Raymond James Keeps Poaching Advisors From Wall Street's Biggest Firms. Here's Why That Matters for the Stock.

Raymond James (NYSE: RJF) ended the first quarter of 2026 with 9,076 financial advisors. That is up from 8,372 financial advisors five years earlier, representing a roughly 2% annual compound growth rate in the advisor count. On the surface, that doesn't sound like such an impressive statistic, but you need to think about what each new advisor brings to the table. When you do that, you start to see just how powerful a model Raymond James has created.

Raymond James is not leveraging a one-to-one relationship

In the first quarter of 2021, Raymond James had roughly $970 billion in assets under administration. That's basically all the cash the company's customers have. Five years later, that figure was nearly $1.6 trillion, a 10% compound annual growth rate. By the end of May, that number had increased to $1.9 trillion, with around 60% of that in fee-based accounts. Those accounts generate recurring fees that are annuity-like.

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The 2% annualized growth rate in the number of advisors that Raymond James works with is a powerful growth engine. That's because each advisor works with more than one client. In the first quarter of 2026, Raymont James had the "second highest quarterly result in our history in terms of both recruited production and assets." The respective figures were 12-month production of $141 million and nearly $21 billion of client assets. These are not kids just out of college; they are seasoned professionals with established relationships.

Raymond James' third-quarter results are likely to be good reading

Given strong recruitment of seasoned professionals, ongoing monthly growth in assets (and specifically fee-generating assets), and the strength of the overall market, Raymond James is likely to report solid third-quarter earnings on July 22. However, it is important to keep in mind that this isn't a new strategy for the company. This is the same playbook it has used for a very long time.

The one wild card management can't control is market performance. Over the short-term that has a big impact on assets under advisement and the fee-based income the company generates. With the stock market near all-time highs, value investors will probably want to wait for a market downturn here. Notably, the stock's price-to-earnings ratio is slightly above its five-year average.

However, don't simply forget about Raymond James. If you like the strategic approach but not the price, put the stock on your wish list so you remember to reconsider it when fearful short-term investors are scared of anything tied to the market. Long-term investors will probably find that a more compelling entry point, if you don't mind going against the grain a little bit.

Reuben Gregg Brewer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.