Raymond James Wraps Up Purchase of Alex. Brown

As part of the Raymond James acquisition, Alex. Brown advisors will work with Deutsche Bank on equity new issue securities for seven years. In addition, Raymond James gains access to “new alternative investments and other sophisticated investment solutions, allowing the firm to continue to expand its offerings to existing and future ultra-high-net-worth clients,” according to the firm.

“Our client set, in the high-net-worth and ultra-high-net worth demographic groups, has a core priority that is not about wealth creation but [about] wealth preservation,” Ariyan explained. Over the years, Alex. Brown advisors have become well versed at using alternatives for diversification, to minimize volatility and to enhance returns over the long term.”

As for this weekend’s technology shift, which happened as Hurricane Hermine was hitting the Gulf Coast of Florida—where Raymond James is based, “The conversion led by Raymond James’ information-technology team has gone extraordinarily well,” he said. “There have been multiple trainers in all the [Alex. Brown] branches.”

Asked if the new parent firm is meeting the boutique wealth managers’ expectations, Ariyan said, “This is a very demanding group of advisors, who are thoughtful, committed and loyal to putting the client first. We … have to meet these demands, and Raymond James is the perfect partner for that.”

Also on Monday, Alex. Brown’s former owner, Deutsche Bank, announced that it plans to “focus on making strategic investments in its U.S. Wealth Management business after successfully closing the sale of its U.S. Private Client Services (PCS) unit to Raymond James Financial.”

Deutsche Bank says its wealth-management business has been expanding in some parts of the U.S., such as the West Coast, Texas and Florida, as part of its private-banking approach.

“The successful sale of the U.S. PCS business is a significant step toward the bank’s Strategy 2020 goal to become a simpler and more efficient organization,” said Fabrizio Campelli, head of Deutsche Bank Wealth Management, in a statement. “We will now concentrate on further building out our wealth management capabilities for ultra-high-net-worth clients in the U.S., underlined by a series of recent senior appointments including Patrick Campion, who joined us last month as head of Deutsche Bank Wealth Management for the Americas.”

“We will now be able to better serve our clients and grow our Americas business by focusing on a single distribution channel,” Campelli added. “We are looking forward to continuing our collaboration with Raymond James as a distribution partner.”