The following description of Stifel, Nicolaus Profit Sharing 401(k) Plan ("Plan") provides only general information. Participants should refer to the Plan document and Summary Plan Description for a more complete description of the Plan's provisions, which are available from the plan administrator.

The Plan is a defined contribution plan sponsored by Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated and affiliates (the "Company") for the benefit of its employees who meet the eligibility provisions of the Plan. The Plan is subject to the provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Prudential Retirement Insurance and Annuity Company ("Trustee") is the trustee and custodian of the Plan.

Each year, the Company contributes a percentage of eligible participant contributions as determined by the Company's Board of Directors. For the years ended December 31, 2007 and 2006, the Board elected to match 50% of the first $2,000 contributed by each participant.

Participants may contribute an amount from 1% to 100% of their eligible compensation in increments of 1%. Contributions are subject to certain limitations.

Investment account options available include various pooled separate accounts, mutual funds, a guaranteed account, the common stock of the Company's parent and a self-directed brokerage account. Each participant has the option of directing his contributions into any of the separate investment accounts and may change the allocation daily.

Each participant's account is credited with the participant's contribution, the Company's contributions and plan earnings and is charged with an allocation of administrative expenses. Allocations are based on participant earnings or account balances, as defined. The benefits to which a participant is entitled is the benefit that can be provided from the participant's vested account.

Participants are immediately vested in their voluntary contributions plus earnings thereon. Vesting in the Company's contributions portion of their accounts plus earnings thereon is based on years of service. A participant is fully vested after three years of service. The nonvested balance is forfeited upon termination of service. Forfeitures are used to reduce the Company's contributions and then, to the extent any forfeitures remain, reallocated to participants' accounts.

Upon termination of service, an employee may elect to receive a lump-sum amount equal to the vested value of his account, net of any outstanding loan balance. Upon death, a participant's account is paid in a lump sum to the designated beneficiary.

The Plan document includes provisions authorizing loans from the Plan to active eligible participants. The minimum amount of a loan shall be $1,000. The maximum amount of a participant's loan is determined by the available loan balance restricted to the lesser of $50,000 or 50% of the participant's vested account balance. All loans are repayable over a period not to exceed five years (except for loans for the purchase of a principal residence) through payroll withholdings or by check. Interest on the loans is based on local prevailing rates as determined by the plan administrator.

Although it has not expressed an intention to do so, the Company has the right under the Plan to discontinue its contributions at any time and to terminate the Plan, subject to the provisions of ERISA. In the event of plan termination, participants will become 100% vested in their accounts.

The accompanying financial statements are prepared on the accrual basis of accounting.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of net assets and changes in net assets and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Pooled separate accounts are valued at estimated fair value as provided by the Trustee. The mutual funds, common stock and self-directed brokerage account are stated at fair value based upon quoted market prices. The Prudential Guaranteed Income Account is valued at contract value which equals fair value. Participant loans are valued at cost, which approximates fair value.

Purchases and sales of securities are recorded on a trade-date basis. Interest income is recorded on the accrual basis. Dividends are recorded on the ex-dividend date.

The Plan offers a fully-benefit responsive investment contract with Prudential as an investment option to Plan participants. Prudential maintains the contributions in a general account. The account is credited with earnings on the underlying investments and charged for participant withdrawals and administrative expenses. The contract is included in the financial statements at contract value as reported to the Plan by Prudential. Contract value represents contributions made by participants, plus interest at a specified rate determined semiannually. There is no market value adjustment upon discontinuance of a contract and no specific securities in the general account that back the liabilities of these contracts. As there are no known cashflows that could be discounted, the fair value for these contracts is equal to the contract value.

There are no reserves against the contract value for credit risk of the contract issuer or otherwise. The stated rate of return of the contract was 3.65 % for the years ended December 31, 2007 and 2006.

The Plan has not obtained or requested a determination letter from the Internal Revenue Service. However, the plan administrator believes that the Plan and related trust are currently designed and being operated in compliance with the applicable requirements of the Internal Revenue Code and that the Plan was qualified and the related trust was tax exempt as of the financial statement date.

Benefit payments to participants are recorded upon distribution.

The Plan's investments are held by Prudential Retirement Insurance and Annuity Company. The following table presents the Plan's investments. Investments that represent 5% or more of total plan assets in either year are separately identified.

During the years ended 2007 and 2006, the Plan's investments (including gains and losses on investments bought, sold and held during the year) appreciated in value by $7,603,147 and $5,898,792, respectively, as follows:

Party-in-interest transactions include those with fiduciaries or employees of the Plan, any person who provides services to the Plan, an employer whose employees are covered by the Plan, a person who owns 50% or more of such an employer or relatives of such persons.

Active participants can purchase the common stock of Stifel Financial Corp., the parent of the Company, from their existing account balances. At December 31, 2007 and 2006, participants held 363,232 and 336,256 shares, respectively.

The Plan invests in certain funds of the Trustee. The Plan paid $9,956 and $50,840 of record keeping fees to the Trustee during 2007 and 2006, respectively. The Company provides certain administrative services at no cost to the Plan and pays certain accounting and auditing fees related to the Plan.

During the first quarter of 2008, the assets of the Ryan Beck and Co., Inc. Employees' Profit Sharing & 401 (k) Savings Plan were rolled over into the Stifel, Nicolaus 401(k) Plan due to the related purchase of Ryan Beck and Co., Inc on February 28, 2007. The total assets rolled over from the Ryan Beck and Co., Inc. Employees' Profit Sharing & 401 (k) Savings Plan were $54,372,995.

On May 12, 2008, the Board of Directors authorized a 50% stock dividend, which will be made in the form of a three-for-two stock split to shareholders of record on May 29, 2008. Each shareholder will receive one additional share for every two shares owned on June 12, 2008. Cash will be distributed in lieu of fractional shares.

The plan invests in various investment securities. Investment securities are exposed to various risks such as interest rate, market and credit risks. Due to the level of risk associated with certain investment securities, it is at least reasonably possible that changes in the values of investment securities will occur in the near term and that such changes could materially affect the participants' account balances and the amounts reported in the statement of net assets available for benefits.

*Represents party-in-interest to the Plan.