DFX Intelligence
RIA Intelligence
Registered investment advisers, the advisors registered through them, the capital they report, the private vehicles they run and the people who own them, as a graph with a filing date behind every number. RAUM is what the adviser filed, a move is two registration dates, and a class is a rule you can read.
SEC-registered adviser
Johnson Sterling, Inc.
Latest filing Mar 31, 2026
First filing on the tape Apr 2, 2012 · 18 filings
SEC status approved since Sep 5, 1995
RAUM
$3.9B
reported, Item 5.F
Discretionary
14%
of RAUM
Private clients
13%
$497M individuals and HNW
Advisors
6
registered through the firm on IAPD
RAUM per advisor
$650M
derived; firm RAUM over IAPD count
Employees
10
5 advisory (5.B.1)
Offices
1
beyond the principal office
Private funds
0
reported on Schedule D
History
18 filings and snapshots on the tape
RAUM$3.9B as of Mar 31, 2026
Apr 2, 2012$1.3B then
HNW client RAUM$451M as of Mar 31, 2026
Mar 14, 2018$317M then
State-registered IARs (5.B.3)5 as of Mar 31, 2026
Apr 2, 20120 then
Employees (5.A)10 as of Mar 31, 2026
Mar 28, 201312 then
Private funds: no history
RAUM +17% over the last fiscal year+14% a year over threeIARs 6 to 5
Practice profile
derived from the filing of Mar 31, 2026; every figure names its basis
Archetypes, each a printed rule
- Institutional asset manager · institutional share (pensions, government, insurance, corporations, charities, banks, other advisers) at least 60 percent and private-client share under 20 percent
- Retirement plan adviser · pension consulting activity (Item 5.G.6) and pension plans at least 25 percent of RAUM or at least 25 pension-plan clients
- RAUM per advisor
- $650MderivedRAUM over IAPD advisors; not a book size
- Clients per advisor
- 55derivedindividual and HNW clients (5.D) over advisors
- Average HNW client
- $2.6MderivedHNW RAUM over HNW clients
- Average account
- $10.7MderivedRAUM over accounts (5.F.2.f)
- Discretionary
- 14%derivedof RAUM
- Institutional
- 87%derivedpensions, charities, corporations, government, insurance, banks, other advisers
- Employees per advisor
- 1.7derivedItem 5.A over advisors
- Advisors per office
- 3.0derived2 offices incl. principal (1.F.5)
- RAUM growth, one year
- +17%derivedbetween the last two annual amendments
- Advisor growth, one year
- -17%derivedItem 5.B.3 between annual amendments
- Client growth, one year
- -7.0%derived
- Compensation
- percentage of assets, hourly, fixed feesreportedItem 5.E
- Advisory activities
- portfolio management for individuals, portfolio management for businesses and institutions, pension consultingreportedItem 5.G
- Ownership
- controlled by a public reporting companyderived
- Advisor book size
- not public; not estimatedreported
Also answered yes on Form ADV
- has discretionary authority over which securities are bought or sold (8.C.1)
- receives research or other products from a broker-dealer, soft dollars (8.E)
- compensates persons for client referrals (8.G.1)
- compensates non-employees for client referrals (8.G.2)
- has custody of client securities (9.A.1.b)
- an independent public accountant performs a surprise examination (9.C.1)
- controlled by a public reporting company (10.A)
Where the RAUM sits
Form ADV Item 5.D, latest filing
- Pension and profit-sharing plans$3.4B86%
- High-net-worth individuals$451M12%
- Individuals$45.6M1.2%
- Charitable organizations$36.9M0.9%
- Corporations and businesses$441,0290.0%
- Individual clients
- 161reported
- HNW clients
- 171reported
- Pension plan clients
- 26reported
- Charitable clients
- 5reported
- Accounts
- 365reported
- Financial planning clients
- 0reported
- Wrap fee programs
- noreported
- Custody of client assets
- noreported
- Compensation
- % of AUM, fixed, hourlyreported
- Class basis
- private_client_share=0.13 fund_share=0.0 institutional_share=0.87 related_bd=false related_bank=false bd_reps=0.0derived
Advisors registered through the firm
6 on IAPD today, longest tenure first
| Name | Branch | Here since | In industry | Prior firms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samuel Paul Johnson | Birmingham, Al | Oct 13, 1995 | 50 y | 1 |
| Elizabeth Lee Rutherford | Birmingham, Al | Oct 13, 1995 | 37 y | 0 |
| Christopher Ryan Whitley | Birmingham, Al | Mar 31, 2014 | 13 y | 1 |
| Bobby Lee Busby | Birmingham, Al | Jun 6, 2018 | 15 y | 0 |
| William Bruce Johnson | Birmingham, Al | Mar 24, 2022 | 10 y | 0 |
| Joy Beth Smith | Birmingham, Al | May 31, 2024 | 19 y | 1 |
Advisor movement
0 left, 0 joined in 12 months
net 0 in 12 months0 left in 90 days0 joined in 90 daysdeparture rate 0.0% of current headcount1 left over 36 months
Left, latest
- Alan Scott Ward to Compound Planning, Inc.Apr 29, 2024 · Other
- William Reeve Cantus to Pacific Sage Partners, LLCJan 3, 2022 · Other
- Milton Oliver Booth to LPL Financial LLCDec 1, 2014 · Other
- Adam Webster Kirklin to Bluewater Wealth Advisors, LLCSep 13, 2012 · Other
- Charles Mitchell Smith to Sterne Agee Asset Management, Inc.Feb 28, 2012 · Other
Joined, latest
- Joy Beth Smith from Equitable Advisors, LLCMay 31, 2024 · Other
- Christopher Ryan Whitley from Park Avenue Securities LLCMar 31, 2014 · Other
- Alan Scott Ward from Legg Mason Wood Walker, IncorporatedJan 2, 2013 · Other
- William Reeve Cantus from Russell InvestmentsApr 13, 2011 · Other
Private funds
No private fund reported.
Owners and control persons
Schedule A and B, latest filing
- Paul Samuel Johnson · Chairmancontrolsince 02/1989 · owns 25% to 50%
- Lee Elizabeth Rutherford · President, Ceo & Chief Compliance Officercontrolsince 09/1997 · owns 50% to 75%
Related persons
Schedule D 7.A
No related person reported.
Office movement
IAPD branch city; joins and departures in 12 months
| Office | Advisors | Joined | Left | Teams out | Forming |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birmingham, Al · principal | 6 | 0 | 0 |
Offices
Schedule D 1.F, the 25 largest
- Auburn, AL1 employees
What changed
consecutive filings, newest first
- Accounts · 388 to 365Mar 24, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026
- Advisory employees · 6 to 5Mar 24, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026
- HNW clients · 183 to 171Mar 24, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026
- Individual clients · 174 to 161Mar 24, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026
- Pension plan clients · 24 to 26Mar 24, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026
- Assets in custody · $19.2M to $25.9MMar 24, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026
- Employees · 11 to 10Mar 24, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026
- State-registered IARs · 6 to 5Mar 24, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026
- Discretionary RAUM · $472M to $530MMar 24, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026
- HNW RAUM · $403M to $451MMar 24, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026
- Individual RAUM · $43.6M to $45.6MMar 24, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026
- Non-discretionary RAUM · $2.9B to $3.4BMar 24, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026
- Pension RAUM · $2.9B to $3.4BMar 24, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026
- RAUM · $3.3B to $3.9BMar 24, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026
- Accounts · 395 to 388Mar 28, 2024 to Mar 24, 2025
- Advisory employees · 7 to 6Mar 28, 2024 to Mar 24, 2025
- HNW clients · 208 to 183Mar 28, 2024 to Mar 24, 2025
- Individual clients · 161 to 174Mar 28, 2024 to Mar 24, 2025
- Pension plan clients · 19 to 24Mar 28, 2024 to Mar 24, 2025
- Assets in custody · $22.7M to $19.2MMar 28, 2024 to Mar 24, 2025
- Employees · 12 to 11Mar 28, 2024 to Mar 24, 2025
- Financial planning clients · 0 to 0Mar 28, 2024 to Mar 24, 2025
- State-registered IARs · 7 to 6Mar 28, 2024 to Mar 24, 2025
- Discretionary RAUM · $481M to $472MMar 28, 2024 to Mar 24, 2025
- HNW RAUM · $419M to $403MMar 28, 2024 to Mar 24, 2025
- Individual RAUM · $40.8M to $43.6MMar 28, 2024 to Mar 24, 2025
- Non-discretionary RAUM · $2.5B to $2.9BMar 28, 2024 to Mar 24, 2025
- Pension RAUM · $2.5B to $2.9BMar 28, 2024 to Mar 24, 2025
- RAUM · $3.0B to $3.3BMar 28, 2024 to Mar 24, 2025
- Charity clients · 4 to 5Apr 17, 2023 to Mar 28, 2024
- HNW clients · 141 to 208Apr 17, 2023 to Mar 28, 2024
- Individual clients · 229 to 161Apr 17, 2023 to Mar 28, 2024
- Assets in custody · $23.1M to $22.7MApr 17, 2023 to Mar 28, 2024
- Discretionary RAUM · $470M to $481MApr 17, 2023 to Mar 28, 2024
- HNW RAUM · $342M to $419MApr 17, 2023 to Mar 28, 2024
- Individual RAUM · $99.1M to $40.8MApr 17, 2023 to Mar 28, 2024
- Non-discretionary RAUM · $2.1B to $2.5BApr 17, 2023 to Mar 28, 2024
- Pension RAUM · $2.1B to $2.5BApr 17, 2023 to Mar 28, 2024
- RAUM · $2.6B to $3.0BApr 17, 2023 to Mar 28, 2024
- Accounts · 408 to 395Mar 28, 2022 to Mar 28, 2023
Signals
2 dated events
- Alan Scott Ward left Johnson Sterling, Inc. for Compound Planning, Inc. (registered 2024-04-19)Apr 29, 2024 · Advisor changed firm · fact
- William Reeve Cantus left Johnson Sterling, Inc. for Pacific Sage Partners, Llc (registered 2022-01-13)Jan 3, 2022 · Advisor changed firm · fact
Across DFX
shared identifiers only, never a name match
No identifier-backed link to the venture, private equity, family office or sponsor graphs.
How to reach
public business contact points only, each with its source
- Firm profile
- LINKEDIN.COM/COMPANY/2211396reportedpublic record, Form ADV, Sep 17, 2026
- Website
- JOHNSONSTERLING.COMreportedpublic record, Form ADV, Sep 17, 2026
- Principal office phone
- 205-871-9940reportedpublic record, Form ADV, Mar 31, 2026
Provenance
- Form ADV
- SEC filing data 2011 to 2024 and the monthly roster 2025 onreportedadviserinfo.sec.gov
- Advisors
- IAPD individual compilation feed, dailyreportedadviserinfo.sec.gov
- Class
- Other adviserderiveda rule over Items 5.D and 7.A
- RAUM per advisor
- $650Mderivedfirm RAUM over the IAPD count; not a book size
- Loaded
- Sep 14, 2026