Raymond James bags $1B Merrill team

Raymond James has bolstered its employee advisor channel in the East Coast as a billion-dollar breakaway advisor team joins the firm.

The firm announced that Raymond James & Associates has welcomed a five-person team managing over $1 billion in client assets from Merrill Lynch.

The team, based in Williamsville, New York, had been responsible for significant assets across a variety of client sectors at the Wall Street giant.

Led by top-ranked advisors Christopher Scott, Kevin Klein, Michael Gates, and Salvatore Gandolfo, the group includes financial advisor Jeffrey Baker and client relationship associates Alicia Birch, Jaclyn Greiner, Christina Ivancic, and Elia Criola.

Under the leadership of Gary Hernandez, the Williamsville branch's complex manager, the group will now operate as Scott Klein Gates Gandolfo Wealth Management of Raymond James, providing services to business owners, families, endowments, retirees, and other clients.

Scott highlighted Raymond James’ advisor-centric culture as a key motivator in their decision.

“The culture and leadership at Raymond James were key factors in our decision to transition to the firm,” Scott said in a statement Tuesday. “Knowing that much of the firm’s leadership comes from a financial advising background means they have experienced the same policies we do, fostering a deeper sense of accountability and shared values.”

Each team member brings extensive industry experience, with Scott boasting a 25-year career in financial services, including over two decades with Merrill Lynch. Klein, who started his career in 2005, also spent over 20 years at Merrill Lynch, while Gates and Gandolfo bring 14 and 16 years of experience, respectively, in financial planning and wealth management.

Kelly Anderson, Raymond James’ Northeast regional director, highlighted the new RJA team's fit with the firm’s client-first ethos.

“Their dedication to client service and alignment with our firm’s values make them an impactful addition to our Northeastern division,” Anderson said.

Raymond James' latest hires in New York extend previous recent hires to its employee advisor unit, including a $479 million ex-Merrill team in Idaho and another $1.1 billion powerhouse group that transitioned from RBC.

In March, Raymond James revealed it would be making a change to RJA's leadership, with Tash Elwyn vacating the CEO position at RJA to become president of its RayJay's Private Client Group division. Later in May, it disclosed that Tom Walrond, SVP and division director at RJA, would be assuming leadership of the division after Elwyn.

Those changes part of a broader leadership succession strategy that lays the groundwork for Paul Reilly, Raymond James Financial's CEO since 2009, to step down next year. Paul Shoukry, CFO and a similarly tenured veteran of the firm, will be taking the chief executive role from Reilly.