Raymond James & Associates lands bigger producers

NEW YORK — Raymond James & Associates Inc. recruited 36 registered representatives during the first quarter, compared with the 43 reps hired during the year-earlier period.
But 16 of those new reps boasted average trailing 12-month production of $571,000 — about 14% above the average recruit’s production last year, according to Dennis Zank, the firm’s president.
“While the numbers of traditional employee advisers at most full-service firms have been decreasing, Raymond James & Associates is pleased to be able to maintain our growth by attracting high-caliber advisers,” he wrote in an e-mail.
Like other large broker-dealers, Raymond James & Associates continues to seek bigger producers, said one recruiter, adding that the recruiting market is increasingly split between full-service broker-dealers and independent-contractor firms.
The bigger reps typically are moving to wirehouses and regional broker-dealers, and lower-producing reps are moving to independent firms, said Terry Rutledge, a recruiter with Houston-based Rick Peterson & Associates.
“What’s getting very difficult for us to find is [an employee broker-dealer] who’s willing to take the $350,000 producer or so, unless he’s young in the business,” he said.
Raymond James & Associates, the employee broker unit of Raymond James Financial Inc. of St. Petersburg, Fla., has 1,032 registered reps. Raymond James Financial, which offers a variety of business channels for reps, including its independent-contractor arm, Raymond James Financial Services Inc., has a total of 4,620 reps and advisers.
Wirehouses once again are paying top dollar for experienced reps, recruiters and brokers noted, with upfront bonuses of as much as 120% to 200% of a broker’s prior 12 months’ gross income from fees and commissions.
Raymond James & Associates’ recruiting packages typically are half as generous as the wirehouses’ in terms of front-end bonuses, but incoming reps get a higher payout and more control over the ownership of their business, advisers and recruiters said.
Mr. Zank took over as president of Raymond James & Associates in 2003. That summer, he stressed that the key to the firm’s growth was telling brokers that they controlled their books of business (InvestmentNews, Feb. 27, 2006).
Another recruiter said that Raymond James & Associates’ decision not to hassle reps over their books of business if they decide to leave is one of the reasons why the firm “remains unique.”
‘Aggressive plan’
“They’ve learned from their independent-contractor brethren on the other side of the hall, to a certain extent,” said Danny Sarch, a recruiter based in White Plains, N.Y.
Another plus in Raymond James & Associates’ recruiting package is the “aggressive plan” to purchase the books of business of reps and advisers who leave the business, said Mr. Sarch, who counts the firm as one of his clients.
Some of the advisers who recently joined Raymond James & Associates said that the firm has made a good first impression.
“The thing I like is that I have the right to sell my book to whom I want,” said David Saalfrank Sr., a senior vice president of investment, who opened an office for Raymond James & Associates in Paramus, N.J. He left Wachovia Securities LLC of Richmond, Va., last month.
“We didn’t move for the money,” said Mr. Saalfrank, who along with his partner produced more than $1.2 million in fees and commissions over the one-year period prior to his moving to Raymond James & Associates last month. “We moved for the culture.”
And one aspect of the firm’s culture another recruit finds appealing is the “respect for women.”
“Raymond James runs a symposium for female advisers,” said Laurie Gross, a senior vice president of investments in Morristown, N.J.
Ms. Gross, who said that her trailing 12-month production was “just under” $650,000, left David Lerner Associates Inc. of Syosset, N.Y., in January.