Raymond James grabs advisors managing $1.1B from Ameriprise

Raymond James pulls from Ameriprise, FINRA refunds firms $50M: Advisor Moves

July 3, 2025 1:44 PM

Give FINRA this much credit: When the self-regulatory organization runs a budget surplus, it gives some of the money back.

This week saw the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority return $50 million to its member firms after logging its first surplus in three years. Also, Raymond James, Wells Fargo and RBC all announced big recruiting deals.

Read about it all below.

Raymond James recruits advisors managing $1.1B from Ameriprise

Raymond James is building out its independent channel in New York with seven advisors recruited from Ameriprise.

The advisors had previously managed $1.1 billion and are now setting up three separate practices in Valhalla, New York, through Raymond James Financial Services, the firm's channel for independent advisors. Jak Cukaj and Neal Siena are forming QuantumView Wealth Management.

Cukaj's previous affiliation with Ameriprise dated to 1993, according to BrokerCheck. Siena started his career at Chase Investment Services in 2010 and moved to several other firms before joining Ameriprise in 2020.

Their team includes the financial advisors Adam Sloane and William Longing, along with the client service managers Elissa Levy and Maura Fronio.

Separately, Charles Camilleri has founded Camilleri Wealth Management. Camilleri's affiliation with Ameriprise dates to 2000. His team includes the client service specialists Vicky Lee, Louis Seekircher, and Kim Rottingen.

And Brigitte Davison has established her own practice, where she is being joined by financial advisor Lilibeth Miranda. Davison's affiliation with Ameriprise dates to 1995, Miranda started at Ameriprise in 2019.

Both Raymond James and Ameriprise recently ceased providing quarterly updates on their advisor numbers. When Raymond James last reported its headcount, the tally total stood at 8,787 advisors. Ameriprise said in April that it has more than 10,000 advisors while not providing an exact number.

Wells Fargo pulls advisors from Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, UBS

Wells Fargo has gone to three industry rivals to recruit advisors managing nearly $800 million in client assets.

Trevor Ricks and James Vender are joining Wells Fargo Advisors' private client group, its standard broker-dealer channel. They had previously managed $454 million at Morgan Stanley in Chicago. Ricks started his career at Morgan Stanley in 2013, according to BrokerCheck. Vender started at Morgan Stanley the year before. Joining them at Wells Fargo is the client associate Chuck Walters.

Separately, Samuel Djannie joined Wells Fargo's channel for bank-based advisors from JPMorgan. He had previously managed roughly $162 million. Djannie was previously at Wells Fargo from 2013 to 2017 before leaving for JPMorgan, according to BrokerCheck.

And William Kobernusz is joining Wells Fargo's private client group from UBS in Cherry Creek, Colorado. He had previously managed $146 million. Kobernusz started his career in 1997 with a short stint at Merrill and moved to several other firms before joining UBS in 2007.

RBC draws teams managing $570M in total from Janney

RBC Wealth Management is building out its presence in Tennessee with a pair of teams recruited from Janney Montgomery Scott.

The MD Wealth Management Group had previously managed $370 million at Janney, and JS Investment Advisors had managed $200 million. Both are joining RBC Wealth Management, Royal Bank of Canada's U.S. wealth management subsidiary, in Franklin, Tennessee.

The MD Wealth Management Group consists of financial advisors Brad Dickens and Jason Minor and senior client associate Colton Wright. Dickens started his career with a short stint at Merrill in 1992 and moved through several firms, going to Wells in 2000 and then leaving for Janney in 2018. Minor started at Prudential Securities in 1993 and moved to Wells Fargo the same year. He moved to Janney in 2018.

JS Investment Advisors consists of the financial advisors Jim Stephens and Jamie Smith, as well as the senior branch service manager Sheala Smith and senior client associate Ben Davis. Stephens started in 1991 at Dean Witter, which was bought by Morgan Stanley in 1997, and moved to Wells Fargo in 2005 before joining Janney in 2018. Smith began at Smith Barney in 1994 and went through various firms before joining Wells Fargo in 2011 and then Janney in 2017.

RBC said in a press release that its headcount in its Kansas City Complex, which includes its offices in Nashville and Franklin, Tennessee, has increased by nearly 50% in the past five years. RBC reported in May that it had 6,191 advisors at the end of the second quarter of 2025, 63 more than in the same period a year ago.

Carson Group scoops up firm with $300M in AUM

The RIA aggregator Carson Group has added its 28th wholly-owned office with the purchase of an advisory practice in Maryland.

Jacob William Advisory, a firm in Cockeysville, Maryland, with $300 million, is going from being a firm that was affiliated with Carson through its independent contractor channel to one that is completely owned by the private equity-backed aggregator. Jacob William Advisory was founded in 2006 and joined Carson's network 10 years later.

The deal, whose terms were undisclosed, brings Carson its 28th wholly-owned RIA office. Carson, which has been backed by the private equity giant Bain Capital since 2011, manages $42 billion in client assets and serves more than 54,000 client families through its network of more than 150 advisory offices.

Jacob William Advisory, which will retain its name, is led by wealth advisors Mark Ring and Dan Morrison. The two had worked together previously at LPL Financial and Mutual Service Corp., which was bought by LPL in 2007.

Their team also includes the partner and wealth advisor Christina Snyder and the financial and wealth advisors David Hodnett and Matthew Rodgville, as well as a six-member operations team that support the firm's growing client base.

Choreo brings on new CEO from Edelman Financial Engines

The private equity-backed RIA Choreo has gone to its industry rival Edelman Financial Engines to hire a new top executive.

Jason Van de Loo is taking over the CEO position at Chicago-based Choreo, the firm announced this week. Van de Loo was at Edelman for 10 years, according to his LinkedIn page.

His recent positions included head of wealth management. A statement from Choreo credits Van de Loo for helping Edelman accumulate more than $250 billion in client assets.

At Choreo, he's succeeding Larry Miles, who's taking on the new role of executive vice president of strategic partnerships. Choreo now serves roughly 7,000 clients and has about $27.2 billion in assets under management and advisement.

Choreo was founded in 2022 when a group of advisors and the private equity firm Parthenon Capital bought the wealth management business of the accounting firm RSM US.

EP Wealth hires M&A leader from Captrust

EP Wealth Advisors, an aggregator of fee-only RIAs, has turned to Captrust to hire a new head of partnership integration.

Margaret Jarocki comes to EP Wealth after 13 years at Captrust. She was most recently senior director of integration at Captrust Financial Advisors, a position that had her overseeing mergers and acquisitions. Before Captrust, Jarocki had worked for four years at Credit Suisse.

EP Wealth, a Torrance, California-based firm that manages $32.6 billion in client assets and has more than 50 offices, has already made six acquisitions this year. Last month, the firm announced it had bought Buffington Mohr McNeal, a firm in Boise, Idaho, with nearly $900 million in assets under management.

As head of partnership integration, Jarocki will report to the firm's chief operating officer, Jorge Bernal. Her new position will have her working on the integration of newly acquired firms, including their employees, technology and general ways of doing business. EP Wealth receives backing from the private equity firm Berkshire Partners and the financial services holding company Wealth Partners Capital Group.

Sign outside offic eof Financial Industry Regulatory Authority

Following surplus, FINRA pays $50M rebate to members

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has repaid $50 million to its members. The money comes as the agency has accumulated its first surplus after two years of deficits.

FINRA, the broker-dealer industry's self-regulator, said in an annual report this week that its board decided to pay the rebates after the agency logged $99.6 million in net income this year. That surplus was driven largely by $72.4 million in investment gains, along with $27.2 million in operating income, according to the report.

After reviewing its projections for revenue, expenses and market conditions for the next several years, FINRA's board of directors approved a rebate of $50 million to member firms that are in good standing with compliance matters. The rebates were paid on July 1, according to a blog post by FINRA CEO and President Robert Cook and Board Chairman and Large Firm Governor Scott Curtis.

"The Board reviews FINRA's financial outcomes on a regular basis to consider whether current revenues and expenses warrant any changes to its financial planning," Cook and Curtis wrote. "Consistent with the Financial Guiding Principles and FINRA's status as a not-for-profit membership organization, responses to material excess revenues may include a fee rebate or a reduction or deferral in fee increases."

Cook and Curtis said the rebates will be tallied up according to the regulatory fees individual member firms paid last year. The calculations will take into account members' annual minimum fee of $1,200, which will be reduced for firms that paid for only part of the year, as well as payments of other fees.

"This allocation method is consistent with FINRA's approach in prior discretionary rebates to member firms," they wrote.

FINRA's surplus in 2024 comes after a couple of years in which the self-regulatory organization had seen its annual budgets ending in the red. For 2023, FINRA reported a net operating loss of $119.1 million and one of $60.2 million for 2022.

In response to those deficits, FINRA instituted a plan to raise its fees steadily over the next five years and eventually bring in an additional $450 million by 2029. The increases will vary by firm size.

For broker-dealers with 10 or fewer registered representatives, their annual cost from fees is expected to rise by $625 a year by 2029. On the other end of the size range — brokerages with 500 or more representatives — the increase is expected to be $415,000 a year. FINRA had 3,298 member firms in 2023, according to its latest "industry snapshot" report.

Cook announced plans for the $50 million rebate at FINRA's annual conference in May, Barron's then reported. "When we have excess funds, we have a choice of banking it to defer any future fee increases, or doing a rebate to the members," Barron's quoted Cook as saying.

FINRA's 2024 report also lists compensation figures for Cook and other executives at the agency. This year, Cook will receive the same $1.1 million salary he did in 2024, along with $2.51 million in incentive compensation, up from nearly $2.37 million in 2024.

Cook's listing for 2025 did not include deferred compensation and other benefits he'll receive through the rest of the year. With those additions in the previous two years, he made just over $4.1 million in total in 2024 and nearly $3.9 million in 2023.