagement model, including extensive use of video content and social media.
The eight-person team, including wealth advisors Dustin Tibbitts, Eric Powell, Haley McKay-Daily Tibbitts, and Christopher Klenk, will continue operating from the Tampa Bay area under the Steward Partners platform. The group was previously custodied at Goldman Sachs and will maintain that relationship through Goldman Sachs Advisor Solutions.
Steward Partners Chief Growth Officer Scott Danner emphasized the unique market positioning Jazz Wealth created through its digital engagement strategy and younger investor demographic.
KEY QUOTES:
“Most firms in this industry are still fighting over the same slice of the pie. Jazz went out and found a different pie entirely. They’ve built a practice that’s younger, broader, and more digitally engaged than almost anything we’ve seen at this level—and they’ve done so without compromising their quality of service. Bringing them into the Steward family wasn’t a hard call. This is exactly what the M&A Channel was built for.”
Scott Danner, Chief Growth Officer, Steward Partners
“When we evaluated this move, we started with one rule: whatever we do has to benefit the client first, and then the team. We found a partner in Steward with the back-end infrastructure and expertise that frees us up to do what we actually love—and to be even more present for our clients than we were before. And the fact that they’re letting us keep being the quirky, unconventional firm we’ve always been? That sealed it.”
Dustin Tibbitts, Managing Director And Wealth Advisor, Jazz Wealth
