Raymond James launches 4 new products into ETF space

ETF investment tools

Raymond James Financial, a 63-year-old financial services group known for its in-house strength of 9,000 financial advisors, is joining the ETF space with filings for four strategies it plans to launch in the coming months roll out.

The asset management arm of the St. Petersburg, Florida-based company plans to launch four ETFs: RJ Chartwell Premium Income ETF, RJ Eagle Municipal Income ETF, RJ Eagle Vertical Income ETF, according to a Jan. 14 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. and the RJ Eagle GCM Dividend Select Income ETF.

While the traditional mutual fund industry has been making steady inroads into the faster-growing ETF space, the migration is less common among major broker-dealers like Raymond James. But Eric Balchunas, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said it was seen as the logical next step.

"They have a built-in advisory audience when it comes to consuming ETFs, so it makes sense for them to have their own ETFs," he told etf.com. "If you're running funds out there, you have to have an ETF program."

Raymond James Investment Management claims to have more than $100 billion in assets under management as a wholly owned subsidiary of Raymond James Financial.

The firm did not respond to a request for comment for this article but made its strategy clear last year when it hired ETF industry veteran Mo Sparks. The former director of exchange-traded products at the New York Stock Exchange joined Raymond James Investment Management in July as head of exchange-traded funds, with a focus on “building Raymond Raymond James Investment Management’s ETF platform.”

As part of the Sparks announcement, Raymond James Investment Management said its plans to "begin offering ETF solutions in 2025" represent "the firm's continued commitment to diversifying its products for wealth management, retail and institutional clients".

Similar to Raymond James' existing mutual fund lineup, which is branded Carillon Family of Funds, the ETF will not leverage the Raymond James banner, a former adviser said in a move Probably to avoid issues related to conflicts of interest.

According to documents filed with the SEC, Carillon has selected three subadvisers to manage the new exchange-traded fund: Chartwell Investment Partners, Raymond James affiliate Eagle Asset Management and Tidal Investments.