Raymond James Financial

The recruits come from Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley.

The IBD unveiled its second major recruiting addition in as many months to kick off the year.

The team’s client base primarily consists of business owners, corporate retirement plans, families and individuals and retirees.

The brokers collectively generated more than $88 million in annual revenue while overseeing nearly $15 billion in assets under management.

At an average age of 37, the top-producing brokers operate in 18 different states, plus the District of Columbia and Guam.

The increase comes as the recruiting market heats up.

A team that has grown through acquisitions dropped the No. 1 IBD after the institution purchased another one for more than $600 million.

These elite producers in some cases operate far from Wall Street, even as they work for well-known wealth managers such as UBS, Merrill Lynch and Ameriprise.

The St. Augustine, Florida-based advisors specialize in high-net-worth families, business owners, executives and foundations.

The IBD completed a stellar recruiting year by adding a team led by a 30-year veteran advisor.

The UHNW unit signed advisors managing a combined $3.7 billion this year and committed to maintaining a physical presence in its New York headquarters.

LPL Financial and indie rivals like Raymond James, Wells Fargo FiNet and Kestra Financial completed at least 17 recruiting grabs of $800 million or more this year.

The OSJ scooped up teams from Edward Jones, Wells Fargo Advisors and Wedbush Securities.

The latest deal by a wealth manager for an employee services firm enables the Raymond James Private Client Group to expand its reach.

The firm also added a new unit to accommodate its dramatic advisor growth — from one to 140 in seven years.

In a bid to attract clients left out by AUM fees, IBDs are enabling advisors to take approaches first made popular in the full RIA channel.

The firm is consolidating its broker-dealer and standalone RIA custody units into one division.

The independent firm has been an aggressive recruiter since its founding in 2013.

Ameriprise, for example, has hosted more six times as many advisors virtually than it did in person last year.

The majority of job cuts are in corporate departments, with little impact to advisors or client service roles, the firm says.