People on the Move: Spotlight on Paul Reilly

Paul Reilly, president of Raymond James Financial [RJF], will be expected to uphold the company’s deliberate operational style as he prepares to take over the chief executive officer role from Tom James.

He was appointed to his current post in May, exactly a year before he is slated to take over as CEO.

Raymond James has achieved success by adhering to conservative fiscal management, disciplined decision making that focuses on long-term stability, and an ingrained client-first mentality, Reilly saidl. “I don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t want to uphold those traditions," he said.

Reilly is no stranger to the Raymond James model. He joined the company’s financial board in 2005, when he was chairman and chief executive officer of Korn/Ferry International [KFY], a global executive recruiting firm. Reilly first met Tom James on the tennis courts in St. Petersburg when Reilly was in grade school.

Since then, Reilly has remained acquainted with the James family through involvement with the local business community, plus civic and cultural activities.

A former CEO of Amsterdam-based accounting firm KPMG International, Reilly has a strong background in finance. He used that acumen to break new ground for Raymond James, spearheading its successful bid to raise $300 million in senior unsecured debt in August. It was the first time it had raised money by issuing bond debt.

Raymond James' registered investment advisory division recently raised the bar to $50 million from $30 million in assets under management for the type of firms it affiliates with. Aside from focusing on recruiting top advisors, Reilly did not indicate that other substantial changes lay ahead for the group.

“We will continue to provide the most comprehensive platform so as to recruit the highest quality advisors in the industry – no matter which business model they choose,” he said.

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Also on the move this week:

BNY Mellon Asset Management has promoted Scott E. Wennerholm to managing director of broker-dealer relations, a newly created position. Herlihy was managing director of global client management for BNY [BK] since 2005.

Brinton Eaton, an advisory firm based in Madison, N.J., hired Marla Markowitz Bace as chief marketing officer. She was head of global marketing best practices for UBS Wealth Management [UBS], and consulted for Brinton Eaton.

Citi Private Bank [C] hired Susanne Alexandor as a director and a private banker. She will be based in Toronto. Alexandor was a senior portfolio manager and investment strategist for UBS.

First Midwest Securities, based in Bloomington, Ill., announced a series of promotions at its headquarters. Joshua Noel was named compliance officer of FMSI Advisers and its anti-money laundering compliance officer. Renee Emrick was named an executive vice president and will continue in her role as general counsel. Kim Sparks was named chief compliance officer. Woodrow Littlefield was named municipal principal and compliance specialist; and Michael Shanahan was named an accounts manager.

Thomas Gatto has joined New York City-based Formula Investing as director of sales. Previously, Gatto was the northeast divisional sales manager for the U.S. private client group at BlackRock [BLK].

Mercer has hired four professionals for its financial strategy group. Bryan Boudreau was hired as a senior consultant. He was a managing director at Barclays Capital, where he was co-head of its pensions solutions group. The company also hired Sean Brennan as an associate, worked in the human resources consulting group.

Multi-Financial Services, which is based in Denver, named James Quinn vice president and national sales manager. He was a managing director of sales and marketing at Welton Street Investments, which is also based in Denver.

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