On the 53rd floor of the gleaming Scotia Plaza tower overlooking downtown Toronto, Kevin Whelly is hatching a plan. Little more than a month has passed since he joined Raymond James Ltd. as senior vice president of growth and development — a brand new role for a brand new task — and Whelly is poised to make the firm the biggest independent investment dealer in Canada.

It sounds ambitious, but Whelly insists the goal is nothing short of realistic. His plan, in essence, is to capitalize on what he calls the “push/pull” factor, a recruitment strategy that targets advisors whose malaise with their own firms acts as a “push” and highlights the aspects of Raymond James that make it an attractive alternative, a “pull.”

“Our approach is very information-driven,” Whelly says. “People are usually ‘pushed’ out of a firm because they’re unhappy, and ‘pulled’ into another firm because they hear good things. I have to create an awareness.”

The firm has been steadily plucking discontented advisors from virtually every bank-owned and independent dealer on the Street. It’s a testament to what Whelly calls the “differentiating” features of Raymond James: no proprietary products, competitive compensation and, perhaps most important, the option to work in a branch or as an independent agent.

In the past 12 months, 57 new advisors have joined the firm — a dozen more than have joined the leading independent firm, Canaccord Capital Inc. — for a total of 275.
In the next three years, Raymond James is looking to accelerate its growth by adding 135 advisors, a spurt that will lift its assets under management to between $18 billion and $20 billion, more than double its current total of about $8 billion.

“The growth curve here is being driven by demand,” Whelly says. “Raymond James has positioned itself properly in the industry, and advisors are coming in from all directions.”

Whelly’s arrival on Feb. 15 marked the end of the firm’s subtle three-year evolution, which saw the introduction of an independent agent model, an overhauled technology platform and, most recently, a ramped-up recruitment campaign. Peter Kahnert, senior vice president of corporate communications and marketing, says the groundwork is in place and Whelly is the last step in putting the plan in motion. “We’re at a point now at which we can really accelerate the momentum of the past three years,” Kahnert says.

The company gives much of the credit for the boom in advisor interest to its AdvisorChoice marketing campaign, launched in January 2005 and aimed at those who want flexibility in the way they run their businesses. Under the plan, recruits can choose between two business models — the traditional branch network or the independent agent model, each with unique payout structures and support.

“We’ve created a model that’s really just a different way of getting paid for the financial advisor,” says Terry Hetherington, national sales manager and head of the branch network. “They can come into a branch and have all the services that the branch provides, or they can open up an office of their own and build it, pay for it and supervise it.”

As of mid-March, there were 17 branch network offices across Canada and 32 independent agent branches, with more opening every month. Hetherington expects the independent agent branches will grow at a rate of 20 new offices a year. Last month, the firm opened its first office in Halifax and another in London, Ont.

Regardless of the platform advisors choose, Raymond James guarantees that client relationships belong to the advisor, not the company. The policy is another differentiating factor Whelly hopes will drive
advisor interest, although he’s not counting on it to happen without first building a brand, starting from the inside out. “We need to
reinforce where we are as a firm,” he says.
“Everyone at Raymond James needs to know why we’re the success story that we are.”

To that end, one of the first thing on Whelly’s to-do list is to get the message out. The firm is working on building its brand through local sponsorship deals, radio campaigns and an coveted advertising spot at the televised Master’s golf tournament in April.
But, Whelly says, the success of Raymond James will depend more on advisor word of mouth than corporate mumbo-jumbo.
“Advisors will have to buy into this from the grassroots up, not from some guys in an office tower in Toronto,” he says, eyeing the boardroom walls that surround him. “This is a story that needs to be told from within.”