Raymond James Recruits Advisors With $560M in AUM

Advisors managing a combined $560 million in assets have left D.A. Davidson and Morgan Stanley to join Raymond James & Associates.

Advisor Trenton Morton joined Raymond James' Seattle office as managing director and senior vice president, investments. Previously at D.A. Davidson, Morton generated nearly $2 million in annual revenue and managed $290 million in client assets. Scott Hitchcock, an investment portfolio specialist, also moved with Morton.

Morgan Stanley advisors Robert and Lynne Pehl, who are brother and sister, joined Raymond James in Chehalis, Wash., which is about 90 miles south of Seattle.

The West Coast has been a recent growth area for Raymond James. In California, for example, the Tampa Bay-based firm has opened new offices and recruited advisors managing more than $1 billion in assets so far this year.

Morton has been in the industry since 1996, according to FINRA records. He worked at Merrill Lynch and Bear Sterns in New York before returning to Seattle in 2000 to join Morton Clarke, a boutique muni-bond dealer, where his father worked.

"I kind of blazed my own path, but I came back and got to be part of that experience with him," says Morton.

Hitchcock also worked at Morton Clarke which was acquired by D.A. Davidson in 2012.

Morton said he joined Raymond James & Associates because of their fixed income capabilities, dedication to their private client business and the opportunity to help the firm establish its presence in the Pacific Northwest.

"You know there was some trepidation that maybe people aren't as familiar with Raymond James & Associates, the employee side [as the independent side which has advisors in the state], but it's an opportunity to educate and raise awareness of the opportunity. It's exciting to be part of it," he says.

Robert Pehl started his advisory career in 1987 with Dean Witter Reynolds, according to FINRA records. His sister joined him at the firm in 1994. The duo stayed through the firm's merger with Morgan Stanley, where they managed more than $265 million in client assets and generated $1.4 million in annual fees and commissions.

As part of Raymond James & Associates' recruiting efforts, President Tash Elwyn has made several trips to the West Coast this year. Morton says he met Elwyn on a trip to Seattle and later again in Tampa Bay during a due diligence trip that Morton made.

"I wanted to make sure that they were really committed to building out this office here in the Northwest. That part was important to make sure that I got to know them," Morton says. "There is no question that the culture [was important]… it's nice to feel it's accessible. People are humble and very professional."

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