Raymond James boss sounds alarm about financial reform

It's now or never for financial advisers to get their voices heard as Congress fleshes out the final details of the financial services reform bill. That was the warning sounded today by Richard G. Averitt III, chairman and chief executive of Raymond James Financial Services Inc., in a speech at the firm's annual national conference this morning. Historically, the financial services industry hasn't been active in protecting itself from regulatory reform. This has to change, Mr. Averitt said at the conference, which is being held in Nashville, TN. “With the changes going on today, this is a significant, maybe even a dangerous blind spot for us,” Mr. Averitt said. “What do you think is the chance that legislators will get it right by themselves? That's why we have to get involved.” Mr. Averitt urged attendees to donate money to the political action committees of the Financial Services Institute Inc. and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. He also advised them to get more involved in the organizations to assure that their voices are heard. There is too much at stake, he said. “It's a travesty that these days a group of senators from both sides of the aisle vote only to assure their re-election and in their own self-interest,” Mr. Averitt said in his speech. Advisers attending the conference expressed great frustration with how Congress views the industry. After Ken Bentsen, SIFMA's executive vice president, public policy and advocacy, spoke Monday morning, an adviser asked why he and his colleagues are being held to such high ethical standards while Congress isn't. “We tell Congress all the time that this is an extremely regulated industry and ask them why they didn't catch the Madoffs and Stanfords,” Mr. Bentsen said. “Frankly, they need to look inward to see what's going on.” Steve Johnson, a Draper, Utah-based Raymond James adviser with $400 million in assets under management, said his biggest concern is that all of the regulation will take away his flexibility to address clients' needs. While the majority of Mr. Johnson's business is fee-based, he needs to be able to address clients' requests to buy stocks and do other commission-based transactions. “I worry that they are focused on punishing the small minority who have been dishonest,” Mr. Johnson said in an interview at the conference. “All of us need to be more involved with our legislators to get our voices heard.”