Raymond James sizzled this week, adding a $7 billion national retirement plan consultant team; a $180 million team that will open a new office in McAllen, Texas and a new complex manager for its south central Texas complex; a $125 million team that will open a new office in Gainesville, Florida; and an independent $1 million advisor in Birmingham.
Next Retirement Solutions, formerly known as Neuner Retirement Services, is an independent firm offering securities through Raymond James Financial Services, Raymond James’ independent advisor unit. The national team of institutional retirement plan consultants and financial advisors has offices in California, Illinois, Missouri and nationwide, and began existence in 1994 as a group of corporate retirement plan consultants for then-A.G. Edwards & Sons.
Paul Neuner founded the group and built out a national advisory practice. Through a series of acquisitions, NRS became the leading institutional retirement consulting group for Wells Fargo Advisors, where they managed some $7 billion in retirement plan assets. In June, NRS established its own legal entity and partnered with Raymond James.
The team includes Paul Neuner, managing director-partner and financial advisor; Kevin McFarland, senior vice president finance & operations partner and financial advisor; Dominic Repetti, SVP relationship management-partner and financial advisor; Neelab Naibkhyl, director, strategic development and financial advisor; Timothy Cronin, SVP wealth management and financial advisor; and Damon DeLillo and Michael Rozovics, senior relationship managers and financial advisors.
“As a group, we continue to innovate in order to provide the very best services for our clients,” said Neuner in a statement. He added, “By partnering with Raymond James, we felt the environment was conducive to implement new ideas and better serve these important relationships. We believe with the support provided by Raymond James we can not only add offices and team members, but also provide greater customization and depth and breadth of services to our clients.”
Raymond James Adds Employee Advisors in Texas
Raymond James & Associates, meanwhile, welcomed Mark Southwell and Bill Martin as founding employees in its new branch in McAllen, Texas. The office is part of a newly formed south central Texas complex that includes the towns of McAllen, Boerne and San Antonio and is managed by Sam Dickson, complex manager and SVP, investments, who joined from JPMorgan Chase.
Southwell, branch manager and SVP of investments, and Martin, VP, come to Raymond James’ employee advisor arm from Morgan Stanley, where they managed more than $180 million in client assets and had revenues of $1.4 million. The team operates as 1845 Capital of Raymond James, named to honor the history of Texas as a republic and a state. “We sought out a firm who could not only help us deliver on our mission, but was also well positioned to meet today’s challenges and which understood our business model, our values and loyalty to our clients,” Martin said in a statement.
RJA also recruited the team of Frank Urban and David Hanson to open a new office in Gainesville, Florida, for the firm’s traditional employee broker-dealer. The team, operating as Urban Hanson Wealth Management of Raymond James, joined the firm from Morgan Stanley, where they managed over $125 million in client assets and had annual fees and commissions of over $1 million.
“The reason we chose to join Raymond James was first and foremost the culture of the firm,” Hanson said in a statement. He added, “A lot of our business is discretionary, so we were particularly impressed with the asset management services group.”
And J. Shawn Gentle joined Raymond James Financial Services in Birmingham, Alabama. Gentle, formerly of Wells Fargo Advisors, where he managed approximately $175 million in client assets and had annual revenue of more than $1.1 million, has opened a new office, Gentle Family Wealth Management, an independent firm.
“I chose independence to be closer to my clients,” Gentle said in a statement. He added that he chose Raymond James in particular “because of all the tools the firm offers, including financial planning, as well as its strong advisor culture and because the firm always puts clients first. In just the first few weeks of my new practice, I am more in touch with my clients because I control 100% of my schedule. There is nothing in the way to prevent me from being nimble and responsive to client needs: no unnecessary meetings, no revenue or product goals placed upon me by someone else, or any other distractions.”
Wells Fargo Adds 7 Indie Advisors
Not to be outdone, Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network welcomed seven advisors who left their previous firms to go independent. Together the group manages more than $781 million in client assets.