Raymond James & Associates, the broker/dealer subsidiary of US-listed firm Raymond James Financial, has announced a new private client group structure, a week after the firm closed its acquisition of Morgan Keegan & Company.

The new structure contains the following divisions: Southern – headed by co-division directors Dick Ferguson and Bill Geary, and supported by regional directors Jim Hamilton, Van Thompson and Michael Turnbough; Eastern – lead by Ira Federer, and supported by regional directors Tim Walrond and Tom Galvin; Great Lakes – headed by Bill Roney; Southwestern – headed by Patrick Allison, supported by regional director Tommy Orr; North Central – headed by John Kuklenski.

Tash Elwyn is president of the private client group at Raymond James & Associates.

“The appointments of key Morgan Keegan management reflect our efforts to take advantage of the talent and best practices from our respective firms while enabling us to realize our commitment to being the premier alternative to Wall Street,” Elwyn said in a statement.

“Until the final conversion of Morgan Keegan client accounts to the Raymond James system, Morgan Keegan financial advisors will continue to utilize their existing platform and, for the most part, will still have the same, familiar management structure,” he said.

In addition, Erik Fruland was named chief operating officer and senior vice president of Raymond James & Associates Private Client Group. A 20-year veteran of Raymond James, Fruland has spent the past 12 years in asset management services, where he was vice president and a member of the AMS investment committee. Prior to that, he worked under the direction of both the CFO and controller of the parent company, Raymond James Financial, and before that for RJ&A’s Private Client Group. Fruland will report to Elwyn.

Media reports said that Raymond James’ financial advisor force is expected to increase by approximately 1,000 financial advisors with the acquisition of the Morgan Keegan business. Raymond James originally estimated in January that its financial advisor force would total more than 6,000 following the close of the deal.