Raymond James Enters ETF Space With 4 New Offerings
The 63-year-old broker-dealer, which boasts a built-in force of nearly 9,000 financial advisors, makes its first ETF play with four filings.
Raymond James Financial, a 63-year-old financial services conglomerate known for its internal force of 9,000 financial advisors, is joining the ETF space with a filing for four strategies slated to launch within the next few months.
According to a Jan. 14 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the asset management subsidiary of the St. Petersburg, Florida-based company plans its ETF debut with four funds: the RJ Chartwell Premium Income ETF, the RJ Eagle Municipal Income ETF, the RJ Eagle Vertical Income ETF, and the RJ Eagle GCM Dividend Select Income ETF.
While the legacy mutual fund industry has been steadily wading into the faster-growing ETF space, the migration has been less common among major broker-dealers like Raymond James. But it is seen as a logical next move, according to Eric Balchunas, ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.
“They consume ETFs with a built-in audience of advisors, so it makes sense that they have their own ETFs,” he told etf.com. “If you’re out there running money, you have to have an ETF plan.”
Raymond James Investment Management touts more than $100 billion under management as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Raymond James Financial.
Raymond James ETFs Won’t Leverage the Brand
The company did not respond to a request for comment for this story, but signaled its strategy last year when it brought on ETF industry veteran Mo Sparks. The former NYSE director of exchange-traded products joined Raymond James Investment Management in July as head of exchange-traded funds with a focus on “building out Raymond James Investment Management’s ETF platform,” according to the company's announcement.
As part of the Sparks announcement, Raymond James Investment Management stated that its plans to “begin offering ETF solutions in 2025” represent the “continuation of the firm’s dedication to providing diverse product offerings for wealth management, retail, and institutional clients.”
Similar to Raymond James' existing mutual fund lineup, which is branded as the Carillon Family of Funds, the ETFs will not leverage the Raymond James banner, which one former advisor suggested might be designed to avoid questions related to conflicts of interest.
According to the SEC filing, Carillon has selected three sub-advisors to manage the new exchange-traded funds: Chartwell Investment Partners, Raymond James affiliate Eagle Asset Management and Tidal Investments.
