Sowell Management names Scott Dooley CIO and forms Office of the CIO

Sowell Management has named Scott Dooley, CFA, chief investment officer and restructured its investment management platform into the Sowell Office of the CIO, InvestmentNews reported Oct. 19.

The North Little Rock, Arkansas-based registered investment advisor oversees about $6.8 billion in client assets as of October 2026, according to the report.

The new office gathers portfolio construction, investment research, advisor consulting and a network of specialized investment partners.

An advisor can draw on research and portfolio consultation alone, or delegate broader investment management responsibilities, according to the report.

Work begins with a client's objectives, risk profile, tax position and liquidity needs, and those inputs guide strategy selection rather than a pre-packaged lineup.

Dooley joined Sowell in 2025 as managing director of investment management after founding Fusion Investment Group, where he served as chief executive and chief investment officer.

"Independent advisors are increasingly competing against wirehouses, large RIAs and private banks that have deep investment benches behind them," chief executive Daryl Seaton said in the report.

Dooley said advisors "need an investment office they can draw on as part of their own business," rather than another investment provider.

Sowell's regulatory filings, per WAD's records, list $4.8 billion in regulatory assets under management, 16,763 accounts, 162 employees and 30 registered representatives as of mid-October.

The Office of the CIO is the second centralized service Sowell has stood up for its advisors this fall.

Its Advanced Planning Group, which this publication covered in September, puts tax work at the center of estate and advanced planning.

In both cases, the firm's pitch to smaller RIAs is access to a bench they could not hire on their own while keeping the client relationship.