Succession Planning, Regulation, Technology Top Raymond James Agenda

DALLAS - Succession planning, regulatory and technological issues will be the main focus for Raymond James Financial Services over the next year, according to the unit's president, Scott Curtis.

Approximately 60% of the firm's 3,240 advisors, half of whom are over 50, have a succession plan in place, Curtis  said during his opening address at Raymond James Financial Services’ annual national conference on Monday, but there are “too many [advisors] who don’t.” He urged advisors to work with the company’s Practice Planning and Acquisitions Group, headed by Patrick Jincks. “It’s the prudent thing to do,” Curtis said.

Regulatory areas such as suitability, fiduciary responsibilities and dealing with the Securities and Exchange Commission are evolving and can be “exhausting,” Curtis admitted, but he promised the 1,600 advisors attending the conference that the firm would be their advocate and directly communicate with FINRA, in part by leveraging its relationships with SIFMA and FSI.

Technology improvements will center on “money movement” between accounts or to third parties and “client on-boarding,” by way of setting up new accounts, Curtis said.

Raymond James Financial Services also wants to make it easier to work with client information as well as improve the security and confidentiality of client data, Curtis said. He urged all advisors to use the firms’ new mobile device management system, Mobile Iron, to secure confidential client data.

Noting the conference’s theme of “Building on the past; Planning for the future,” Curtis pledged that the firm’s core values of integrity, conservative risk management and independence “won’t change.”

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Practice management Compliance Law and regulation Succession planning Technology Independent BDs
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