A $450 million team is joining Raymond James’ independent advisor channel from Merrill Lynch.
The Florida-based Anderson McKelvey Group consists of financial advisors Jesse Anderson, Christopher McKelvey and Anthony Gilotti, and client services associates Sharon Bhowanidin and Gladys Green, with Brandon Matadin as the branch operations coordinator. All are making the move to Raymond James.
In a statement about the deal, Anderson said the team conducted “tremendous due diligence” before deciding on Raymond James. He said the decision has been “reinforced on a daily basis” since they made the move.
“We feel that Raymond James has the perfect combination of large firm resources with small firm independence,” he said.
The firm works with individuals and families, encompassing retirees, business owners and corporate executives, particularly in the aerospace and defense industries. The firm is in Winter Park, just outside of Orlando and about an hour’s drive from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.
Both Anderson and McKelvey began their financial services careers at Morgan Stanley. Anderson joined the wirehouse in 2001, while McKelvey entered Morgan Stanley’s roster 10 years later; both hold CFP designations. Gilotti joined the team in 2022, with Merrill Lynch being his first stop as a registered rep, according to his BrokerCheck profile.
In the past several weeks, Raymond James welcomed several new teams and advisors, including a New Jersey-based advisor with about $165 million in assets under management who joined from UBS and an advisor managing approximately $123 million out of Abilene, Texas. The firm also enticed David Behar and David Negal, an advisor duo out of St. Petersburg, Fla., managing about $340 million, to leave Morgan Stanley.
Additionally, Alex David, the former president and CEO of Stifel Financial’s independent contractor broker/dealer, joined Raymond James earlier this month as Northeast division director for its independent advisor channel. He succeeded Shannon Reid, now the head of the firm’s independent contractor division.