I have heard good things about you ;)  They self clear, have good back office support, a great name.  If you are a big VA producer there might be better options.

good firm I would say - somewhat paper intensive with account compliance - like any firm, you pay to play, so keep your costs in check if you are on the indy side....

good firm I would say - somewhat paper intensive with account compliance - like any firm, you pay to play, so keep your costs in check if you are on the indy side....

Morgan Keegan and RJ is a broker/dealer merger.
I think it is pretty good merger. Both are southern firms where the home office is very helpful and friendly. RJ sucks on their bond inventory which Keegan excels at. RJ has some decent equity research.
I have also heard Keegan guys will have the ability to go “Indy” like wells fargo’s finet. Huge advantage in my mind.
Take the check to stay and then look at transitioning Indy.

Great firm, IMO. You own your book. Good senior management (who you can actually get on the phone, if need be, and usually same day). Good mid-market investment bank. As stated above, pretty good research and very friendly, helpful back office staff.

Dependent on your location, people may have never heard of them. Potentially a plus, IMO, as their name hasn’t been dragged through the mudd.

They don’t pay huge up-front money and are well aware of what the competion pays. They realize that paying 200-300% of t-12 isn’t feasible, and don’t want FA’s that are coming JUST for the check; but they seem to still be picking up some good size brokers/ teams from MS, UBS, ML, WFA, etc., especially as they expand west.

Also mentioned above, you have the ability to go independent if you’d like either as an RIA, or thru RJFS, RJAS, etc.

Hope this helps.

Most all of the sizable brokers and teams that RJ is picking up are going to the independent side, I don't believe taht is the case with the Morgan K brokers.  Big difference.

Not sure how accurate that is, but regardless of channel (independent vs. company employee), all the above still holds true.

RJFS advisors have same access to back office/syndicate/research/etc. as RJA advisors, but, obviously, more overhead.

Plus, when Europe blows up, you can rest assured RJF likely isn’t going with it; they don’t warehouse the crap the wires do. No sovereign debt exposure, no off balance sheet CDO’s, they don’t write CDS, etc.

If the original poster’s a big enough producer and wants a sizable check, he or she should jump ship. If they want a long ter
home w nearly 100 straight quarters of profitability, and a similar culture to Morgan Keegan, stick w RayJ.

My $.02.

[quote=icebear48]

Most all of the sizable brokers and teams that RJ is picking up are going to the independent side, I don't believe taht is the case with the Morgan K brokers.  Big difference.

[/quote]

[quote=icebear48]

Most all of the sizable brokers and teams that RJ is picking up are going to the independent side, I don't believe taht is the case with the Morgan K brokers.  Big difference.

[/quote]

I met with with two of the four new RJA offices that have opened in VA & NC just recently and they were filled with million dollar producers. RJFS must be signing guys doing much bigger numbers for your statement to be true.

To answer the original posters question Raymond James is as solid of a company that I have ever seen.

[quote=Hacksaw]

[quote=icebear48]

Most all of the sizable brokers and teams that RJ is picking up are going to the independent side, I don't believe taht is the case with the Morgan K brokers.  Big difference.

[/quote]

RJ will offer retention bonuses to keep people there. Then after the bonus is fulfilled, the firms will be integrated, and the advisors will have the option of moving over to the Indy side with no competition for their book. If they jump for a check now, they will loose part of their book and will likely be going to a wire who will change their comp plan within two years. If it were me, I would take my retention money, sit tight for a few years, letting others jump ship so I can pick up additional assets, and then move over to the Indy side. In my opinion it is probably the best thing that could have happened to the Morgan Keegan brokers.[/quote]

RJA reps don’t have their account numbers change and I don’t think they have to re-paper agreements if they go to RJFS. I have heard that RJFS will even cover any retention money that hasn’t aged. RJ Select is also something that is very attractive where you are a hybrid between RJA and RJFS.

RJ is a great firm.  I left there but do have fond memories.  My business is bigger and better so it comes down to where do you want to be in 5 years.