One of the largest independent firms affiliated with Raymond James Financial Services recruited 10 advisors with $1.1 billion in client assets in a roughly two-month span.
Concurrent added seven teams from Edward Jones, Wells Fargo Advisors and Wedbush Securities between late August and the end of October, the San Diego-based firm
The recruiting sweep didn’t result in a record period for Concurrent’s recruiting, though it was “certainly” a good quarter, according to founding partner Mike Hlavek. He says he hopes that the hiring spree doesn’t even register in the top five for the enterprise’s recruiting in one year’s time.
The combination of Raymond James’ platform and Concurrent proved attractive to the new recruits, he says.
“Covid has given everyone an opportunity to kind of hit the pause button and take a true assessment of where they are, what they're doing and how and why they're doing it,” Hlavek says. “We had been in conversation with all of them for quite some time.”
Concurrent uses Raymond James’ corporate RIA. The OSJ’s recruiting came as the Raymond James advisor headcount showed steady expansion among its employee and independent channels, despite the shrinking topline impact of lower interest rates. Raymond James has added a net 228 advisors in the past 12 months,
With 16 home-office support staff and a partnership for M&A, succession and recruiting services with an external firm called I&A Consulting, Concurrent aims to provide an extra layer of resources for independent advisors, according to Hlavek and fellow co-founder Kevin McFarland. They launched the firm in 2016 after respective wirehouse tenures.
“The ultimate goal here is to use our collective scale and size to get a better end experience for the client,” McFarland says. The setup enables advisors to “focus on what they're best at and have trust that a supportive unit like Concurrent can point them in the right direction to get the best resources to build out all of that stuff that comes with being independent,” he adds.
The firm’s incoming hires include two ex-Wedbush teams based in Alaska.
Advisors Roark "Alan" Head and Austin Head affiliated with Raymond James in Fairbanks on Oct. 2. Roark Head had spent 16 years with Wedbush following a 21-year tenure with Wells Fargo, according to FINRA BrokerCheck. The practice, dubbed Head Retirement & Wealth Services, had almost $300 million in assets under management with Wedbush.
Another Fairbanks-based team led by Krista Stamper of Stamper Wealth and Retirement Group dropped Wedbush for Raymond James on Oct. 5. Stamper’s practice had $253 million in AUM with her prior firm. She had spent 14 years with Wedbush and six with Wells Fargo.
Representatives for Wedbush declined to comment on their departure.
Advisor Tracy Thacker’s Owensboro, Kentucky-based practice, Thacker Wealth and Retirement, left Edward Jones, where his team managed $259 million. Thacker had been affiliated with Edward Jones for 26 years before the Aug. 27 move to Raymond James and Concurrent.
Fellow ex-Edward Jones representatives Kayla Jo Teckenbrock and Jackie Rainey chose the same affiliation in their move to an existing Concurrent practice, Benton, Kentucky-based Hendrickson Wealth and Retirement. Prior to her Oct. 22 move, Teckenbrock had a seven-year tenure with Edward Jones. The team had $87 million in AUM.
Representatives for Edward Jones declined to comment on their exit.
The Lakewood Ranch, Florida-based team led by advisors Richard Crowne and Kelly Coghlan left Wells Fargo Advisors for Raymond James on Oct. 15. The team managed $147 million.
Wells Fargo also lost Jason Huffman’s Diberville, Mississippi-based team to Concurrent on Oct. 30.
John Reeber’s Grosse Point, Michigan-based practice made the same move on Oct. 9. The two solo practices had a combined $66 million in AUM with Wells Fargo.
A spokeswoman for the wirehouse declined to comment on their moves.
