Wells Fargo team with $350 million moves to Raymond James

Managing partner at Keybridge Wealth Management says team will now have 'complete freedom to advise clients.'

A wealth management team has left Wells Fargo Advisors to go independent.

Keybridge Wealth Management, a Clearwater, Florida-based firm with $350 million of assets under management, is joining Raymond James Financial Services, the broker-dealer’s business for independent advisors. The team includes financial advisors Sydney Niewierski, Robert Chiavacci and John Odom.

In a statement, Niewierski, who is also a managing partner at Keybridge, said Raymond James will let Keybridge better serve its clients. In addition to Wells Fargo, the 22-year industry veteran has also worked at A.G. Edwards, according to BrokerCheck.

“We will have the complete freedom to advise clients how we see fit, knowing that our firm backs us in making recommendations based solely on what’s best for each client’s unique situation and objectives,” Niewierski said.

Chiavacci, a managing partner with 35 years of experience across Wells Fargo and A.G. Edwards, also cited Raymond James’s array of investments and equity research as reasons for the move.

“We’ve gained direct access to professionals in various financial disciplines, giving us the tools to continue serving clients well for generations to come,” Chiavacci said in a statement.

Neither Keybridge nor Raymond James responded to a request for additional comment.

Wells Fargo Advisors received the lowest satisfaction scores from employee advisors in J.D. Power’s latest survey (Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network also received the lowest satisfaction scores amongst independent advisors). A key driver of dissatisfaction was advisors feeling as if they don’t spend enough time with clients because they’re bogged down with compliance and administrative tasks.

Wells Fargo declined to comment.

Wells Fargo ended 2022 with 12,027 financial advisors, an increase of 16 advisors from the end of September of that year. However, the bank made the decision to stop disclosing advisor head count when it reported first-quarter earnings in April.

Advisor recruiting was down 15.9% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, according to InvestmentNews data. Migration from banks and wirehouses has particularly slowed.

Raymond James Financial services 8,700 financial advisors with total assets of $1.23 trillion as of May 31.

The firm has been a top recruiter of financial advisors in the first quarter of 2023, with 18 advisors joining Raymond James Financial services and another 17 joining Raymond James & Associates, the firm’s employee advisor business, according to InvestmentNews data.