Raymond James sees boost to adviser recruiting

After saying in January it was going to bump up its recruiting bonus to experienced financial advisers, Raymond James Financial Inc. said it was on track for a record fiscal year, which ends in September, for reeling in new financial advisers.

While details of the new compensation plan are still vague, it has likely gotten some interest and response from financial advisers this year. The company released its earnings for the June quarter on Wednesday afternoon, and reported 8,413 total financial advisers at the end of last month.

That's a net increase of 86, or 1%, compared to the quarter ending in March and 258, 3%, compared to June 2020.  

Paul Reilly, the CEO of Raymond James, said on a Thursday morning conference call with analysts to discuss company earnings that the company was on track for a record year in recruiting.

"Recruiting activity remains strong across all of our affiliation options, as advisers are attracted to our robust platform and our adviser and client focused culture," he said in a press release Wednesday.

When asked during the call whether recruiting was getting more competitive and expensive across the industry, Reilly acknowledged that the firm had recently increased its recruiting bonus to advisers, as previously announced, but still wasn't paying top dollar in the current market.

"It's competitive," Reilly said. "There always seems to be an outlying offer here or there, but that's not how we recruit."

Raymond James' success in 2021 in recruiting advisers comes at a delicate time as the financial advice industry tries to figure out the best way to return to the office during the Covid-19 pandemic.

For example, Ameriprise Financial Inc. said earlier this week that it had recruited 42 experienced financial advisers for the three months ending in June, or close to half its typical target of about 80 per quarter.

One industry recruiter, who has worked with the firm, said firm culture is attractive to some advisers, particularly its unique promise to keep hands off clients if the adviser moves to a different firm down the road.

"Raymond James demonstrates that advisers who come stay, and are happy with the transaction," said Danny Sarch. "The adviser who cares about that will discover they have peers who like coming to work each day and that’s compelling."

Meanwhile, Raymond James also said Thursday morning it intended to make a $387 million bid for a firm in the United Kingdom, Charles Stanley Group, a wealth manager with about $38 billion in client assets.

The transaction, subject to U.K. Financial Conduct Authority and Charles Stanley shareholder approval, is expected to close in the calendar fourth quarter of 2021.