Built for Advisors Who Are Ready for What’s Next
A Decision We Understand from Both Sides
You didn’t build your practice overnight. The client relationships, trust you’ve earned, and reputation you’ve established are the result of years of professional dedication.
Deciding where those relationships belong next deserves more than a transaction. For many advisors, the decision to explore a new path begins with a change in circumstances, a shift in priorities, or a desire to plan thoughtfully for the future.
Your firm may have gone through a merger or acquisition and the organization around you no longer feels like the independent practice you joined.
Private equity ownership may have changed the culture, priorities, or time horizon.
You may have spent your career within a bank wealth management division or wirehouse and are ready for greater independence, fewer conflicts, and a model built around the client.
Or perhaps you’re beginning to think about retirement. You may not be ready to leave today, but you know you want a succession plan in place well before your last day, giving you time to transition your clients thoughtfully and confidence in where they will be cared for long term.
We understand these decisions from both sides. SJS was founded and built by advisors, and it remains owned by the people who run it. The person across the table from you has sat in your seat.
We know what it means to be responsible for clients who depend on you. And we know how important it is to find a long-term home where independence, continuity, and client relationships won’t be compromised by the next ownership change.
Different Paths. One Long-Term Home.
There’s no single path into SJS because advisors come to this decision at very different points in their careers.
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You’ve built strong client relationships within a bank wealth management division, wirehouse, or other large financial institution, but you’re ready for a different way to practice.
SJS offers a fiduciary model with no commissions or product sales, backed by the resources and capabilities of a multi-billion dollar independent RIA. It can be a path for experienced advisors who want greater independence without giving up the infrastructure and resources needed to serve sophisticated clients.
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You joined one firm, but after a merger, acquisition, consolidation, or ownership change, you find yourself working for a very different organization.
If the culture, priorities, or long-term direction no longer align with the way you want to serve clients, SJS offers an employee-owned and independent alternative built for the long term.
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Maybe you’ve experienced what happens when outside capital, growth expectations, or an eventual exit influence the direction of an advisory firm.
At SJS, there is no private equity owner, outside capital provider, or corporate parent setting an exit timeline. SJS has remained independent and employee-owned since 1995.
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Succession planning doesn’t have to begin when you’re ready to walk out the door.
For a solo advisor or practice owner, joining SJS earlier can create the opportunity to make succession a gradual transition rather than a single event. You can become part of a larger team, introduce your clients to the people who may eventually serve them, and spend the remaining years of your career knowing there is a long-term plan in place.
When you are ready to retire, your clients aren’t suddenly being handed to a new firm. They are already part of one.
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You may not be reacting to an acquisition or planning an imminent retirement. You may simply have reached a point in your career where you want greater resources, a broader team, and a firm whose ownership structure and time horizon align with your own.
For advisors looking for a permanent home rather than another stop along the way, SJS was built to endure.
Let’s Start the Conversation
You don’t need to be ready to make a move to begin thinking about what comes next.
Whether you’re considering independence from a bank or wirehouse, questioning the direction of a firm after a merger or ownership change, looking for an alternative to a PE-backed model, or thinking several years ahead about succession, we’d welcome a confidential conversation.
There’s no pressure and no obligation. Just a conversation between advisors about what you’ve built, what you want to protect, and what you want the next chapter to look like. If the way SJS is built sounds like the way you want to practice — or the place you want your clients to call home long after you retire — please contact us.
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SJS has been employee-owned and independent since 1995. There is no private equity owner, outside capital provider, or corporate parent setting an exit timeline. The people making decisions about the future of the firm are the same people serving clients and building the business every day.
For advisors looking for a permanent home, that distinction matters.
For 30 years, we’ve built SJS around a single idea: the client comes first, all the time, every time.
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Whether you’re leaving a wirehouse or bank, looking for greater independence after a merger or acquisition, moving away from a PE-backed organization, planning your succession, or simply looking for the firm where you can spend the rest of your career, consider what SJS offers:
Fee-based and fiduciary. No commissions, no product sales, no conflicts to work around. The only person you answer to is your client.
Employee-owned and independent since 1995. Our culture is built and protected by the advisors who own the firm, the same people you’d be working alongside.
Nationally recognized. Ranked on the CNBC FA 100 and named among Forbes’ Top RIA Firms.*
Institutional resources. Our multi-billion assets under management level allows us to offer institutional-grade capabilities to serve our clients.
Three markets, room to operate. Offices across Sylvania/Toledo, Ohio; Chicago, Illinois; and Scottsdale, Arizona give you the flexibility to build locally in major metro areas while drawing on the resources of a national firm.
Built for continuity. Our team structure is designed so client relationships outlast any single transition, including yours.
A home for the next stage of your career. Whether that means another decade of growth or a thoughtful transition toward retirement, SJS is designed around long-term stewardship rather than an eventual exit.
The CNBC FA 100 (2025) and Forbes/SHOOK America’s Top RIA Firms (2022 through 2025) are third-party ratings. See Disclosures page for the required rating details.
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For many advisors considering a transition, the question isn’t simply, “Where can I go?”
It’s, “How do I know I won’t have to do this again?”
Ownership matters. Capital structure matters. Time horizon matters.
A firm may be independent today and still be positioned for a sale tomorrow. For advisors who have already experienced an acquisition, merger, change in ownership, or shift toward a more institutionalized model, that uncertainty can become increasingly important.
SJS has remained independent and employee-owned since 1995. Our advisors have a direct stake in the firm they are building, and our model is designed around long-term stewardship rather than an eventual exit.
That same philosophy extends to our clients. Many SJS client relationships span decades, and some span generations. Advisors who join us gain the support of a full team of CFP® professionals, institutional-grade investment resources, and a culture designed to preserve relationships through transitions rather than disrupt them.
If you’re looking for a firm where independence is more than a marketing message, SJS offers a model built to endure.
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most important client decisions you’ll make.
And the best time to make that decision may be years before you intend to retire.
You want to know who will answer the phone after you’re no longer the one answering it. You want your clients to receive the same level of care, fiduciary guidance, and personal attention they’ve come to expect. And you want the practice you spent decades building to become part of something that will remain strong long after you leave.
For solo advisors in particular, transitioning earlier can provide something an end-of-career transaction cannot: time.
Time for your clients to get to know a broader team. Time for that team to understand your clients and the relationships behind your practice. Time for you to remain involved while gradually creating continuity beyond yourself.
Our team-based structure is designed with that continuity in mind.
Rather than simply acquiring a book of business, we work to understand the relationships behind it. The goal is a thoughtful transition for you, a reassuring experience for your clients, and a succession plan built around continuity rather than disruption.