Raymond James snags 6-advisor team from Commonwealth

LPL Financial's acquisition of Commonwealth Financial Network continues to provide a rich recruiting vein for Raymond James, which recently pulled an East Coast team managing nearly $700 million.

Touchpoint Financial Advisor Group is joining Raymond James Financial Services — the firm's channel for independent contractors — in Woburn, Massachusetts. The team, led by the advisors Reed Thompson, David Erwin, John Pratti, John Nolan, Patrick Sheehan and Jillian Feehan, had previously managed $682 million in client assets at Commonwealth.

Raymond James has proved a leading destination for Commonwealth advisors following news that their firm was being acquired by LPL Financial. LPL closed on that transaction last summer and plans to fully incorporate Commonwealth by the end of this year.

READ MORE: Raymond James is winning the war for Commonwealth talent. Here's why

Raymond James shuns the 'highest check' recruitment strategy

Commonwealth advisors have been faced with a choice of joining the much larger LPL or finding a new home at another firm. Raymond James, with its advisor headcount of over 8,900, is by no means small. But it's still less than one-third the size of LPL, which has more than 32,000 advisors. (Commonwealth, at the time of its purchase, had roughly 3,000 advisors.)

"Raymond James provides the investment platform and private wealth capabilities to support our clients' unique needs through every life stage," Thompson said in a statement about his team's move to Raymond James.

Raymond James is coming off a particularly strong recruiting year, much of it driven by teams drawn from Commonwealth. In an earnings call last month, CEO Paul Shoukry reported the firm had recruited advisors in 2025 who collectively had $460 million in annual revenue production at their previous firms, an amount which he deemed "equivalent to a pretty decent-sized acquisition in our space."

Shoukry has also said Raymond James can afford to be selective about which advisors it recruits. Speaking last week at a financial services conference in Miami, Shoukry said Raymond James doesn't offer the highest payouts in the industry to new recruits and is interested more in attracting advisors who want to stay with it for the long haul rather than move simply for money.

"By pursuing that strategy, we are self-selecting advisors who are less likely to leave every seven or eight years to recapitalize for the highest check," he said.

READ MORE: Why advisors keep saying goodbye to Commonwealth, LPL Financial

Touchpoint team's exit highlights LPL's Commonwealth retention difficulties

Of the Touchpoint Financial Advisor Group team, Thompson, Erwin and Pratti all started at Ameriprise in the 1990s or early 2000s. Thompson joined Commonwealth in 2014, Erwin in 2009 and Pratti in 2016 after stints at various other firms.

Nolan moved to Commonwealth in 2024 after spending six years at Edward Jones. Both Sheehan and Feehan started their careers at Commonwealth in 2022.

LPL Financial has predicated the economics of its $2.7 billion purchase of Commonwealth largely on its ability to retain at least 90% of the $305 billion in client assets the purchased firm had at the time of the acquisition. LPL CEO Rich Steinmeier said in an earnings call last month that his firm remains on course to hit that goal, even amid the departures of Commonwealth advisors.

He and Chief Financial Officer Matthew Audette said the teams that have remained tend to be larger and producers of more revenue than those that have departed.

"So I think when you get some noise, when you look at those headcount departures, when you look at the advisors that have committed to stay with LPL, with Commonwealth, it is an impressive group," Audette said.