Alex David, a leading executive in the independent broker-dealer industry, said Monday morning that he's left Stifel Financial Corp., where he was president and CEO of the firm's independent advisors group, to join Raymond James Financial Services, the independent brokerage arm of Raymond James Financial Inc., as the director of its northeast division.
David's departure from Stifel Independent Advisors, which until recently was named Century Securities Associates Inc., comes just weeks after Stifel Financial CEO and chairman Ron Kruszewski said the company had no immediate plans to grow the independent broker and advisor portion of the firm's business, which is substantially smaller than its employee broker and advisor group.
Independent brokers and financial advisors take home a bigger piece of the revenue than employee brokers but have to pay for out of pocket expenses like offices and assistants. Employee financial advisors are often more profitable for firms like Stifel and Raymond James.
"This appears to be more of a reflection on Stifel than Raymond James," said Danny Sarch, an industry recruiter who had no immediate knowledge of David's departure or hiring. "Kruszewski has downplayed the independent side of the business. If a firm is not committed to that, why would a guy like David stay there?"
When asked about Stifel's plans for its independent contractor business during a conference call last month with analysts to discuss fourth-quarter earnings, Kruszewski replied: "There is no particular focus on growing the independent channel relative to the employee channel. There just hasn't been."
"We will deal with that as supply and demand sort of dictates," he said "We have the platform and it's a good alternative. What you'll see though is our focus has been historically – and this is nothing against the independent channel – I just want to say our focus over the years has been on the employee channel."
Last year, InvestmentNews named David, who is African American, as the 2023 InvestmentNews Diversity, Equity and Inclusion honoree for Lifetime Achievement.
Raymond James has 8,710 financial advisors across its various channels and Stifel Financial has 2,386. About 5% of those Stifel brokers are independent contractors.
With his hiring, David is taking over the position formerly held by Shannon Reid, who was named president of the firm’s independent contractor division last fall.
"I joined Raymond James because it has an unwavering, unrelenting commitment to the independent model," David wrote in an email to InvestmentNews. "I, too, share that vision. It’s a perfect match. In addition, its strong platform and visionary executive team is what ultimately attracted me to the firm."
"We wish Alex the best in his new role," a Stifel spokesperson wrote in an email. "Stifel will continue to operate its independent channel and we look forward to its continued success." The spokesperson did not say who would succeed David at the firm.
David has 28 years of experience in the securities industry, according to his BrokerCheck report. Before joining Stifel, he worked at Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, the independent broker-dealer, from 2008 to 2021 and was a managing director at Wells Fargo Advisors.
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