# Sterling Capital Management

Sterling Capital Management is a Bank / Wealth / Trust based in Charlotte, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Bank / Wealth / Trust
- **Headquarters:** Charlotte, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Charlotte, NC, United States
- **Founded:** 1970
- **Assets under management:** $75 billion in AUM + AUA (per the firm, March 2026)
- **Website:** sterlingcapital.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/sterlingcapitalmanagement

## Regulatory record

- **CRD number:** 135405
- **SEC file number:** 801-64257
- **Registration status:** Registered
- **Reports private funds:** No
- **IAPD record:** https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/135405

## About

Sterling Capital Management traces its roots to 1970, when W. Olin Nisbet III launched Nisbet, Inc. in Charlotte. The firm has changed ownership and names repeatedly over five decades: it became Sterling Management Company in 1973, went employee-owned in 2001, and has since passed through BB&T Corporation, Truist Financial, and Guardian Capital Group. In 2026, Guardian was acquired by Desjardins Global Asset Management, making Sterling an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Canada's Desjardins Group. Despite the corporate parentage, Sterling maintains operational independence and an investment-centric culture. The firm deploys capital through five specialized investment teams that share centralized resources but run separate research processes. Asset classes span fixed income, active equity, and multi-asset solutions, packaged primarily as mutual funds, separately managed accounts, model portfolios, and exchange-traded funds. In 2020, Sterling launched its first ETF. The client base stretches from retail intermediaries to corporate treasuries and nonprofit endowments, served from offices in North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and California. AUM crossed $10 billion in 2006 and hit $50 billion by 2015, driven partly by acquisitions such as the Stratton Relative Value Team that arrived with BB&T's purchase of Susquehanna Bancshares. Today the firm fields 192 professionals and reports $75 billion in combined AUM and AUA as of March 2026. The five offices — Charlotte, Raleigh, Virginia Beach, King of Prussia, and San Francisco — support national distribution across intermediary and managed-account platforms. In 2026, ownership shifted once more when Guardian Capital Management was acquired, placing Sterling under the Desjardins umbrella. Sterling's structural distinction is a multi-boutique architecture wrapped inside a bank-owned parent. Each investment team runs its own philosophy and process, yet the firm delivers a unified distribution and service model — a configuration more common among large global managers than regional U.S. asset gatherers. The recurring theme across five decades is resilience through ownership transitions: the firm has survived five parent-company changes without losing its operating brand or its Charlotte headquarters.

## Sectors

- Mutual Funds
- Separately Managed Accounts
- Model Portfolios
- Fixed Income
- Active Equity
- Multi-Asset

## Offices

- Raleigh, NC
- Virginia Beach, VA
- King of Prussia, PA
- San Francisco, CA

## People

- W. Olin Nisbet, III — Founder

## Questions

### Who owns Sterling Capital Management?

Sterling Capital Management is an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc., which is part of Canada's Desjardins Group. That ownership structure took effect in 2026, when Desjardins acquired Guardian Capital Group. Despite the corporate ownership, Sterling describes itself as independently operated and maintains its Charlotte headquarters.

### What investment vehicles does Sterling Capital offer?

The firm distributes through mutual funds, separately managed accounts, model portfolios, and other commingled vehicles. In 2020 it launched its first ETF. These sit on intermediary and managed-account platforms that reach retail, corporate, and nonprofit clients.

### How is Sterling Capital's investment team organized?

Sterling runs five investment teams that share common resources but operate with their own research, processes, and philosophies. The teams cover fixed income, active equity, and multi-asset strategies. Notable internal groups include the Equity Opportunities Group, formed in 2013 from the CHOICE Asset Management combination, and the Behavioral Finance team created in 2008.

### Does Sterling Capital participate in direct deals or only public-market strategies?

Sterling's disclosed strategies center on public-market vehicles — mutual funds, SMAs, model portfolios, and ETFs — with no indication of private-equity or direct-deal activity on the firm's website. Its five teams explicitly focus on fixed income, active equity, and multi-asset solutions.

### Where does Sterling Capital maintain offices?

The firm lists five U.S. locations: Charlotte, NC (headquarters); Raleigh, NC; Virginia Beach, VA; King of Prussia, PA; and San Francisco, CA. These support national sales coverage across the intermediary and institutional channels.

## Related profiles

- [Stereo Capital](https://altss.com/profile/stereo-capital)
- [Sterling Financial Group](https://altss.com/profile/sterling-financial-group)

---

Last updated: 2026-08-11T02:43:31.692Z

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/sterling-capital-management

Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology