Raymond James Hosts Women FAs; Shares Growth Story

"These results reflect the fact that we've had a record recruiting year and strong retention of existing advisors," he explains. "Also, we are viewed differently than your typical Wall Street firm, and a lot of clients allow us to handle all or part of their assets to see if indeed the experience is different."

RJ&A's "manageable growth rate" is, historically, about 15 to 18 percent a year, Zank adds.

At the independent channel, recruiting is expected to be much higher than the nearly 600 advisors who joined in the 2008 fiscal year, according to Bill Van Law, national director of business development for RJFS. "This should be another record year," he says. In terms of recruited revenue, there was a 45 percent jump in the '08 fiscal year, and preliminary estimates for '09 are up roughly 135 percent.

Pre-retirement-age clients looking for such advice, rather than for a product pitch, are in many cases in a panic as they hope to make up for lost ground, Helck adds. "They have to get it right now, with no margin for error in their financial plans. And that creates real demand for quality, expert advice. And this is what we've always done, so our style has really come back into vogue — after being dismissed some 10 years ago."

The high-level, individualized, consultative approach to financial planning combined with open architecture make Raymond James quite bullish, he says. "You can still be successful today, but you need help. And advisors have to be good to earn and keep the respect of their clients," notes Helck. Selection, allocation, portfolio management and risk management, along with salesmanship, all come into play.

Raymond James is spending a lot of time and energy on how it organizes and offers support, education and functionality to boost relationship management for advisors and help them rely on a disciplined advisory practice. In general, the firm spends about $160 million a year on technology to roll out such improvements, according to Helck. "Making systems relationship-oriented and not account-oriented is huge; it's revolutionary," he says.

Overall, the firm is looking at "lots of opportunities" for growth, says Raymond James Financial President Paul Reilly, who will become CEO in May 2010. "Never waste a good recession," he explains. "It's a chance to step back and reflect on your clients and your processes. You can really look and listen."