Stifel says wealth growth offsets institutional slide, third-quarter revenue seen flat
Total client assets reached $587,622 million as of August 31, 2026, up 10% from a year earlier, Stifel Financial says
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Stifel Financial expects firm-wide net revenue for the third quarter to come in essentially flat with the same period last year. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ronald J. Kruszewski said strong growth in Global Wealth Management is offsetting a roughly 15% decline in the Institutional Group, which the company tied to lower transactional revenue and a modest drop in investment banking revenue.
The company's operating data, as of August 31, 2026, showed total client assets of $587,622 million, up 10% from a year earlier. Fee-based client assets stood at $244,377 million, up 14% year over year.
The flat revenue outlook shows the wealth management business has grown large enough to absorb a meaningful pullback in trading and dealmaking. That limits how far earnings could fall, but it also caps how much they can rise until activity in the Institutional Group picks back up. With client assets still growing at a double-digit pace, the underlying growth story holds even as near-term earnings power stays level rather than accelerating.