Our History

SURGANT  FINANCIAL  GROUP
OUR 55-YEAR FAMILY TRADITION

As we sent out this year’s desk calendars, I remember helping my Uncle Ted assemble and mail his Stifel desk calendars in 1968, and I was reminded that we have passed the 55th anniversary of our family’s tradition of bringing you value-added investment products and services. We take pride in continuing our family tradition as well as providing our investment planning capabilities and knowledge developed and passed down over a half century.

My uncle, Tom Strousser, had a small sandwich and package liquor shop near the old Stifel main office that catered to the baseball game crowd. He encouraged one of his regular customers, John Bunn, President of Stifel, to meet his brother-in-law, my uncle, Ted Menas, in 1968, after he sold his insurance company. Mr. Bunn hired Uncle Ted, and this began our family relationship with Stifel that now exceeds the half-century mark. Our relationship with Stifel is solid, which further enhances our capabilities. We lost Uncle Ted to cancer in late 1990, but fortunately, by then, I had worked with him for more than six years in sales after starting as a securities analyst covering various industries and sectors for 4 ½ years.

My father, John M. Surgant, Sr., joined me in 1991 for a second career and worked with me for more than 20 years. Dad retired in 2012, but not before he saw the third generation, my daughter, Stephanie, come aboard at Stifel in 2004. Her younger brother, my son, John T. (J.T.) Surgant, joined us in 2017.

Our tradition of value-added knowledge and service continues. Each of you are important, and Stephanie, J.T., and I are here to address your needs by phone or e-mail, at our Frontenac office, and at any of Stifel’s other branch locations. Each of you, our clients and friends, have made this more than 55-year family tradition possible, and for that, we are truly grateful.

Although Stephanie and J.T. are in charge of writing the 100th anniversary newsletters in the future, you can rest assured that I plan to be actively involved in investment structure, strategy selection, and analysis for quite some time to come. Because Surgant Financial Group is a team, please click here for more detail on our backgrounds, skills, and responsibilities.