“This is the first significant change to our grid during my almost 20 year tenure at Raymond James,” Tash Elwyn, president of the firm’s Private Client Group, said in a phone interview with On Wall Street last week.
“With this new grid we have achieved our goal of continuing to offer a very competitive payout within an environment and culture at Raymond James that’s unique in that we treat our advisors with respect.”
The new grid structures financial advisors’ percentage payout based solely on their trailing 12 month gross commissions rather than the type of products being sold. The firm also eliminated discount penalties on equity and option commissions.
Most firms have latched onto this strategy as a way to reduce the potential conflict of interest when selling products, according to Andy Tasnady of compensation consultancy Tasnady & Associates.
“They’re one of the last ones left with product-based payouts,” he said.