Results
The firm, which operates in North America and the UK, reported fourth-quarter net income of $164 million, rising by 6 per cent from a year earlier and rising 25 per cent from the previous three months. Revenues at $1.36 billion were a record, rising by10 per cent on the year. The private client group’s assets under administration stood at $690 billion, unchanged from the level at the end of 2017. At the end of last year there were 7,815 advisors, rising by 278 over 12 months.

“Despite the challenging market environment, the private client group segment, asset management segment and Raymond James Bank generated record net revenues during the quarter,” chairman and CEO Paul Reilly said. “We acted opportunistically during the quarter to deploy capital through share repurchases, as well as the recently-announced niche acquisition of Silver Lane Advisors to complement and expand our investment banking business.”

At the private client group, revenue growth during the quarter was mostly driven by higher assets in fee-based accounts at the beginning the quarter partially offset by the decline in brokerage revenues. As assets in fee-based accounts are billed primarily on balances at the beginning of the quarter, the 8 per cent sequential decline of assets in fee-based accounts during the quarter will negatively impact asset management fees in the fiscal second quarter, the firm added.