Raymond James Cancels Women's Symposium Due to Hurricane Forecast

By John Manganaro

News September 24, 2024 at 02:29 PM

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Raymond James’ headquarters in St. Petersburg, Florida

Tropical Storm Helene, which is anticipated to become a major categorized hurricane as soon as Tuesday evening, has forced Raymond James to cancel its 30th annual Women's Symposium.

The forecasted path of the storm will bring it near Orlando, Florida, where the three-day conference was set to begin Wednesday.

"We have been closely monitoring tropical storm projections in the Gulf of Mexico over the past week," the firm said in a statement shared with ThinkAdvisor. "This storm has been upgraded to major hurricane status, anticipated to affect the west coast of Florida on Thursday, September 26. As a result, we have made the very difficult decision to cancel this week's 30th Annual Women's Symposium."

The statement notes that Raymond James' leaders are "deeply saddened" to share this news, but their "top priority is always the safety of all our attendees and associates."

"Our host hotel is in a mandatory evacuation zone, and we do not want to jeopardize anyone's well-being or comfort if an evacuation becomes necessary, an unknown that has become increasingly likely as the storm progresses," the statement continues. "Further, we want to ensure that our Florida-based advisors and colleagues can tend to their homes and families."

As recalled on the event website, the symposium started three decades ago with a small group of Raymond James professionals brainstorming about how they could better attract and support women in the financial services profession. That led to the launch of the Women Financial Advisors Network.

Over the years, the group grew from a small handful of women to more than 700 who were expected to attend the event this week.

Credit: Raymond James

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