Raymond James CEO Paul Reilly has led the firm on a journey that for all intents and purposes has made it into the fifth wirehouse, says a prominent industry recruiter.
Now the question for Reilly’s successor will be how to build on that legacy. St. Petersburg, Florida-based Raymond James announced on Tuesday that Reilly, 69, will be stepping down sometime before October 2025.
Taking his place will be chief financial officer Paul Shoukry, who was also recently appointed president of the firm. Phil Waxelbaum, an industry recruiter and the founder of Masada Consulting, said Reilly has distinguished himself in his 14 years at the firm by a willingness to aggressively pursue quality advisors and advisory teams.
“Years ago, when Morgan Stanley and UBS temporarily withdrew from recruiting and Wells Fargo was living under a cloud, Raymond James dove into the breach and grew significantly when their only significant competitor was effectively Merrill Lynch,” Waxelbaum said. “That was a huge decision to keep his foot to the floor while the competitors were sleeping.”
The result, Waxelbaum said, is that Raymond James has essentially become the fifth wirehouse. That title of wirehouse has traditionally been reserved for only four wealth management firms with large presences on Wall Street: Morgan Stanley, Merril Lynch, UBS and Wells Fargo.
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Raymond James reported in January that it had $1.3 trillion in assets under management by the end of 2023, a record for the firm. That came even though the firm had a net gain of only 11 in its advisor headcount for the year. Of its 8,710 advisors, 3,718 are direct employees of the firm and 4,992 are independent contractors.
Reilly’s impending retirement next year will give Raymond James only its fourth chief executive in its 60-year history. The firm said in a statement that the changes come as part of a multiyear succession plan.
“Paul [Shoukry] has been an exceptional leader and major contributor to Raymond James’ steady growth and financial stability,” Reilly said in an official statement. “Serving as the firm’s CFO, as well as overseeing our bank segment, he has consistently demonstrated that even as we grow, keeping our private client group, advisors and their clients at the center of our business plans, while always embracing our values, will continue to be essential to our future success.”
As part of the same succession plan, Reilly will remain on as executive chair of the firm’s board. Raymond James also announced that chief operating officer Jeff Dowdle plans to retire by the end of September this year.
Taking his place will be Scott Curtis, now president of the firm’s private client group. Curtis in turn will be replaced by Tash Elwyn, now CEO of Raymond James & Associates. And Jim Bunn, the current president of global equities and investment banking, will become president of the firm’s capital markets unit. All these changes are scheduled to take effect on Oct. 1, the firm said in its announcement.
