Sterne Agee

One of the nation's largest and oldest privately-owned financial services companies outside of Wall Street is based in Birmingham - but won't be for much longer. Stifel, a St. Louis-based company, announced this week it would buy Sterne Agee Group for $150 million, pending shareholder approval, clouding the Birmingham institution's future. Through a team of over 2,000 financial professionals, Sterne Agee offers comprehensive wealth management and investment services to a diverse client base including corporations, municipalities and individual investors. The Firm custodies nearly $26 billion in client assets and has offices nationwide, as well as an office in London. Sterne Agee is the trade name used by certain affiliates of Sterne Agee Group, Inc., including Sterne, Agee & Leach, Inc., member of NYSE, FINRA and SIPC.