Raymond James poaches $1B team from Merrill in its biggest move this year

In its largest recruiting win of the year, Raymond James picked up a Merrill Lynch team that manages roughly $1 billion in client assets and generated $3.6 million in annual revenue, according to the firm.

The five-member team joined the firm’s employee channel, and comes on top of the 258-advisor increase in Raymond James’ headcount between the first quarters of 2018 and 2019.

Raymond James, based in St. Petersburg, Florida, has been aggressively recruiting for several years, including pushes into the West Coast and Northeast where it has traditionally had fewer advisors. The addition of Seyle Hickey Wealth Management, based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, furthers their footprint in the latter region.

A photo of the team at Seyle Hickey Wealth Management. From left: Tim Hickey, Kristin DeLong, Rusty Seyle, Alison Ehret, Marisa Gurnari. Photo courtesy Raymond James.

Advisors William “Rusty” Seyle and Tim Hickey were veterans of Merrill Lynch, having spent 27 and 24 years at the wirehouse, according to FINRA BrokerCheck records.

They joined Raymond James because it “allows us flexibility in what we can offer our clients, and provides an open architecture technology platform,” Seyle said in a statement.

The advisors serve high-net-worth families, business owners, retirees and corporate retirement plan committees, according to Raymond James.

Moving to Raymond James with Seyle and Hickey are Kristin DeLong, investment portfolio associate, Alison Ehret, senior client relationship associate, and Marisa Gurnari, registered client relationship associate.

A representative of Merrill Lynch did not respond to a request for comment.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
Recruiting Career moves Wirehouse advisors Regional BDs Raymond James Financial Merrill Lynch
MORE FROM FINANCIAL PLANNING