What Stairway Partners does

Stairway Partners, LLC is a privately held, SEC-registered investment advisor founded in 2004 and headquartered at 4999 France Avenue South, Suite 255, Minneapolis, Minnesota. The firm was established by former senior investment professionals from Brinson Partners and serves three client segments through distinct go-to-market motions: institutional investors (via direct sales and a delegated fiduciary/OCIO model), investment advisors such as independent RIAs, banks, and other investment organizations (via a sub-advisory channel with proprietary web-based communication tools), and families or individual private investors (via separately managed portfolios held at independent third-party custodians).

The firm's core offering is multi-asset class portfolio management grounded in the belief that the majority of portfolio risk and return is determined by asset class mix rather than security selection. It implements this view through a suite of proprietary, fundamentally based valuation models that produce forward-looking return estimates across global capital markets, combined with execution primarily in passively managed ETFs and index funds. The strategy lineup spans Dynamic Global Growth, Tax-Managed Growth, Tax-Managed Moderate and Conservative Asset Allocation, Moderate, Growth, and Conservative composites. Performance reporting is positioned around transparency: explicit strategy and holdings disclosure, clear fee identification, and detailed attribution of factors driving portfolio results. Operations are supported by an information technology and security function and a Compliance Advisor, while an Investment Advisory Committee chaired externally (including a former UBS Global Head of Fixed Income based in London) oversees investment policy.

Revenue is generated entirely from recurring investment advisory fees across mandates ranging from investment-only engagements to full delegated fiduciary/OCIO responsibilities; pricing is not publicly disclosed. Distribution relies on direct sales to institutional and private investor segments and on sub-advisory arrangements with third-party advisors, supplemented by quarterly market commentary, research publications, and news updates as content marketing. The firm has won multiple PSN Top Guns awards (including Manager of the Decade designations for Conservative and Tax-Managed Conservative Asset Allocation in 2017 and 2018) and was named to the Financial Times 300 Top Registered Investment Advisers in 2017.

Name

Stairway Partners

Legal name

Stairway Partners, LLC

Website

https://stairwaypartners.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Stairway Partners is an SEC-registered investment advisor founded in 2004 that provides multi-asset class portfolio management and OCIO services to institutional investors, sub-advisory strategies to RIAs and banks, and separately managed portfolios to private investors, implemented primarily through passive ETFs and index funds guided by proprietary valuation models.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Investment Advisory Fees: Stairway Partners generates revenue through investment advisory fees for providing comprehensive portfolio management solutions to institutional investors, investment advisors, and private investors. Services range from investment-only mandates where the firm manages a portion of client assets based on specific need, to delegated fiduciary services where the firm assumes full responsibility for daily oversight and monitoring of the client's investment portfolio.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Stairway Partners is an SEC-registered investment advisor that provides portfolio management solutions to institutional investors, investment advisors (independent RIAs, banks, and other investment organizations), and private investors. Services range from investment-only mandates to delegated fiduciary and Outsourced CIO engagements, and are built around globally diversified, multi-asset class strategies implemented primarily through passively managed ETFs and index funds, guided by proprietary fundamentally based valuation models and dynamic global asset allocation.

Product overview

Stairway Partners is an SEC-registered investment advisor founded in 2004, providing industry-leading portfolio management solutions to institutional investors, investment advisors, and private clients. The firm offers a comprehensive suite of investment strategies including Dynamic Global Growth, Tax-Managed Growth, Conservative, and Moderate Asset Allocation strategies. Services include Outsourced CIO (OCIO), Dynamic Global Asset Allocation, Portfolio Monitoring & Performance Reporting, Sub-Advisory Services for RIAs, and Private Investor Portfolio Management. The firm primarily implements strategies using passively managed ETFs and index funds, supplemented by proprietary research publications and web-based client communication tools. The company has received multiple PSN Top Guns awards for investment performance across various strategy composites.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) Services Comprehensive OCIO services for institutional clients including investment governance enhancement, decision-making streamlining, and cost efficiencies.
• Institutional Investment Management Investment-only mandates and delegated fiduciary services for large institutional investors, including policy development, portfolio construction, and portfolio reporting.
• Sub-Advisory Services Sub-advisory services for independent RIAs, banks, and other investment organizations, providing a customized suite of globally diversified balanced portfolio strategies supported by market research and proprietary web-based client communication tools.
• Dynamic Global Asset Allocation Actively managed portfolio allocation service using proprietary fundamentally based valuation models to identify market risks and opportunities across global capital markets and adjust allocations within stated policy guidelines.
• Portfolio Monitoring and Performance Reporting Comprehensive portfolio monitoring and investment performance reporting with detailed attribution of factors contributing to portfolio performance.
• Dynamic Global Growth Strategy Multi-asset class investment strategy focused on globally diversified portfolios targeting specific risk and return objectives, recognized with PSN Six Star and Five Star Top Guns awards.
• Tax-Managed Growth Strategy Tax-efficient multi-asset portfolio strategy designed to minimize taxable events while achieving growth objectives.
• Tax-Managed Moderate Asset Allocation Balanced multi-asset portfolio strategy with tax management, balancing growth and income objectives.
• Tax-Managed Conservative Asset Allocation Conservative multi-asset portfolio strategy with tax management, focused on capital preservation with modest growth.
• Moderate Asset Allocation Strategy Balanced multi-asset portfolio strategy targeting moderate risk-adjusted returns.
• Conservative Asset Allocation Strategy Conservative multi-asset portfolio strategy prioritizing capital preservation.
• Private Investor Portfolio Management Institutional-quality portfolio management for families and individual investors, delivered through separately managed portfolios held at independent third-party custodians with streamlined monthly reporting.
• Growth Strategy Composite Growth-oriented multi-asset portfolio strategy composite focused on capital appreciation.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Success Files and Education Alliance, LLCminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 November 2018Stairway Partners collaborated with Success Files and Education Alliance, LLC to produce a series of educational videos highlighting important investment topics critical to investors' long-term success. The videos were distributed nationally through public television stations and locally in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota on major news networks.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• RP Martin & Associates: Boutique investment advisory firm providing multi-asset class asset allocation and sub-advisory services—small, founder-led, PSN-eligible strategy provider analogous to Stairway in structure and channel mix.
• Fiducient Advisors: Independent investment advisory firm providing OCIO and discretionary asset-allocation services to institutional clients, with comparable positioning in transparent, fee-disclosed institutional mandates.
• Fund Evaluation Group (FEG): Boutique, multi-asset institutional investment advisor and OCIO provider serving endowments, foundations, and family offices with fundamentally driven asset-allocation research—closely comparable to Stairway in approach, scale, and institutional clientele.
• Wealthspire Advisors: Mid-sized, multi-channel RIA combining institutional-quality portfolio management with private-wealth service and sub-advisory offerings—comparable in scale and segmentation across institutional, intermediary, and private investors.
• Marquette Associates: Independent institutional investment consulting and OCIO firm specializing in asset allocation for foundations, endowments, and pension plans—comparable in target market and asset-allocation-led value proposition.

Broad incumbents

• Cambridge Associates: Global investment consulting and OCIO firm known for manager research and long-term allocation strategy—competes for larger institutional OCIO mandates and represents the upper-scale benchmark in Stairway's category.
• Mercer Advisors: Large national RIA platform offering OCIO, investment management, and sub-advisory capabilities with multi-asset class solutions—a broad incumbent overlapping Stairway in private-investor and sub-advisory channels.
• NEPC: Large, independent investment consulting firm offering OCIO and research-driven asset-allocation services across institutional segments; broader in scale but competing for the same institutional mandates as Stairway.
• Russell Investments: Large, multi-affiliate investment firm providing OCIO, sub-advisory, and institutional consulting—a broader incumbent operating at much larger scale but directly competing for Stairway's institutional and intermediary mandates.

Emerging players

• Cornerstone Advisors Asset Management: Independent RIA offering institutional asset-allocation and tax-managed strategies—smaller scale but directly competitive in tax-aware and institutional allocation mandates.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Stairway Partners