Company: SFB
Filing Date: 2025-02-26
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000950170-25-027702
Chunk: 30

Company: STIFEL FINANCIAL CORP
Filing Date: 2025-02-26
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 30
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 markets strength, our middle-market focus, and our private client network, we intend to grow our investment banking business. Opportunistic acquisitions over the past 15 years have accelerated the growth of our investment banking business through expanded industry, product, and geographic coverage, including capital-raising for start-up companies, particularly from the venture community. We believe our position as a middle-market-focused investment bank with broad-based and respected research will allow us to take advantage of opportunities in the middle market and continue to align our investment banking coverage with our research footprint.

•Focus on asset generation within Stifel Bancorp by offering banking services to our clients. We believe the banking services provided through Stifel Bancorp strengthen our existing client relationships and help us recruit financial advisors seeking to provide a full range of services to their private clients. We intend to continue focusing on the sale of banking products and services to our private and corporate clients.

•Further expand our institutional business both domestically and internationally. Our institutional equity business is built upon the premise that high-quality fundamental research is not a commodity. The growth of our business has been fueled by the effective partnership of our highly rated research and institutional sales and trading teams. We have identified opportunities to expand our research capabilities by taking advantage of market disruptions. Our goal is to further monetize our research platform by adding additional institutional sales and trading teams and by placing a greater emphasis on client management.

•Approach acquisition opportunities with discipline. Over the course of our operating history, we have demonstrated our ability to identify, effect, and integrate attractive acquisition opportunities. We believe the current environment and market dislocation will continue to provide us with the ability to thoughtfully consider acquisitions on an opportunistic basis.

COMPETITION

We compete with other securities firms, some of which offer their customers a broader range of brokerage services, have substantially greater resources, and may have greater operating efficiencies. In addition, we face increasing competition from other financial institutions, such as commercial banks, online service providers, and other companies offering financial services.

Our ability to compete effectively is substantially dependent on our continuing ability to develop or attract, retain, and motivate qualified financial advisors, investment bankers, trading professionals, portfolio managers, and other revenue-producing or specialized personnel. Furthermore, the labor market continues to experience elevated levels of turnover and competition, including increased competition for talent across all areas of our business, as well as increased competition with non-traditional competitors, such as technology companies. Employers are increasingly offering guaranteed contracts, upfront payments, increased compensation, and opportunities to work with greater