BY CATHY JETT

Bigger isn't always better when it comes to investment firms.

Financial advisors can end up spending more time in meetings about the business than with clients. The personal touch gets lost.

That's the main reason Stewart Wealth Management Group in Fredericksburg on Friday left Wachovia, the sixth-largest bank holding company in America, to join a smaller company, said managing director Douglas Stewart.

The business reopens Monday as Cary Street Partners in its new offices at 205 Executive Center Parkway near Mary Washington Hospital.

"We felt that there were a number of opportunities that Cary Street provided that weren't available in our current format," Stewart said.

These include such things as the chance to sell hedge funds, get access to more in-depth research and help clients find start-up capital for new business ventures or sell existing businesses.

Employees also will become owners after they've been there a year, which will give them a vested interest in helping the company succeed, Stewart said.

The new office is twice as large as the firm's old digs at 725 Jackson St., which means Stewart will have room to increase his current 14-member staff and provide training in-house for them. The training room, which can seat up to 50 people, also will be used to provide educational seminars for clients.

Richmond-based Cary Street was founded five years ago by a group of senior-level executives from large financial institutions and other financial experts who wanted to work more closely with clients.

Besides its Richmond and Fredericksburg offices, Cary Street has locations in Atlanta and High Point, N.C. It plans to open an office in Bethesda, Md., soon, and eventually expand into the Shenandoah Valley.

Stewart Wealth Management is not breaking its ties to Wachovia completely. It will still use one of its divisions, First Clearing LLC, to handle such things as stock exchanges.

The Fredericksburg company is giving clients 90 days to decide if they want to remain with Wachovia or move over to Cary Street Partners. Nearly all, Stewart said proudly, have decided to switch.