Raymond James Lands Advisory Team from LPL

Raymond James has recruited a pair of advisors away from LPL Financial.

The financial services company, which ranked No. 3 on the most recent FP50 ranking of top independent B-Ds, announced that it has landed advisors Terry Wiles and Ryan Smith in Cary, N.C.

The pair, who managed more than $146 million in client assets at LPL as Wiles Wealth Management, joined Raymond James on Oct. 31 with a practice named Stonegate Financial.

Raymond James' major draws, Wiles says, included the company’s support with back-office operations and technology. He also emphasizes Raymond James’ heavy focus on equities and fixed income research.

“I have been blown away by their research so far,” says Wiles, the new firm's president. “I feel that to be different and stand out in the crowd, you have to have ample research to back you up.”

Wiles has worked in the investment industry since 1999; before LPL, he worked at Edward Jones and Federated Securities Corp. Smith began his career as a financial planner in 2005 and worked at Securian Financial Services and LPL.

In preparation for Wiles and Smith's arrival, Raymond James helped the two develop the new name for their practice and a website, Wiles says. (Their older LPL website is still live here.) He adds that he hopes the Raymond James umbrella will help his firm grow 15% to 20% a year.

“Raymond James really has a high level of home-office support for its advisors,” said Wiles. “We have very good access to their upper executives.”

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