Raymond James snags $550M team from Wells Fargo

The recruiting momentum at Raymond James keeps pushing ahead. The firm recently announced that five financial advisors from Wells Fargo are joining its independent division.

The regional broker-dealer, which is based in St. Petersburg, Florida, increased its head count by 115 financial advisors from March to June, according to the firm’s third-quarter earnings report. The firm has 434 advisors more than it did this time last year.

The five newest advisors come from Wells Fargo, where they oversaw around $550 million in assets, according to Raymond James. Father-son duo Jim Broadway and Jim Broadway Jr., William Perkins, Kyle Evens and Kent Nuzum operate as four separate teams serving a variety of clients including business owners, retirees, families and individuals, according to the firm.

All four teams will be joining Raymond James in Roswell, Georgia. They are joining Raymond James Financial Services, which is the firm’s independent broker-dealer.

Jim Broadway spent a 23-year term at A.G. Edwards & Sons, followed by 10 years at Wells Fargo, which acquired A.G. Edwards in 2008, according to FINRA BrokerCheck. His son spent the past three years at Wells Fargo.

Perkins comes from 35 years at Wells Fargo and A.G. Edwards, while Evens spent 26 years at the two firms. Nuzum spent 12 years at Wells Fargo and A.G. Edwards, preceded by 9 years at Morgan Stanley, according to FINRA BrokerCheck.

The four teams were attracted to Raymond James as a means to go independent.

“Each of us was looking for a firm that offers independence, focuses on its wealth management business and provides a high level of client and advisor support,” Broadway says.

Raymond James’s higher head-count numbers come along with a rise in earnings. The firm recently reported pretax income rose 3% year-over-year in the third quarter, to $132.3 million.

Many new hires at the regional broker-dealers have come at the expense of Well Fargo, which recently announced its head count had fallen by 173 this quarter, and 301 from last year. The wirehouse says that since April and May, attrition levels are now beginning to return to levels seen before 2016, when federal officials revealed scandals on the banking side of the company.

A spokeswoman at Wells Fargo declined to comment on the departures.