Raymond James adds $300M advisors to indie, employee BDs

Raymond James recruited advisors managing approximately $300 million from two rivals, a spokeswoman confirmed.

They're the latest hires to join the St. Petersburg, Florida-based firm, which has been aggressively recruiting advisors to its independent and employee channels for several years. Raymond James has 7,600 financial advisors and total client assets are $753 billion.

Michelle Spaziani joined the firm's independent broker-dealer from Wells Fargo. She managed about $118 million in client assets and generated approximately $940,000 in annual revenue, according to Raymond James. She now operates as Summit Behavioral Wealth in Greenfield, Massachusetts.

Spaziani had been with Wells Fargo since 2008, and with A.G. Edwards for six years prior to that, according to FINRA BrokerCheck records.

She made the move in part because of what she sees as Raymond James's "commitment to wealth management and financial planning,” she says in a statement, emphasizing the importance of operating from the independent channel.

“It means I can focus on my client relationships and create the practice I have always envisioned with a lot more freedom and creativity, as the advice-based financial planning landscape continues to change," she says.

Raymond James

Wells Fargo has been suffering from advisor attrition in recent quarters. The firm's parent bank has suffered from several scandals, which resulted in multi-million dollar fines and heightened regulatory scrutiny.

More than 120 brokers left the wirehouse in the first six months of this year, according to hiring announcements data analyzed by On Wall Street.

A Wells Fargo spokeswoman was unavailable for immediate comment.

In the second of the two moves, Raymond James snapped up advisor Michael Trinen from RBC in Fort Collins, Colorado. He previously managed about $182 million and generated more than $1.3 million in production. In a statement, Trinen cited Raymond James' culture and technology offerings as reasons for making the move.

Also moving with Trinen is Christina Abbey, senior registered client service associate. They now operate within Raymond James's employee broker-dealer.

Trinen had worked at RBC since 1998, per BrokerCheck. Like Spaziani, Trinen has past experience at A.G. Edwards

An RBC spokeswoman was unavailable for immediate comment.

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