Sam began his investment industry career in 1999 and joined Stifel in 2022. His passion lies in digging deep to truly understand his clients’ most important needs and priorities, as well as developing comprehensive and creative wealth management strategies to address them. Along with the associates in the home office, he is involved in every aspect of wealth planning for our clients, from education, retirement, tax, estate, and legacy planning strategies to business succession and exit strategies. He holds the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® and Certified Private Wealth Advisor® certifications, as well as the Certified Exit Planning Advisor® designation.

Prior to joining Stifel, Sam worked as a Senior Portfolio Manager in the UBS Portfolio Management Program, where he focused on asset allocation, customized portfolio construction, and tax-aware active portfolio management. He spent the first chapter of his career in banking, helping entrepreneurs finance and grow their businesses. Sam was involved in two community bank start-ups before starting up a private banking group in Wilmington for a large Southeastern bank. His private banking experience paved the way for his career in wealth management, which began in 2000.

Outside the office, Sam mentors business students at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) as a member of the Cameron Executive Network. He serves on the board of Seapath Yacht Club, as well as his family’s nonprofit, One Way Out.

Sam was born and raised in Henderson, North Carolina. UNCW brought him to Wilmington, where he met his wife, Christine. After a short stint following graduation, he and Christine moved back to Wilmington in 1989 and have lived in the area since. Sam and Christine have two grown children. Their son, Dylan, is the Director of Data and Machine Learning at Lumos in Wilmington and their daughter, Marley, is a Senior Research Associate at Academy Health in Nashville, Tennessee. Sam and Christine now live at Wrightsville Beach with their two rescue dogs, Tripp and Sunny. In his free time, you can find Sam enjoying the outdoors around Wrightsville Beach, walking the dogs, boating, paddle boarding, biking, running, and playing pickle ball.