Raymond James Ramps Up Diversity Efforts After Pandemic Lull

When one firm’s diversity statistics go down but “yours goes up, that’s not the goal,” he added. “The goal is really to make a difference in society and you have to really help develop, bring up and nurture and train that talent. So we’ve shifted our focus after a lot of years of working hard now.”

Now Raymond James is developing much of the “talent from the bottom up and knowing it’s just going to take time,” he said.

Top 2022 Priorities

“Culturally,” Raymond James is trying to get everybody back and integrated into the office, Reilly noted, calling that one of its top two priorities this year. It’s been making good progress on that front, he said.

But a challenge, “as we bring people back, [is] finding that right balance of what works between remote and in-office work, he noted, adding: “We’ll learn that over time.”

Another top priority this year is enhancing the firm’s service level after a slight dip last year, he said. Despite advisors and others working from home, the firm’s service remained “very good, but it wasn’t what we would consider a top standard,” going to the “high 80s” in client satisfaction, he said.

But service has improved in recent months as more Raymond James advisors and others returned to their offices, he said, adding: “We’re committed to be at that very top of service satisfaction. That’s part of our culture [and], already, since people are coming back” to their offices, satisfaction rates are “shooting way up again.”

After one quarter, “we’ve got half of it back and I think we’ll get the other half next quarter,” he predicted.

M&A Activity

“There’s been a renewed focus on wealth,” Reilly also said, pointing to growth especially in the independent RIA market. Part of the reason is that “capital and financing has been pretty cheap so there’s been a lot of roll-ups off that capital,” he said. But rising interest rates and capital costs “may slow that down,” he warned.

Meanwhile, “there aren’t a lot of private client group firms left in the market,” he said, explaining that, “for us, cultural fit is important” when it considers making an acquisition.

“We’re usually not very inquisitive,” he said, noting “we’re an organic grower” usually. Recent exceptions included its acquisition of Charles Stanley in the U.K. last year, which he said “now puts us near the top 10 in the U.K. in the wealth advisors market.”

In 2016, Raymond James bought Alex.Brown. Integration has “gone great,” he said, noting the addition of that firm “helped us grow a broad ultra-high-net worth/high-net worth practice.” Raymond James already “had plenty of people and had more probably billionaire clients than they did but they had a high concentration of them,” he explained.

Asset, Other Updates

Private Client Group assets under administration increased 5% from a year ago and were $1.13 trillion as of April 30, which is down 6% from March 31, the company said late Tuesday.

Meanwhile PCG assets in fee-based accounts grew 8% from April 2021 to hit $638.3 billion, representing a decline of 6% from March; financial assets under management dipped 2% from a year ago to $181.9 billion, down 6% from March.

“While advisor retention and recruiting remained strong across our multiple affiliation options, client assets decreased compared to the preceding month primarily driven by declines in the equity markets,” according to Reilly.

(Pictured: CEO Paul Reilly at Raymond James Elevate 2022; Photo provided by Raymond James)