RayJay rolls out the red carpet

More than 80 Morgan Keegan branch managers are getting their first look at the Raymond James Financial Inc.’s headquarters in St. Petersburg, Fla., this week. The firm acquired Morgan Keegan & Co. Inc. from Regions Financial Corp. last week. So far, it’s a love fest between the two Southern firms. “The Raymond James welcome and agenda have been overwhelming,” said Dick Ferguson, president of Morgan Keegan’s private-client group, in a release. “Manager after manager has expressed to me how impressed they are, not just with the resources and depth of the firm’s capabilities but with how genuinely welcoming the Raymond James team has been; how focused everyone is on supporting advisors and making it easy for them grow their businesses.” Branch manager Rob Brewer, who manages 11 Morgan Keegan advisers in Lexington, Ky., was even more amped up. “I cannot wait to get back to share all this good news with my team,” he said in the release. According to recruiters, advisers and managers at Morgan Keegan are ecstatic about the outcome of the six-month-long auction process for the firm. “I haven’t spoken to one Morgan Keegan adviser who wasn’t happy with the deal,” said recruiter Mindy Diamond, president of Diamond Consultants. Raymond James management last week stressed that they are in no rush to cut costs from the combined organization and that integrating Morgan Keegan employees into the fold is their top priority. A $415 million combined retention pool for the incoming advisers and managers should help ease the transition. The details on those retention packages have yet to be tabled to individual advisers and managers. And as Ms. Diamond pointed out, that is where the devil is. The branch managers currently touring the Florida campus are likely to be some of the more vulnerable employees at Morgan Keegan when the company does get down to reducing costs. Just ask the scores of former Smith Barney managers who have found employment elsewhere since the firm merged with Morgan Stanley in 2009. For now, however, everything’s just peachy. “Right now, the only message is “1 + 1 = 3.” It’s all good,” Ms. Diamond said. “Where there is overlap between the two firms, however, those offices and managers are potentially vulnerable.”