Nature of Operations and Basis Of Presentation (Policies)	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2020
Organization Consolidation And Presentation Of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Nature Of Operations	Nature of Operations Stifel Financial Corp. (the “Company”), through its wholly owned subsidiaries, is principally engaged in retail brokerage; securities trading; investment banking; investment advisory; retail, consumer, and commercial banking; and related financial services. Our major geographic area of concentration is throughout the United States, with a growing presence in the United Kingdom, Europe, and Canada. Our company’s principal customers are individual investors, corporations, municipalities, and institutions.
Basis Of Presentation	Basis of Presentation The consolidated financial statements include Stifel Financial Corp. and its wholly owned subsidiaries, principally Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated (“Stifel”), Keefe Bruyette & Woods, Inc. (“KBW”), Stifel Bancorp, Inc. (“Stifel Bancorp”), Stifel Nicolaus Canada Inc. (“SNC”), and Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (“SNEL”). Unless otherwise indicated, the terms “we,” “us,” “our,” or “our company” in this report refer to Stifel Financial Corp. and its wholly owned subsidiaries. The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, which require management to make certain estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts. We consider significant estimates, which are most susceptible to change and impacted significantly by judgments, assumptions, and estimates, to be: valuation of financial instruments and investments in partnerships, accrual for contingencies, allowance for loan losses, derivative instruments and hedging activities, fair value of goodwill and intangible assets, provision for income taxes and related tax reserves, and forfeitures associated with stock-based compensation. Actual results could differ from those estimates. On March 27, 2020, the Company completed the sale of Ziegler Capital Management, LLC (“ZCM”), a wholly owned asset management subsidiary. The assets and liabilities of ZCM were classified as held for sale and are included in other assets and accounts payable and accrued expenses, respectively, at December 31, 2019. See Note 10 for further information. On November 11, 2020, our Board approved a 50% stock dividend, in the form of a three-for-two stock split, of our common stock payable on December 16, 2020, to shareholders of record as of December 2, 2020. All share and per share information has been retroactively adjusted to reflect the stock split. Certain amounts from prior periods have been reclassified to conform to the current period’s presentation. The effect of these reclassifications on our company’s previously reported consolidated financial statements was not material.
Consolidation Policies	Consolidation Policies The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Stifel Financial Corp. and its subsidiaries. All material intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. For consolidated subsidiaries that are less than wholly owned, the third-party holdings of equity interests are referred to as non-controlling interests. The portion of shareholders’ equity that is attributable to non-controlling interests for such subsidiaries is presented as non-controlling interests, a component of total equity, in the consolidated statements of financial condition. Our non-controlling interest at December 31, 2019, represented a 27.5% third-party ownership of North Shore Aviation Holdings LLC (“North Shore”), which was a consolidated subsidiary of the Company that, through its subsidiary, owns airplane engines. On February 7, 2020, North Shore entered into a Credit Agreement with North Shore Aviation Trust Series 2020-1 (the “Trust”) whereby the Trust provided North Shore with a $120.0 million credit facility. North Shore was recapitalized with funding from the issuance of the senior notes and E-Certificates by the Trust. Upon the recapitalization, Stifel Bancorp’s equity in North Shore was redeemed. We deconsolidated the related assets, liabilities, and non-controlling interests of North Shore. We have investments or interests in other entities for which we must evaluate whether to consolidate by determining whether we have a controlling financial interest or are considered to be the primary beneficiary. Under our current consolidation policy, we consolidate those entities where we have the power to direct the activities of the entity that most significantly impact the entity’s economic performance and the obligation to absorb losses of the entity or the rights to receive benefits from the entity that could potentially be significant to the entity. We determine whether we are the primary beneficiary of a variable interest entity (“VIE”) by performing an analysis of the VIE’s control structure, expected benefits and losses, and expected residual returns. This analysis includes a review of, among other factors, the VIE’s capital structure, contractual terms, which interests create or absorb benefits or losses, variability, related party relationships, and the design of the VIE. We reassess our evaluation of whether an entity is a VIE when certain reconsideration events occur. We reassess our determination of whether we are the primary beneficiary of a VIE on an ongoing basis based on current facts and circumstances. See Note 28 for additional information on VIEs.

Nature of Operations and Basis Of Presentation (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Organization Consolidation And Presentation Of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Nature of Operations

Stifel Financial Corp. (the “Company”), through its wholly owned subsidiaries, is principally engaged in retail brokerage; securities trading; investment banking; investment advisory; retail, consumer, and commercial banking; and related financial services. Our major geographic area of concentration is throughout the United States, with a growing presence in the United Kingdom, Europe, and Canada. Our company’s principal customers are individual investors, corporations, municipalities, and institutions.

Basis Of Presentation

Basis of Presentation

The consolidated financial statements include Stifel Financial Corp. and its wholly owned subsidiaries, principally Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated (“Stifel”), Keefe Bruyette & Woods, Inc. (“KBW”), Stifel Bancorp, Inc. (“Stifel Bancorp”), Stifel Nicolaus Canada Inc. (“SNC”), and Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (“SNEL”). Unless otherwise indicated, the terms “we,” “us,” “our,” or “our company” in this report refer to Stifel Financial Corp. and its wholly owned subsidiaries.

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, which require management to make certain estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts. We consider significant estimates, which are most susceptible to change and impacted significantly by judgments, assumptions, and estimates, to be: valuation of financial instruments and investments in partnerships, accrual for contingencies, allowance for loan losses, derivative instruments and hedging activities, fair value of goodwill and intangible assets, provision for income taxes and related tax reserves, and forfeitures associated with stock-based compensation. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

On March 27, 2020, the Company completed the sale of Ziegler Capital Management, LLC (“ZCM”), a wholly owned asset management subsidiary. The assets and liabilities of ZCM were classified as held for sale and are included in other assets and accounts payable and accrued expenses, respectively, at December 31, 2019. See Note 10 for further information.

On November 11, 2020, our Board approved a 50% stock dividend, in the form of a three-for-two stock split, of our common stock payable on December 16, 2020, to shareholders of record as of December 2, 2020. All share and per share information has been retroactively adjusted to reflect the stock split.

Certain amounts from prior periods have been reclassified to conform to the current period’s presentation. The effect of these reclassifications on our company’s previously reported consolidated financial statements was not material.

Consolidation Policies

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Stifel Financial Corp. and its subsidiaries. All material intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. For consolidated subsidiaries that are less than wholly owned, the third-party holdings of equity interests are referred to as non-controlling interests. The portion of shareholders’ equity that is attributable to non-controlling interests for such subsidiaries is presented as non-controlling interests, a component of total equity, in the consolidated statements of financial condition.

Our non-controlling interest at December 31, 2019, represented a 27.5% third-party ownership of North Shore Aviation Holdings LLC (“North Shore”), which was a consolidated subsidiary of the Company that, through its subsidiary, owns airplane engines.

On February 7, 2020, North Shore entered into a Credit Agreement with North Shore Aviation Trust Series 2020-1 (the “Trust”) whereby the Trust provided North Shore with a $120.0 million credit facility. North Shore was recapitalized with funding from the issuance of the senior notes and E-Certificates by the Trust. Upon the recapitalization, Stifel Bancorp’s equity in North Shore was redeemed. We deconsolidated the related assets, liabilities, and non-controlling interests of North Shore.

We have investments or interests in other entities for which we must evaluate whether to consolidate by determining whether we have a controlling financial interest or are considered to be the primary beneficiary. Under our current consolidation policy, we consolidate those entities where we have the power to direct the activities of the entity that most significantly impact the entity’s economic performance and the obligation to absorb losses of the entity or the rights to receive benefits from the entity that could potentially be significant to the entity.

We determine whether we are the primary beneficiary of a variable interest entity (“VIE”) by performing an analysis of the VIE’s control structure, expected benefits and losses, and expected residual returns. This analysis includes a review of, among other factors, the VIE’s capital structure, contractual terms, which interests create or absorb benefits or losses, variability, related party relationships, and the design of the VIE. We reassess our evaluation of whether an entity is a VIE when certain reconsideration events occur. We reassess our determination of whether we are the primary beneficiary of a VIE on an ongoing basis based on current facts and circumstances. See Note 28 for additional information on VIEs.