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aul Reilly and Paul Shoukry

Industry Spotlight > Broker Dealers

What to Expect From Raymond James' Next CEO

By Melanie Waddell

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What You Need to Know

  • Longtime CFO Paul Shoukry will replace Paul Reilly as CEO by Sept. 30, 2025.
  • The transition of Shoukry to the top job won't be as big a change as people think, Reilly says.
  • Shoukry took a shot at private equity-backed RIA aggregators.

Paul Shoukry’s ascension to CEO of Raymond James Financial, replacing Paul Reilly, isn’t as big a change as people think, Reilly told reporters during the firm’s recent Elevate conference in suburban Washington, D.C.

Shoukry, the chief financial officer, has been at Raymond James “really as long as I’ve been CEO”  — nearly 15 years, Reilly said.

“I fully expect Paul to have a long and better tenure,” he added. “I’ve gotten to watch Paul closely over the years, and certainly as CFO, you spend more time with your CFO … than anybody when you run a public company. We’ve watched Paul — he’s smart, listens very intently, he openly likes to be pushed, he’ll argue but he’s not looking to win — he’s just trying to find the best answers for the firm, and he’s got great values.”

On March 19, Raymond James announced that as part of a multi-year succession planning process, Shoukry would be appointed president of Raymond James Financial, effective immediately, and succeed Reilly over the next fiscal year to become CEO by Sept. 30, 2025.

What Advisors Should Know

As to the transition, a lot of advisors “are asking what’s going to change,” Shoukry said during the briefing with reporters.

“We had record results in last three years; all of our businesses are well positioned for growth — with critical mass and a lot of headroom for continued growth,” he said. “Our management team is the best in the industry, across all of our businesses and functions.”

Shoukry added: “My first strategic initiative is to not mess anything up. We have a really great thing here at Raymond James and to just reinforce the values that make us different as a firm.”

PE-Backed RIA Aggregators

As to growing competition from the private equity-backed RIA aggregators, Shoukry said that “like a lot of other industries, private equity has gotten into our businesses and has certainly been somewhat disruptive.”

That said, “in terms of the implications to our strategy long term, in some ways I think it will reinforce the value of Raymond James and our unique culture … because our values are to be advisor and client focused, make decisions for the long-term, independent market cycles and have that integrity to always put clients first.”

Private equity’s “priority is totally different — they’re looking to optimize returns as quickly as they possibly can for their investors,” Shoukry continued. “They’re offering a very different value proposition to their advisors. So while it’s been disruptive, because of all the money flowing in from all the different private equity firms, long term it actually reinforces the uniqueness and the value of our approach to putting clients and advisors first and having that long-term perspective.”

Raymond James ”will not try to mimic what private equity is doing,” Shoukry maintained, “just like we didn’t try to mimic the online e-brokers in the late ’90s or we didn’t try to mimic what the robo-advisors were doing before COVID.”

Shoukry added: “Who knows how this private equity experiment is going to end? My hypothesis is that it’s going to reinforce the value of that long-term focus on serving advisors and helping them grow their business with clients.”

Advisor Growth

Raymond James is looking to grow in the Northeast and the West Coast, Shoukry relayed, “and really doubling down on the management teams and the recruiting focus in those areas. Lots of wealth in those areas.”

That said, Shoukry said there are opportunities for growth in Raymond James’ core markets.

“We have a lot of headroom to continue growing in Sarasota, Florida, an hour away from our office,” he said.

Added Reilly: “We continue to recruit [advisors] all the time. We always say our main weapon is our low turnover. We’ve been able to grow at 3% a year in headcount. … That’s been our goal, to grow at that pace — not to be the fastest growing, not to just acquire tons of accounts.”

Raymond James, Reilly added, “likes that long-term, slow growth that allows us to keep the culture focus on the right behaviors, getting advisors that fit the culture, and not trying just to grow and be the biggest.”

Melanie Waddell

@Think_MelanieW

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