"The defining factor in my decision to move to Raymond James was the absolute freedom of investment options for clients. I feel confident that I have the freedom to choose the best investment vehicles and products for each of my clients and their particular situation without
any pressure to “sell.”"
"Raymond James is a match for me and, most importantly, I feel that my clients are under the umbrella of a best-in-class organization."
"It is no surprise that Raymond James ranks as one of the top investment firms. The focus on people working together to provide our clients with the best possible advice, is a fundamental belief. It is so refreshing to be on a winning team! My only regret is not moving sooner."
"The leaders and support staff are real people who care about our success – they are flexible and focused on growth. This is a great place to work and we are excited to be a part of something that is growing and making good business decisions."
"I simply wanted to work at a firm that shared the same values. At Raymond James, we have a common thread to bind us – we believe in putting our clients’ needs first . . . always!"
"Since joining Raymond James, my high expectations have been far exceeded. The scope, stability and resources have been fantastic, and the feedback I’ve received from clients has been overwhelmingly positive. Joining Raymond James has been the best decision of my career and I’m proud to call this company home."
"The culture here truly embraces my entrepreneurial spirit and that translates into a significantly improved client experience compared to my previous firm. Raymond James takes a conservative approach to business practices ensuring stability and sustainability for the firm, which helps attract top level talent from the advisor community. I am proud to call Raymond James home, for myself and for my clients!"
"The move to Raymond James was one of the best decisions I have made in my career. I look forward to finishing my professional life at this firm which values its partners and doesn’t treat them like a number."
"After spending more than 20 years at a bank-owned firm, I have found working at Raymond James to be a breath of fresh air. It was important to me that the firm I moved to had the strength and stability to provide my clients with peace of mind, while allowing me to function in an entrepreneurial spirit."
"Raymond James constantly strives to promote our independent brand not only from a marketing prospective, but also a cultural and competency standpoint. The leadership team at Raymond James understands that when the advisor wins, they win."
Darren Coleman
Senior Vice President, Private Client Group, Portfolio Manager in Toronto, ON
Partner since November 2012
Formerly at HSBC
darren.coleman@raymondjames.ca
"Raymond James has proven to be the best of both worlds for my practice. It's provided the strength and stability that is critically important to my clients and me, along with a North American platform that's creating new opportunities to work with clients in both Canada and the US."
Eric Muir
Senior Vice President, Financial Advisor, Private Client Group in Burnaby, BC
Partner since November 2013
Formerly at National Bank
eric.muir@raymondjames.ca
"We moved to Raymond James because financial strength, independence and the recognition that we own our business were all important to us. The tremendous efforts of the transition team helped make our move an incredible success - over 90% of our clients and their assets joined us in our first six weeks."
"There are many independents out there and I did my research. Raymond James was ranked by Forbes Magazine in 2005 as one of the top 15 Investment Firms in North America. They treat you like a business person and behave like business people. They have state-of-the-art technology platforms, award-winning research (and lots of it!), excellent product offerings, and an established Brand. My staff and I are happy and we smile every day and that, in itself, is worth every single minute it took for us to decide to make the change."
"There were several reasons -- transition support, systems, efficiency, but most importantly it was the culture and people. I moved in January 2009 and haven't looked back. We had several days in back office and what impressed me the most was the client service to us, the courtesy and the ability the firm has to endorse your practice and enable you to run it as best practices. Raymond James has the tools for any advisor to grow and develop their practice at the highest level, as an independent business person."
"It's an entrepreneurial philosophy here; a philosophy where the financial advisor is building his or her own business and owns that business."
"I have found RJ to be a refreshing experience from the standpoint of its culture, which both in Canada and at the US parent company level, is a squarely advisor-focused culture. Management's focus is clearly centred upon investments of time and resources aimed at improving our retail brokerage practices, helping us both service our clients better and grow our businesses. We are NOT looked at as a "cost centre" or a distribution channel for other, higher margin business units, as in competing brokerage houses. If you want to be able to tell your clients that your relationship with them and ability to service them to the best of your abilities is your employer's focus, then RJ is a clear choice for you. At RJ, you can tell clients with a clear conscience that we are a "client first" organization. This firm is known to be conservative at all levels, this is clear to me in talking to clients and COI's in the course of day to day activities. This branding makes this a firm very much conducive to building a sustainable wealth management practice."
David Jung
Senior Vice President, Private Client Group in Calgary, AB
Partner since 2001
Formerly at HSBC Securities
david.jung@raymondjames.ca
"I was with the big banking brokerage firms prior to joining Raymond James in 2001. What I like is the support --whether it's broad base training through the national conferences to the state of-the-art technology that is offered to us on our computer systems to help in developing our business.
My assets have grown substantially and with the support through our excellent research analysts to our corporate finance team it makes my job easier. ..what I like the best is that for such a large organization it has a small boutique feel to it, with all the freedom associated with that but yet I can call head office and have a one-on-one conversation with management., You feel part of the team.
This is the most retail-oriented firm on the street and it is exhibited every day because you own the book and Raymond James is there to facilitate your business. Easier said than done, but action speaks loudly as I continue to reap the rewards with Raymond James's very competitive payouts. Better pay, better environment… what can be better?"
"They allowed us to bring our business with no strings attached, and the support from every level along the way was terrific. We did our due diligence of the firms out there, and Raymond James kept rising to the forefront; competitive, strong leadership and an obvious global presence."
"You might wonder whether the intangibles, like culture and brand, make a difference - I can assure you they do! While a competitive spirit is alive and well, we support and celebrate each other's successes. Our culture encourages a balanced lifestyle and community giving. Success breeds success on all levels, and at Raymond James, our success manifests itself in many ways - most particularly in its people."
"As I was considering a change of dealership, thinking about the future of my practice and the industry as a whole, I felt I required a few important characteristics in my new partner firm:
they had to celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit of independent advisors
there needed to be objectivity towards products and solutions
there needed to be a culture of integrity and trust with management
there had to be good value in the business proposition including payout, technology and products.
For my team, RJL was the clear choice and now, after 18 months, we would affirm that we made the correct decision."