How many advisors does Raymond James have?

The Private Client Group had 8,943 financial advisors at September 30, 2025, of whom 5,065 were independent contractors with Raymond James Financial Services and about 3,878 were employees of Raymond James & Associates, per the fiscal 2025 Form 10-K.

What is the difference between Raymond James & Associates and Raymond James Financial Services?

RJ&A is the employee channel: the advisor is a W-2 employee of the firm. RJFS is the independent contractor channel: the advisor owns and runs their own practice and affiliates with Raymond James as broker-dealer. A third route, RIA and custody services, is for advisors who hold their own RIA registration and use Raymond James for custody.

Is Raymond James in the Broker Protocol?

Yes, both channels. Raymond James & Associates has been a member since 2006 and the RJFS Independent Contractor Division since 2017, with joinder qualifications, per J.S. Held's member list dated September 8, 2026.

Does Raymond James pay transition packages?

Yes. Its fiscal 2025 Form 10-K reports $1.626 billion of loans to financial advisors at September 30, 2025, offered for recruiting and retention. Across the independent broker-dealer channel, in the deals we work on, transition assistance runs about 125% of trailing-12 revenue, depending on the advisor and the book. The size of a specific offer is not a published number.

Is Raymond James a good firm for an advisor leaving a wirehouse?

It depends on what the advisor wants to own. Raymond James is unusual in offering an employee seat and an independent seat inside one company, both in the Protocol. Whether the employee channel's economics or the independent channel's ownership fits a particular practice is the diligence conversation.

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Raymond James

Broker-dealer and RIA custodian·Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE: RJF), Private Client Group

Raymond James is a publicly traded financial services firm whose Private Client Group had 8,943 financial advisors at September 30, 2025, split between an employee channel, Raymond James & Associates, and an independent contractor channel, Raymond James Financial Services, with a separate RIA and custody services arm for advisors who own their registration. An advisor affiliates as a W-2 employee, as a 1099 independent, or as an RIA using Raymond James for custody.

8,943

Advisors, Sep 30 2025

[1]

$1.86T

PCG client assets

[2]

$390.0B

Regulatory AUM, RJFS Advisors

[3]

3,629

RJFS offices beyond the principal office, Form ADV

[3]

Facts last reviewed Sep 10, 2026. Every figure on this page carries a numbered source.

01 · Destination profile

What Raymond James is

Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE: RJF), Private Client Group

Raymond James Financial, Inc. is a public company listed on the NYSE under RJF; its fiscal year ends September 30 and its Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 is filed with the SEC.^[1]
The Private Client Group had 8,943 financial advisors as of September 30, 2025, of whom 5,065 were independent contractors and about 3,878 were employees.^[1]
Private Client Group assets under administration reached a record $1.86 trillion at June 30, 2026, up 18 percent from a year earlier.^[2]

02 · Destination profile

How an advisor affiliates

The channels, in the firm's own terms.

Raymond James & Associates (RJ&A)

W-2 employee

The employee affiliation model within the Private Client Group, per the firm's 10-K.^[1]

Raymond James Financial Services (RJFS)

1099 independent contractor

The independent contractor division within the Private Client Group, per the firm's 10-K; 5,065 of the 8,943 advisors at fiscal year-end 2025 were independent.^[1]

RIA & Custody Services

Own RIA, Raymond James custody

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors, Inc., the entity associated with the RIA and custody offering, joined the Broker Protocol on November 14, 2025 with joinder qualifications, per the J.S. Held member list.^[4]

03 · Destination profile

The economics, as publicly reported

Published ranges and filings, not an offer. What a specific practice is offered is a question for the room.

Raymond James's fiscal 2025 Form 10-K reports loans to financial advisors, net, of $1.626 billion at September 30, 2025, up from $1.326 billion a year earlier, an increase the firm attributes to its recruiting activities. It describes the loans as offered for recruiting and retention purposes, generally repaid over a five-to-ten-year period and contingent on continued affiliation.^[1]

04 · Destination profile

Protocol for Broker Recruiting

Membership per the official J.S. Held list, with the joinder qualifications that matter on the day you resign.

Both channels are Protocol members. Raymond James & Associates, Inc. has been a member since July 31, 2006. Raymond James Financial Services, Inc.'s Independent Contractor Division has been a member since September 13, 2017 with joinder qualifications, and Raymond James Financial Services Advisors, Inc. joined on November 14, 2025, also with qualifications, per the J.S. Held master list.^[4]

What the Protocol does and does not protect: the explainer.

05 · Destination profile

Who tends to move there

The pattern in the public record and the trade press. A pattern, not a recommendation.

The advisors who move to Raymond James tend to come from Edward Jones, where Raymond James is among the most frequent destinations, from broker-dealers that were sold, and from wirehouse employee seats where the advisor wants an employee-style platform without the wirehouse grid. The pattern is an advisor who values the firm's culture and the choice between an employee and an independent seat inside one company more than the last few points of payout.

06 · Destination profile

The twelve diligence questions, applied

The list from how to choose a platform, answered where the public record answers and left as the question where it does not.

9 of 12

questions about Raymond James are not answered anywhere public. They are answered in the room, for a specific practice, and the answers move the number more than anything above.

01What are the actual terms of the custody agreement, at my asset mix?: Asked in the room
02What is the cash sweep arrangement, and who keeps the spread?: Asked in the room
03What is the all-in cost, in basis points and in dollars, at my revenue and asset mix?: Asked in the room
04What is bundled, and what is charged separately?: Asked in the room
05What moves the number over time?: Asked in the room
06Who owns the client data, contractually, and in what form do I get it if I leave?: Asked in the room
07Who holds the technology contracts?: Asked in the room
08Whose ADV is it?: An RJ&A advisor is an employee of the firm; an RJFS advisor is an independent contractor operating under Raymond James Financial Services; an advisor who wants their own registration uses the RIA and custody services arm.^[1]
09What happens if the platform is sold?: Asked in the room
10Who owns the platform, and what is their exit horizon?: Public shareholders, through Raymond James Financial, Inc. on the NYSE.^[1]
11How do I leave, and what does it cost?: Asked in the room
12What do I take with me?: Both channels are Protocol members, the independent channel with joinder qualifications, so client information moves under the Protocol between member firms subject to those qualifications.^[4]

07 · Destination profile

Questions advisors ask about Raymond James

How many advisors does Raymond James have?: The Private Client Group had 8,943 financial advisors at September 30, 2025, of whom 5,065 were independent contractors with Raymond James Financial Services and about 3,878 were employees of Raymond James & Associates, per the fiscal 2025 Form 10-K.
What is the difference between Raymond James & Associates and Raymond James Financial Services?: RJ&A is the employee channel: the advisor is a W-2 employee of the firm. RJFS is the independent contractor channel: the advisor owns and runs their own practice and affiliates with Raymond James as broker-dealer. A third route, RIA and custody services, is for advisors who hold their own RIA registration and use Raymond James for custody.
Is Raymond James in the Broker Protocol?: Yes, both channels. Raymond James & Associates has been a member since 2006 and the RJFS Independent Contractor Division since 2017, with joinder qualifications, per J.S. Held's member list dated September 8, 2026.
Does Raymond James pay transition packages?: Yes. Its fiscal 2025 Form 10-K reports $1.626 billion of loans to financial advisors at September 30, 2025, offered for recruiting and retention. Across the independent broker-dealer channel, in the deals we work on, transition assistance runs about 125% of trailing-12 revenue, depending on the advisor and the book. The size of a specific offer is not a published number.
Is Raymond James a good firm for an advisor leaving a wirehouse?: It depends on what the advisor wants to own. Raymond James is unusual in offering an employee seat and an independent seat inside one company, both in the Protocol. Whether the employee channel's economics or the independent channel's ownership fits a particular practice is the diligence conversation.

Sources

4 numbered sources behind this page

[1] Raymond James Financial, Inc., Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025, SEC EDGAR, Sep 10, 2026.
[2] Raymond James Financial Reports Fiscal Third Quarter of 2026 Results, GlobeNewswire, Jul 22, 2026.
[3] SEC Form ADV data, Information About Registered Investment Advisers and Exempt Reporting Advisers, file ia09012026-registered.zip, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Sep 1, 2026.
[4] The Broker Protocol Member Firms list, dated September 8, 2026, J.S. Held, Sep 8, 2026.

Winthrop & Co. is compensated by firms when an advisor joins through us. The advisor never pays. We have working relationships with several of the firms profiled here; every figure on these pages carries its source. The right firm is a question about your practice.

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