By Kenneth Corbin
Steward Partners, a large New York registered investment advisory firm, has notched a big personnel win, bringing on a $2.4 billion wealth management team from UBS. Zelniker Dorfman Private Wealth, based in New York and Florida, joined Steward on June 5, according to registration records. Steward announced the move on Tuesday.
Steward, which ranked No. 9 on Barron's 2025 list of top RIA firms, says Zelniker Dorfman is the largest team it has brought onto its M&A channel from a national brokerage firm in its history.
The 11-person practice, led by Scott Zelniker and Peter Dorfman, includes six advisors. It caters to wealthy clients including business owners, entertainers, and professional athletes, as well as multigenerational families.
"I started working with clients when their parents were the decision makers," says Zelniker, a 33-year industry veteran. "Now those clients are grandparents themselves, and we are working with their children and grandchildren."
UBS declined to comment on the departure.
Dorfman says that Steward has been "on our radar" for a decade, and that the firm's selling points, such as its employee-ownership model and hybrid RIA and brokerage services, became more compelling over time.
"This was not the path of least resistance," he says. "We could have stayed in our seats at a wirehouse, ridden things out, and eventually retired," he adds, noting that the move to Steward will support clients' transition to a next generation of advisors.
Zelniker first registered as a broker with Merrill Lynch in 1992, according to the online database BrokerCheck. He had a 10-year stint with Citigroup before returning to Merrill in 2006 and then joining UBS in 2016.
Dorfman has a similar resume, joining Merrill Lynch in 1998, Citigroup in 2000, back to Merrill in 2006 and then affiliating with UBS in 2016.
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 09, 2026 13:35 ET (17:35 GMT)
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