Wealth Solutions Report reported that Sowell Management, a privately held registered investment adviser based in North Little Rock, Arkansas, has named Scott Dooley, CFA, as chief investment officer and launched a new Office of the CIO. According to the report, Dooley will lead the office, which brings together research, portfolio construction and advisor consulting. AdvisorHub separately covered the appointment and described Sowell as a $6.8 billion Arkansas-based RIA.
The firm announced the move in a PR Newswire release dated 19 October 2026. The release says the Office brings together senior investment leadership, research, portfolio building, advisory consulting and a group of specialist investment partners. The firm says the goal is to provide independent advisers with institution-level investment capabilities while avoiding the need to build an internal investment department. Advisors can engage the office at different levels, from research and consultation to full delegated management. In the release, Sowell chief executive Daryl Seaton argued that advisors that are independent face competition from wirehouses, big RIAs and private banks with extensive investment staff.
The release describes Dooley as having about two decades of experience in asset management. It says he holds the CFA charter and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He previously founded Fusion Investment Group, where he served as CEO and CIO, and held senior investment roles at Blue Vase Holdings, Rayliant Global Advisors and Columbus Macro. A 2025 Sowell release named him managing director of investment management, according to Yahoo Finance coverage of that release.
Sowell says it was founded in 2001 by financial advisor Bill Sowell, according to its release, although some business databases list 1995 as the founding year. Yahoo Finance has reported that the firm is majority owned by Bill Sowell and his wife, Cindy, who is executive vice president. Merchant Investment Management, a New York-based private partnership, took a minority stake in the firm, announced on 4 May 2026, that funds Sowell's Advisor Partnership Program. Sowell did not disclose the size of the investment. Earlier 2026 coverage described Sowell as a $6.5 billion RIA. Daryl Seaton became CEO in January 2026 under a succession plan, after joining in 2020 as chief operating officer and becoming president in 2023. Bill Sowell moved to chief strategy officer.
Assets under management require care. The release states that the firm has over $6.8 billion in client assets as of October 2026, measured as AUA/AUM. Regulatory figures from Form ADV filings compiled by third-party sites differ. AdvisorGuide puts regulatory AUM at about $4.8 billion, while other aggregators list between $4.2 billion and $4.81 billion. These figures come from different filing dates and measures and are not directly comparable. Earlier in 2026, Sowell announced a partnership with Altruist for custodial services and AI tools, according to its website. The sources provided do not give further details on the Office of the CIO's staffing or launch timeline beyond the release.