Raymond James Investment Management has hired Kristi Higgins as head of Exchange-Traded Fund strategy, the asset manager announced Tuesday.
Higgins joins the Raymond James subsidiary from Dimensional Fund Advisors, where she served as senior investment strategist and vice president. Previously, she served as principal, ETFs and product strategy at Allianz Life.
In a statement, Raymond James Investment Management said that Higgins will support the development of the asset management company’s active ETF platform.
Higgins’ hire marks the latest move by Raymond James Investment Management as it looks to bolster its ETF presence. Last August, Raymond James Investment Management appointed Allianz alum Johan Grahn, who previously worked with Higgins, as its new head of ETFs.
In December, Raymond James Investment Management tapped Jeff Ringdahl, president and chief operating officer at Summit Trail Advisors, to be the asset manager’s president.
Raymond James Investment Management launched its initial suite of three active ETFs in October. The funds – the RJ Eagle Vertical Income ETF (Ticker: RJVI), the RJ Eagle GCM Dividend Select Income ETF (Ticker: RJDI), and the RJ Eagle Municipal Income ETF (Ticker: RJMI) are actively managed by Eagle Asset Management, a boutique manager within the company’s platform.
Raymond James Investment Management has $115 billion in assets.
“Active ETFs are a central pillar of our long-term product strategy, and we are leaning in with conviction,” said Matt Johnson, head of commercial strategy at Raymond James Investment Management, in a statement. “We see a significant opportunity to bring the differentiated capabilities of our boutique managers into the ETF structure in a way that better serves advisors and their clients.”
“Kristi’s experience building ETF platforms makes her an ideal partner as we scale our ETF capabilities,” he added.
Active ETFs have enjoyed booming demand in recent years. Brown Brothers Harriman’s 2026 Global ETF Investor Survey predicts that active ETF assets are on course to hit about $10 trillion by 2033, from just under $2 trillion at the end of 2025. According to Goldman Sachs, active ETF inflows as a portion of all exchange traded funds have doubled since 2022.
Some 84% of new ETF launches in the U.S. in 2025 were active, according to State Street’s 2026 Global ETF Outlook. Active ETFs also accounted for 34% of inflows, State Street said, and there were 2,696 active ETF tickers versus 2,187 passive ETF tickers.
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