RBS Wealth Management

RBS Wealth Management

Your Future, Our Focus

Where We Come From

Founded by Ryan Stephen, RBS Wealth Management is dedicated to guiding clients through every stage of life, not just retirement but through the generations. With years of experience, Ryan brings a wealth of knowledge and a unique perspective to financial advising. We believe there’s no single “best” approach—only the right one for you. Our mission is to create a clear, simplified strategy that supports your financial goals during your saving years while enhancing your lifestyle in retirement. We focus on balancing living well today without compromising your future.

  1. Ryan Becomes Licensed

    Ryan Stephen entered the industry in March 2009 and received his licenses in August. Working at Edward Jones, he started studying mutual fund flows and noticed something consistent: when retail investors gained online access to their 401(k) platforms, they pulled money out at market lows — which meant fund managers couldn't deploy capital when they needed to most. Ryan started managing individual securities in his own model to test whether staying the course actually worked. It did. His models were losing less than the funds in downturns and recovering quicker in the upswings. One consistent strategy. No panic.

    Ryan Becomes Licensed

    Ryan Stephen entered the industry in March 2009 and received his licenses in August. Working at Edward Jones, he started studying mutual fund flows and noticed something consistent: when retail investors gained online access to their 401(k) platforms, they pulled money out at market lows — which meant fund managers couldn't deploy capital when they needed to most. Ryan started managing individual securities in his own model to test whether staying the course actually worked. It did. His models were losing less than the funds in downturns and recovering quicker in the upswings. One consistent strategy. No panic.

  2. RBS Wealth Affiliates with Benjamin F. Edwards

    After roughly twelve years at Edward Jones, Ryan founded RBS Wealth Management to build the investment practice he'd been designing since 2009 — managing individual securities directly, without the constraints of a wirehouse. RBS launched with two people, Ryan and Sheena Stemler, and the help of an affiliation with Benjamin F. Edwards. He moved his existing client book to Benjamin F. Edwards, affiliating for compliance infrastructure and technology support — not as an employee, but as an independent affiliate. BFE gave RBS the regulatory scaffolding to operate while Ryan built the investment process. When it became clear that the firm's technology wasn't keeping pace with where RBS needed to go, he made the decision to license independently with the SEC. From day one, the firm ran the way it still runs: clients dealt directly with the people who managed their money.

    RBS Wealth Affiliates with Benjamin F. Edwards

    After roughly twelve years at Edward Jones, Ryan founded RBS Wealth Management to build the investment practice he'd been designing since 2009 — managing individual securities directly, without the constraints of a wirehouse. RBS launched with two people, Ryan and Sheena Stemler, and the help of an affiliation with Benjamin F. Edwards. He moved his existing client book to Benjamin F. Edwards, affiliating for compliance infrastructure and technology support — not as an employee, but as an independent affiliate. BFE gave RBS the regulatory scaffolding to operate while Ryan built the investment process. When it became clear that the firm's technology wasn't keeping pace with where RBS needed to go, he made the decision to license independently with the SEC. From day one, the firm ran the way it still runs: clients dealt directly with the people who managed their money.

  3. Filling Out the Team — Adam Minor Joins

    At the end of 2022, Ryan noticed immediately that the move to independence was going to be more than two people could handle. Ryan hand-picked Adam Minor to join the team as a second licensed advisor. The key was to give clients the confidence that the investment strategy would last beyond just him. Adam comes from a background of public accounting and real estate, which enhances the planning process for clients.

    Filling Out the Team — Adam Minor Joins

    At the end of 2022, Ryan noticed immediately that the move to independence was going to be more than two people could handle. Ryan hand-picked Adam Minor to join the team as a second licensed advisor. The key was to give clients the confidence that the investment strategy would last beyond just him. Adam comes from a background of public accounting and real estate, which enhances the planning process for clients.

  4. Filling Out the Team — Joanna Link Joins

    By 2024, Sheena needed some assistance. In came Joanna, one of the most caring individuals you will ever meet. She has been key to our customer service team.

    Filling Out the Team — Joanna Link Joins

    By 2024, Sheena needed some assistance. In came Joanna, one of the most caring individuals you will ever meet. She has been key to our customer service team.

  5. RBS Wealth Management Becomes an SEC-Registered RIA

    At the end of 2025, RBS completed its final move, going fully independent as an SEC-registered investment adviser — full independence on compliance, technology, and the investment process. No affiliate structure. No outside firm constraints. The registration was the conclusion of a long journey to build a true fiduciary firm.

    RBS Wealth Management Becomes an SEC-Registered RIA

    At the end of 2025, RBS completed its final move, going fully independent as an SEC-registered investment adviser — full independence on compliance, technology, and the investment process. No affiliate structure. No outside firm constraints. The registration was the conclusion of a long journey to build a true fiduciary firm.

  6. End of 2025

    The team and long-term vision still aren't complete. As growth continues, so does our customer service team. We added another customer service representative, Kendall. On top of Kendall, Ryan has a long-term vision to create a robust investment strategy AI tool to help in the process of managing the models. This tool will learn from decisions and look out for risks naturally, not taking away the human touch but enhancing the decision by reducing the emotion in the decision. With that AI tool, he also has commissioned Lou, the software engineer, to develop a retirement planning tool — one that doesn't stop at death and one that works through the generations. Taxes and estates can be very efficient if the right strategy is put in place.

    End of 2025

    The team and long-term vision still aren't complete. As growth continues, so does our customer service team. We added another customer service representative, Kendall. On top of Kendall, Ryan has a long-term vision to create a robust investment strategy AI tool to help in the process of managing the models. This tool will learn from decisions and look out for risks naturally, not taking away the human touch but enhancing the decision by reducing the emotion in the decision. With that AI tool, he also has commissioned Lou, the software engineer, to develop a retirement planning tool — one that doesn't stop at death and one that works through the generations. Taxes and estates can be very efficient if the right strategy is put in place.

  7. 2026 and Beyond

    RBS is exploring new growth within the firm to enhance clients' experiences, adding new licensed advisors, hand-picking associates who will carry out the fiduciary responsibility RBS has, and looking for CPA professionals to enhance tax strategy. The future is bright, and RBS doesn't take managing family wealth lightly.

    2026 and Beyond

    RBS is exploring new growth within the firm to enhance clients' experiences, adding new licensed advisors, hand-picking associates who will carry out the fiduciary responsibility RBS has, and looking for CPA professionals to enhance tax strategy. The future is bright, and RBS doesn't take managing family wealth lightly.

RBS firm history timeline
YearEventTypeDescription
2009Ryan Becomes LicensedmilestoneRyan Stephen entered the industry in March 2009 and received his licenses in August. Working at Edward Jones, he started studying mutual fund flows and noticed something consistent: when retail investors gained online access to their 401(k) platforms, they pulled money out at market lows — which meant fund managers couldn't deploy capital when they needed to most. Ryan started managing individual securities in his own model to test whether staying the course actually worked. It did. His models were losing less than the funds in downturns and recovering quicker in the upswings. One consistent strategy. No panic.
2021RBS Wealth Affiliates with Benjamin F. EdwardsmilestoneAfter roughly twelve years at Edward Jones, Ryan founded RBS Wealth Management to build the investment practice he'd been designing since 2009 — managing individual securities directly, without the constraints of a wirehouse. RBS launched with two people, Ryan and Sheena Stemler, and the help of an affiliation with Benjamin F. Edwards. He moved his existing client book to Benjamin F. Edwards, affiliating for compliance infrastructure and technology support — not as an employee, but as an independent affiliate. BFE gave RBS the regulatory scaffolding to operate while Ryan built the investment process. When it became clear that the firm's technology wasn't keeping pace with where RBS needed to go, he made the decision to license independently with the SEC. From day one, the firm ran the way it still runs: clients dealt directly with the people who managed their money.
2022Filling Out the Team — Adam Minor JoinsmilestoneAt the end of 2022, Ryan noticed immediately that the move to independence was going to be more than two people could handle. Ryan hand-picked Adam Minor to join the team as a second licensed advisor. The key was to give clients the confidence that the investment strategy would last beyond just him. Adam comes from a background of public accounting and real estate, which enhances the planning process for clients.
2024Filling Out the Team — Joanna Link JoinsmilestoneBy 2024, Sheena needed some assistance. In came Joanna, one of the most caring individuals you will ever meet. She has been key to our customer service team.
2025RBS Wealth Management Becomes an SEC-Registered RIAmilestoneAt the end of 2025, RBS completed its final move, going fully independent as an SEC-registered investment adviser — full independence on compliance, technology, and the investment process. No affiliate structure. No outside firm constraints. The registration was the conclusion of a long journey to build a true fiduciary firm.
2025End of 2025milestoneThe team and long-term vision still aren't complete. As growth continues, so does our customer service team. We added another customer service representative, Kendall. On top of Kendall, Ryan has a long-term vision to create a robust investment strategy AI tool to help in the process of managing the models. This tool will learn from decisions and look out for risks naturally, not taking away the human touch but enhancing the decision by reducing the emotion in the decision. With that AI tool, he also has commissioned Lou, the software engineer, to develop a retirement planning tool — one that doesn't stop at death and one that works through the generations. Taxes and estates can be very efficient if the right strategy is put in place.
20262026 and BeyondfutureRBS is exploring new growth within the firm to enhance clients' experiences, adding new licensed advisors, hand-picking associates who will carry out the fiduciary responsibility RBS has, and looking for CPA professionals to enhance tax strategy. The future is bright, and RBS doesn't take managing family wealth lightly.

Where We’re Going

RBS is being built to serve the same families for generations — a 20-year horizon isn’t a projection, it’s how we make every decision. The initiatives below are what that commitment looks like in practice.

  • AI Management Tools

    2026 target

    We are building trend-based entry and exit signals to layer into the investment process — not to replace advisor judgment, but to remove the behavioral bias that causes even disciplined investors to act on headlines. When a position's price movement diverges from the underlying fundamentals, the tools flag it. The decision still belongs to the advisor.

  • Multigenerational Planning Software

    2027 target

    We are developing planning software designed to manage assets across generations — not just to the current account holder's retirement, but through the estate transfer and into the accounts that follow. The focus is tax efficiency and investment continuity at every step, with a direct line from the current portfolio to the one the next generation inherits.

  • Multigenerational Client Relationships

    The families we work with today will pass wealth to the next generation. Our intent is to be the firm those heirs already know and trust when that moment comes — which means building those relationships now. We help clients educate their children on financial decisions and planning, so the handoff, when it comes, isn't a disruption.

  • Advisor & Team Growth

    We continue to add licensed wealth managers and the team that supports them — client service, operations, and the infrastructure behind every account. We are hand-picking associates who will carry out the fiduciary responsibility RBS has, and exploring CPA professionals to enhance tax strategy. Growth is deliberate: each advisor joins with the same direct-accountability standard clients have today, not a larger-firm handoff model.

How We Manage Money

We manage individual securities — not funds — in distinct model portfolios, each with its own sector framework and a defined set of priorities. We rebalance twice a year and make mid-cycle adjustments only when a company’s fundamentals change materially. We have full discretion, and we use it as investors, not traders. Performance is reported after all fees.

We don't ask you to pick from a menu of models. In your strategy meeting, Ryan or Adam will walk through the portfolios we believe fit your risk tolerance, return goals, and how long you need the money to last. That might be one model end-to-end, or a deliberate blend — fit drives the choice, not a count on a list.

Below is a sneak peek at some of the model portfolios we use — each with its own sector framework and priorities. What we recommend for you is decided in a strategy meeting; the rest is built or adapted when your goals call for something more specific.

How We Form Our Views

We track the same research desks that institutional investors use — but the data is an input, not an instruction. What we bring is the judgment to know when the signals agree and the discipline to slow down when they don’t.

We draw on six outside research providers — the same desks used by many of the largest institutional investors — and apply our own judgment before any signal influences a portfolio decision. Outside research informs the decision. It doesn't make it.

We track flow, volume, and trend signals from our research partners and layer our own fundamental view on top. When the signals align with our conviction, we act. When they conflict, we look harder before we move.
Gather
Track flow, volume, trend, and fundamental signals from six research providers
Layer Judgment
Apply our own fundamental view — the data informs, it doesn't decide
Act
Move with conviction when signals align; look harder when they conflict
Research sources used by RBS Wealth Management
SourceSignal typeWhat they provideHow RBS uses it
Argus ResearchFundamentalArgus Research provides independent equity research and earnings estimates across a broad universe of publicly traded companies — produced by analysts with no investment banking relationship with the companies they cover.We use Argus estimates and analyst ratings as a cross-check on our own earnings expectations — particularly when evaluating whether to hold or reduce a position after an earnings miss or guidance revision.
Charles SchwabMacroSchwab's investment research team publishes macro views, sector rotation frameworks, and periodic economic outlook reports covering the domestic and global economy.We track Schwab's sector allocation guidance and macro commentary as a reference when making sector-weight decisions at each semi-annual rebalance — particularly when a macro call is strong enough to justify a meaningful deviation from benchmark weights.
J.P. MorganMacroJ.P. Morgan Asset Management publishes quarterly and annual market outlooks with long-term capital market return assumptions across major asset classes.We use J.P. Morgan's long-run return forecasts when setting client projection assumptions and when thinking about the relative attractiveness of equities versus fixed income at a given point in the cycle.
First TrustFlowFirst Trust publishes economic commentary, ETF flow data, and market outlook material with a focus on macroeconomic indicators and sector-level capital movements.We track First Trust's ETF flow data to understand where institutional capital is moving within and across sectors — a signal we use to calibrate sector conviction before acting.
Capital GroupFundamentalCapital Group (American Funds) produces long-term fundamental equity analysis from one of the largest active equity research teams in the industry, with analysts who often cover companies for a decade or more.We cross-reference Capital Group's long-term fundamental views — particularly on earnings quality, competitive positioning, and business durability — when assessing whether a holding remains justified at current prices.
InvestgoTrendInvestgo provides real-time and historical fund flow data, volume analysis, and trend identification tools across equity and fixed income markets.Investgo is our primary source for confirming or questioning a directional trend before we act — we use the flow and volume data to distinguish between price moves driven by broad conviction and those driven by short-term positioning.

What It Costs — and What It Saves

We work with your CPA and estate attorney to build a tax strategy that fits your portfolio now and the years beyond your life. Our ultimate goal is to keep realized capital gains under 10% of account value in a typical year. On fees: you pay the RBS advisory rate on the assets we manage directly. When we use outside managers to help with fixed income or equity, those managers may charge an additional annual fee on that sleeve — disclosed separately, not folded into our rate.

Fee tier breakdown

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Enter a portfolio amount to see the marginal fee breakdown.

—Total annual fee
—Effective rate

Stock Models

Active, RBS-managed equity and balanced portfolios

TierAnnual rate
$0 – $100,0001.50%
$100,000 – $500,0001.25%
$500,000 – $1,000,0001.00%
$1,000,000 – $3,500,0000.80%
$3,500,000 – $10,000,0000.65%
$10,000,000 – $25,000,0000.50%
$25,000,000+0.40%

Our Transition Plan

A thoughtful transition spreads tax impact over time — so you arrive at the right allocation without unnecessary drag.

Having assets managed by RBS requires a plan, not just a decision. We map out a multi-year transition that keeps annual realized gains within our target band and avoids the tax drag that comes from moving everything at once.

  1. Understand the Current Portfolio

    The portfolio has already been streamlined over time, which creates a strong starting point for the next phase of management. Moving forward, one key change under RBS management would be full discretion, allowing us to respond to market conditions in the client's best interest. In recent years, the portfolio has realized relatively modest capital gains, and it currently carries approximately $1.6 million in long-term capital gains on roughly $3.5 million in assets, including both trusts. From a diversification standpoint, the primary objective is to manage that embedded gain thoughtfully through a long-term tax strategy while continuing to reduce risk.

  2. Set a Phased Transition Timeline

    Over the next two to four years, the goal is to increase the income and bond allocation from 12% to 20%. As that transition takes place, we would coordinate with Greg and his tax team to determine an appropriate annual capital gains amount for the trust and its beneficiaries. In most years, the aim would be to keep realized gains near 5% of portfolio value, while recognizing that certain market conditions could push that figure closer to 10%. Once the model strategy is fully in place, the long-term objective would be to remain closer to the 5% range. During the transition period, however, planning closer to a 10% gain threshold is more realistic.

  3. Risk Management Strategy

    At RBS Wealth Management, we view ourselves as investors, not traders. That means establishing clear periods for risk-on and risk-off positioning rather than reacting emotionally to short-term market moves. During risk-on periods, distributions would come primarily from the equity portion of the portfolio. During risk-off periods, distributions would be sourced from the bond and cash allocation instead. As part of that approach, we would build a bond and cash reserve to cover approximately four to five years of trust distributions, giving the equity allocation time to recover during slower markets. In that environment, maintaining 16% to 20% in bond and cash assets may be appropriate. Depending on conditions, we may also consider alternatives, precious metals, or other traditional flight-to-safety assets as part of the defensive allocation.

  4. Arrive at the Target Allocation

    The recommended approach would be to combine our Omnia model with our municipal bond model. Omnia serves as a blended strategy that incorporates the three primary models we manage. For this portfolio, the target allocation would be:

    • 60% dividend-paying equities
    • 20% growth-oriented equities
    • 5% corporate lending funds
    • 12% municipal bond funds
    • 3% money market funds

    Reaching this allocation in a single adjustment would likely generate approximately $800,000 in capital gains for the year. Instead, we would phase the sales to keep realized gains at or below the 10% target, while preserving flexibility in case an additional security needs to be removed before year-end. We would take a similar approach the following year. In the early stages of the transition, the priority would be to build out the bond, corporate lending, and money market allocations so the portfolio is better positioned for future market volatility.

The People Managing Your Assets

Your accounts are managed directly by Ryan and Adam — no junior staff, no handoffs. When you call, you reach the person who actually made the decisions in your portfolio.

Next Steps

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