Raymond James recruited a team that oversaw $220 million in client assets while at Wells Fargo, the firm says.
The team joined Advisor Select, a special independent channel at Raymond James & Associates, the firm's employee broker-dealer. Financial planners joining Advisor Select remain W-2 employees, but have more leeway in designing their practice, including the freedom to choose their own location and control their branch's P&L, according to the firm.
"What really attracted us to Raymond James, and in particular its Advisor Select channel, was the ability to be very independent and be in control of how we run our practice, but combine that with full employee benefits and complete administrative and back-office support," adviser Donald McCullough said in a statement.
McCullough added that he and his teammates were also impressed with the firm's technology, predicting that their clients "are really going to appreciate these differences."
Plus, Benjamin F. Edwards and Ameriprise each add recruits with more than $600M in combined AUM, and Morgan loses a $500M group.
Also moving with him to Raymond James are advisers John McCullough, Donald's father, and William Sparks as well as senior client service associate Wendy Katzel.
A Wells Fargo spokeswoman declined to comment on their departure.
The team, based in Kenosha, Wis., generated $1.7 million in annual revenue, according to Raymond James.
The senior McCullough is a 27-year industry veteran, according to FINRA BrokerCheck records. He had been with Wells Fargo and its predecessor firms since 2000, and had previous work experience at Salomon Smith Barney and PaineWebber.
His son started his advisory career at PaineWebber in 1992, per BrokerCheck records.
Sparks began his career at A.G. Edwards in 1996, and stayed with the firm through acquisitions by Wachovia and Wells Fargo.
