$375M advisor trio goes indie with Raymond James

Raymond James Financial Services has expanded its reach in the Northeast with its latest hires from Merrill Lynch.

Operating as Topinka Financial, advisors Michael Topinka, Carl Boomhower and Daniel Tyburski became the latest wirehouse advisors to join the firm’s independent channel in the region, according to Raymond James. Kaitlyn Blaise, director of client services, also joined the trio from Merrill Lynch in the firm’s newly opened office in Wayne, New Jersey, the firm said.

The team, which most recently managed more than $375 million with Merrill Lynch, services a variety of clients, including business owners, corporate retirement plans, families and individuals and retirees, according to the firm.

“Every department we interviewed at Raymond James had a common theme and, at the end of the day, we realized this truly was a client-centric environment,” Topinka said in a statement of the team’s decision to make the transition. “Aside from having a focus purely on what is in the best interest of the client, the firm also spends a significant effort developing user-friendly systems for the advisor population, realizing that an enjoyable, pleasant work environment directly correlates to the value that is delivered to the clients.”

Topinka, founder of Topinka Financial and head of the team’s investment efforts, started his financial services career with Paulson Investment Company in Lake Oswego, Oregon in 2000, BrokerCheck records show. Later that year, he jumped firms to Millennium Securities and Continental Broker-Dealer in New York. Topinka had been with Merrill Lynch in Upper Montclair, New Jersey since 2002 before making the move to Raymond James at the end of 2020.

Boomhower, a director at Topinka, started his career with Northwestern Mutual Investment Services in Paramus, New Jersey in 2016, records show. He joined Topinka at Merrill in 2017. Tyburski, also a director with the group, started his inaugural year in the industry last year with Merrill and has worked alongside Topinka and Boomhower since.

Blaise started her industry career as a compliance analyst with BNY Mellon in 2019, according to the firm.

Advisor headcount at Raymond James was 8,233 as of Dec. 31, a net increase of 173 since December 2019 but a net decrease of six when compared to September 2020. In January, the St. Petersburg, Florida-based firm reported $1.024 trillion in client assets under administration, surpassing the $1 trillion milestone for its first time.

Recently, FirstBank Investment Partners made the move to the Raymond James Financial Institutions Division from LPL with 22 advisors with $1.2 billion in client assets.