A new Raymond James branch is opening in Oxford, which will be led by highly experienced wealth managers, Chris Meecham, Hans Price and Jeremy Harben. All three are Chartered Wealth Managers and Chartered Fellows of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment.
Known as Raymond James Oxford, the new branch will focus on providing private clients in the historic city, and beyond, with an exceptional level of service. This includes personalised investment management services – both discretionary and advisory – based on prudent and robust strategies. Each client’s investment portfolio is tailor-made to maximise its potential for consistent performance.
The three join Raymond James from Brewin Dolphin, where they held the roles of Divisional Directors. Chris began his career with Quilter Goodison, Hans entered investment management with traditional stockbroker Albert E Sharp and Jeremy, with Jupiter Asset Management. They came together at Capel Cure Sharp.
On setting up with Raymond James, Chris said:
“Our core aim is to provide clients with a service that protects and grows their assets whilst maintaining a level of care that we are proud of. We’ve seen in recent years that the industry is continuing to polarise between the model driven, centralised approach with sales office satellites and a genuinely bespoke service. We have been really impressed and reassured by what Raymond James can do for us without compromising our independence.
On co-founding the branch, Hans said:
“A major benefit is that the independent ownership model removes the conflict between short-term management goals and building long-term relationships with clients. We are now able to combine both the client relationship manager and portfolio manager roles, allowing us to work more closely with our clients.”
“We have been working together since the 1990’s and respect each other’s integrity and client focus. Building such strong client relationships over that time has demonstrated the rewards that maintaining high ethical standards can yield.
Jeremy added:
“By joining Raymond James, we now have access to award winning research, first class technology, full compliance and regulatory oversight, superior back office administration and investor-friendly reporting. This will allow us to concentrate on what we do best: creating and managing tailor-made investment portfolios that can offer consistent performance.
We have now found the perfect blend: the full freedom to design our service proposition to best suit our clients’ needs, combined with a solid support structure and most importantly, a breadth of institutional research complemented by over 80 Raymond James analysts providing an international coverage.’’.
Anthony Scott, Head of Business Development at Raymond James said: “We’re thrilled to be expanding into Oxford with Chris, Hans and Jeremy who share our entrepreneurial mind-set and long term approach to wealth management. We look forward to supporting the growth of Raymond James Oxford with our technologies and tools, while the firm concentrates on providing exceptional client service.”
Black MondayOn 19 October 1987, the stock markets experienced a dramatic plunge that prompted many firms to shut down their trading desks and turn off their phones to minimize internal losses. Raymond James refused to do the same. Our desks stayed open to help meet clients’ needs, resulting in our first and only unprofitable quarter since the firm went public in 1983. |
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Who was Raymond James?The Raymond in our name is actually from Edward Raymond, owner of a 15-employee mutual fund sales group, Raymond and Associates, along Florida’s west coast. He sold his company to Bob James on 15 July 1964, on condition that the surviving firm be called Raymond, James & Associates. Three days after the sale, Ed Raymond was involved in a near-fatal automobile accident and never joined the firm. Nonetheless, even after Raymond had passed away, Bob James insisted that his name remain on the door – ahead of James’ own. That was a promise he made to Ed Raymond three days before the accident, and Bob James was a man who kept his promises. |
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Bear Market of 1974The severe bear market of 1974 threatened the existence of Raymond James, which was bleeding capital by the day. Tom James, his father and other leaders took extreme measures to keep the firm afloat, slashing costs, foregoing paychecks and even attempting to sell the firm for just enough capital to protect client assets and retain as many associates as possible. The story could have ended very differently if not for a sharp upturn and continued rebound in the stock markets late in the year. |
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Taking Raymond James PublicWhen consideration was being given to taking Raymond James public, Tom James penned a letter to shareholders (largely employees at the time). ” … the public offering should be considered as a statement of our independence. While this is a psychological rather than an economic rationale, it is nonetheless very important. We have asserted for some time that we are not interested in becoming a small part of a very large corporation. That assertion results mainly from the inclinations of management rather than the economic benefits associated with either alternative. The public stock offering affords us the opportunity to enjoy a little bit of the best of both worlds. While shareholders will be given liquidity at fair market value, we will still have the ability to control our own destiny.” After 40+ years of Tom’s leadership, upon becoming CEO, Paul Reilly was often questioned about whether the company might ultimately surrender its cherished independence and be acquired by some larger entity. His response: “Not while I’m around.” It’s a theme that continues today. |
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