Thursday, November 15, 2012

Advisors at Raymond James Boost Sales in November

Raymond James Financial (RJF) said Wednesday that its advisor fees and commissions grew 3% sequentially in November to $172 million, though they were flat versus the same month last year.  

Assets under administration fell 1% sequentially in November to $268 billion but grew 6% year over year. Its assets under management, $34.7 billion, were flat in November versus October, though they grew 10% from November 2010.

“The changes for the month are in line with the modest 0.5% decline in the S&P 500 for the month of November,” the company reported.

“The market environment remains challenging due to volatility as investors continue to digest the daily up and down news of the world economy,” said CEO Paul Reilly, in a statement. “The month of November showed improvement over the prior month, although the uncertainty in the market has dampened activity.  Securities commissions and fees increased 3% over last month and were flat with last year.”

The company said that its equity and fixed-income capital markets businesses improved from October. The number of lead-managed equity offerings, totaling eight, “rebounded to the level of the prior year as our energy sector was particularly active,” according to Raymond James. Net loans at Raymond James Bank were flat in November vs. October, but they grew more than 11% from last year.

“In general, we are pleased with the consistency of our metrics, but the markets remain quite volatile and investor apprehension is still at an elevated level,” noted Reilly. “Accordingly, we remain cautious in the near term about our ability to compare favorably to the prior year results.  However, we remain confident about our long-term future as we continue to be opportunistic in our hiring during this time of uncertainty.”

Raymond James has about 5,400 advisors in the U.S. and abroad. Recently it has recruited a number of advisors and teams from the wirehouses, including  a former-Merrill Lynch (BAC) team that joined it on Tuesday with $250 million in assets

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