Raymond James shares pop on strong wealth management earnings

Raymond James Financial Inc. shares were up more than 7% in trading Thursday morning, reaching $114 per share, after the firm reported strong wealth management earnings for the quarter ended in September, the final quarter of the company's fiscal year.

Raymond James continued to recruit and hire financial advisers in fiscal 2022, reporting 8,681 financial advisers at the end of September, an increase of 199 compared to the same time last year and up 65 for the quarter.

The company reported record annual net revenue of $11 billion, with the private client group posting record quarterly net revenue of $1.99 billion, up 11% over the prior year’s fiscal fourth quarter and
2% over the preceding quarter.

Raymond James' wealth management business also reported record quarterly pretax income of $371 million, up 67% over the prior year’s fiscal fourth quarter and up 48% over the preceding quarter.

The company achieved these results against the backdrop of the market turbulence of the past 12 months, CEO and chairman Paul Reilly noted in a statement. Although the S&P 500 stock index reached record highs in 2021, it has declined 16.2% over the past 12 months.

"Our client-first values and leading technology and product offerings resulted in strong retention and recruitment of financial advisers in fiscal 2022, which led to robust domestic private client group net new assets of approximately $95 billion, or 9% of beginning of period assets,” Reilly said in the statement. "Entering fiscal 2023, financial adviser recruiting activity remains strong across our employee, independent contractor and independent RIA affiliation options."

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