By David Wignall

Raymond James Financial has recruited Springs Wealth Group, a large advisory team that previously managed more than $950 million in client assets. The team will join Raymond James Financial Services, the firm's independent broker-dealer. Based in Colorado Springs, Colo. with offices in Texas, Springs Wealth was previously affiliated with Ameriprise Financial.

Andrew Inman, a managing partner at Springs Wealth, says the transition has been going well so far. "The majority of our clients take the attitude that they are clients of Springs Wealth Group," he says. "Regardless of who our broker-dealer is, they're pretty loyal to us and our team."

In addition to Inman, the group is led by Bob Book, Tim Mason, Chris Van Stavern, and Chris Young. The firm's leadership have an average of 21 years of industry experience, according to BrokerCheck, a public database maintained by industry self-regulator Finra. The team also includes five other advisors and 13 staff members.

The group moved to Raymond James from Ameriprise for a variety of reasons, Inman says. "One big piece was maintaining our unique brand and doing business the way we do it," he says. "Raymond James isn't as focused on putting its own name out front."

Inman also says Raymond James offers its advisors access to a broad set of investment opportunities and other services. "There were some clear benefits -- especially Raymond James's private bank and institutional bank for our more upstream clients," Inman says. "For very high-net-worth clients, [Raymond James] has access to private equity and private placement investments that aren't available at many broker-dealers."

Raymond James offers advisors several ways to join or partner with the firm, including as independent contractors, like Spring Wealth Group did, or as a registered investment advisor.

"Right now, the full-RIA platform isn't appealing to us," says Innes. "But knowing we could switch to an RIA down the road is attractive."

Springs Wealth also has plans to expand its business and open new branches across the Rocky Mountain States, according to Inman. "Raymond James's recruiting team has already brought us a couple of potential opportunities that could fit with our program," he says. "We've seen much more support around expanding, purchasing practices, or starting satellite offices."

Over his 24-year career, Managing Partner Robert Book says he has changed broker-dealer platform several times. "When you go into a partnership, you never know for sure until you're in the middle of it how it's going to be, and so far I've been impressed," Book says, noting that Raymond James is a good cultural fit for his team. "It's a bigger company that feels a lot smaller."

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 18, 2025 09:07 ET (13:07 GMT)

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