Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE: SF) announced that four financial advisors have joined the firm’s broker-dealer subsidiary, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc., in a new office in Venice. Blase Sparma, Stephen Long Jr., Brad Ripplemeyer and Hampton Ballard come to Stifel from Merrill Lynch, where they were responsible for $935 million in client assets. The Venice office is the firm’s 23^rd in the state of Florida; it is located at 218 Harbor Drive S.