Raymond James has appointed Elyn Davis as senior vice president of client experience for its RIA & Custody Services division, tapping the 29-year Charles Schwab veteran to lead a planned succession amid chief operating officer Michelle Sovcik's planned retirement.
Davis spent the bulk of her career in Schwab's Advisor Services unit, where she worked with smaller RIAs and family offices that custodied with Schwab. She announced her Schwab departure on LinkedIn before updating her profile to reflect her new role at Raymond James.
After more than three decades in financial services, Sovcik plans to retire by the end of this year. Sovcik, who is currently senior vice president and chief operating officer of RCS, will work closely with Davis before the planned succession, a source close to the situation told InvestmentNews.
Davis and Sovcik previously overlapped at Schwab, with Sovcik being registered with Schwab from 2006 to 2019, according to Broker Check records. Sovcik’s LinkedIn profile says she was most recently VP of advisor services and client strategic solutions at Schwab, and was chief operating officer at the mega-RIA firm Hightower from 2019 to 2021.
Sovcik has been with Raymond James since 2022. She also held previous roles at Bank of America and as director of advisor services compliance at Schwab after she began her financial services career as a receptionist, according to her LinkedIn.
Davis follows another former RIA custody leader at Schwab to leave for Raymond James. The firm hired Greg Bruce from Schwab in 2019 and made him the head of its RIA custody business. Bruce is based in St. Petersburg, FL, and is listed as the head of the RIA & custody services division at Raymond James per the firm’s website.
“Elyn's appointment is an important part of our continued focus on building an organization positioned to scale with the evolving needs of clients,” Bruce wrote in a LinkedIn post welcoming Davis. “With 29 years of experience in financial services and the RIA custody space, she brings deep expertise in client experience, operations and strategic execution.”
The LinkedIn post from Bruce confirmed the “deliberate succession strategy” while congratulating Sovcik ahead of her retirement. “I'm deeply appreciative of her valued leadership and contributions to RCS and the firm,” wrote Bruce on LinkedIn.
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