After leaving Raymond James, Concurrent taps Fidelity as top choice for custody

The $13 billion breakaway, formerly a giant branch with Raymond James, is allowing clients the options to custody assets with Charles Schwab & Co. as well.

Concurrent Advisors, a $13 billion fledgling breakaway registered investment adviser that left Raymond James Financial Inc. in September, said Monday said it has chosen Fidelity Clearing and Custody Solutions as its lead choice as a custodian for client assets, while leaving the option open for clients to choose to custody assets with Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. as well.

Concurrent Advisors, formerly a giant branch office with Raymond James, announced at the end of September that it was leaving the Florida brokerage to restructure as a multicustodial, hybrid registered investment adviser.

In a Form ADV filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Concurrent Advisors said that the firm will “generally recommend that clients establish their account [or accounts] at Fidelity Clearing and Custody Solutions” and that it may also recommend custody with Charles Schwab, the largest RIA custodian in the industry.

As more brokers give up their registration to sell securities and work as an RIA, the market to custody or hold client assets has intensified. New and smaller players are looking to do business with firms like Concurrent Advisors and other mega RIAs.

Concurrent Advisors has been in growth mode of late.

Last year, it announced that Merchant Investment Management, a New York-based private equity firm, had taken a minority stake in the firm. Terms of the investment were not disclosed. And in September, at the time of its break with Raymond James, the firm said it had recruited 25 financial advisers in 2022 representing more than $3.4 billion in managed assets.