No commissions, no ads, no advice. This Raymond James profile draws only on public records, each linked so you can confirm it yourself. Other firms are covered in the Truthifi /advisors hub.
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Check the SEC adviser record. Open the SEC's IAPD record for Raymond James (CRD #705) and confirm its registration.
Read the filings. Review the Form ADV / Form CRS and any disclosure section linked from the IAPD page.
Confirm the entity. Match CRD #705 / Raymond James & Associates so you're reading the right firm.
The short answer: is Raymond James a fiduciary?
Yes. Raymond James is a fiduciary when it acts as your investment adviser. That duty attaches to the advisory account, not to the firm's name, which matters here because the same entity also runs brokerage accounts. Publicly, it files with the SEC as Raymond James & Associates (CRD #705). According to its latest Form ADV (filed September 25, 2026), the firm reported $501.0 billion in regulatory assets under management (a firm-reported figure). Its Form ADV (Item 5.E) lists how it is paid: a percentage of assets under management, hourly charges, fixed fees, and commissions. It's all in the public filings. A few minutes is enough to confirm every line yourself.
According to its Form ADV, the firm itself is also registered as a broker-dealer, and brokerage accounts fall under Regulation Best Interest instead. Ask which capacity covers each of your accounts. The firm must tell you.
Our take: at a dual registrant this size, treat "is it a fiduciary?" as an account-by-account question, and get the answer for each account in writing.
What "fiduciary" means: a fiduciary is legally bound to place a client's interests above its own. (More on fiduciary duty)
Raymond James at a glance
✅ Verified from public filings, last checked October 5, 2026. Raymond James (SEC CRD #705) is a fiduciary when acting as your adviser, on a fee-based basis, with $501.0 billion in regulatory assets under management. Every figure below links to its primary source.
What | Raymond James | Source |
|---|---|---|
SEC CRD | #705 | |
Registration | Investment adviser and broker-dealer | |
Registered since | December 19, 1974 (SEC) | |
Fiduciary? | Yes, when acting as your adviser | |
Fee model | Fee-based | Form ADV Item 5.E |
How it's paid | A percentage of assets under management, hourly charges, fixed fees, and commissions | Form ADV Item 5.E |
Regulatory Assets Under Management | $501.0 billion (Form ADV filed September 25, 2026) | |
Client accounts | 1,143,145 (985,700 discretionary) | |
Employees | 16,780 (5,683 in advisory roles) | |
Ownership | Parent-owned | |
Disclosures | Form ADV answers Yes to one or more disciplinary questions. Read them on IAPD | |
HQ | St. Petersburg, FL |
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Raymond James fees: what you'll pay
Raymond James is fee-based, not fee-only. According to Item 5.E of its Form ADV, commissions sit on the compensation list next to asset-based, hourly and fixed fees. For a Raymond James client, one relationship can carry three layers of cost: the advisory fee on managed accounts, commissions on brokerage activity, and the expense ratios inside any funds you hold. The fee schedule itself is in Part 2A of the Form ADV.
To compare that with an advisor paid only by clients, see Fee-only financial advisor: costs and how to find one. To judge whether your total is reasonable, read Are you paying too much? Why that might be the wrong question.
Fee-based means a firm can be paid two ways: client advisory fees, and commissions on products.
Who owns Raymond James, and what conflicts does it disclose?
Raymond James is owned by Raymond James Financial, Inc., as listed in Schedule A of its Form ADV. (Form ADV Schedule A) The adviser you sign with is therefore a subsidiary, not a stand-alone firm.
Its Form ADV Part 2A describes the firm's conflicts of interest, including how it and its advisers are paid.
Raymond James SEC record: disclosures
According to its Form ADV, Raymond James answers Yes to one or more disciplinary-history questions. For a firm registered since 1974, the length of that section says less than the date and subject of each item. A disclosure can be a regulatory, civil or criminal matter involving the firm or a related person. Read each item in context on IAPD before drawing conclusions. Any Raymond James disclosures sit on the public record, not on anyone's characterization of them.
According to IAPD, it has been registered with the SEC since December 19, 1974, makes notice filings in 53 jurisdictions, and reports 16,780 employees, 5,683 of them in investment advisory roles. Because the firm is a dual registrant, confirm whether a given representative is acting in an advisory (fiduciary) or brokerage capacity for your account. Whether Raymond James is legit is quick to settle: it has a public CRD and public filings anyone can pull. Registration shows it's a real, regulated adviser, not that it's the right fit for you.
Reading Raymond James reviews against the public record
Star ratings and client comments describe what working with a firm felt like. They usually don't show what the firm reports to regulators. Before you weigh Raymond James reviews, check three things this profile takes from the public record. First, how the firm is paid: it reports both advisory fees and commissions, which makes it fee-based. Second, who owns it (Raymond James Financial, Inc.) and what conflicts Part 2A discloses. Third, whether its Form ADV reports any disciplinary history. Read reviews alongside the record, not instead of it.
How to verify Raymond James yourself
To confirm it firsthand, take three steps:
SEC adviser record (IAPD): https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/705.
Form ADV / CRS: linked from the IAPD page.
Confirm the entity: match Raymond James (CRD #705, legal name Raymond James & Associates) so you're reading the right firm.
What Raymond James does and who it serves
On its Form ADV, Raymond James reports providing financial planning, portfolio management for individuals, small businesses and institutions, pension consulting, selection of other advisers, and educational seminars.
It reports providing financial planning to more than 500 clients in its last fiscal year (Form ADV Item 5.H). That item records planning clients in size bands rather than as an exact count, and "more than 500" is the top band, so read it as a floor. The form also keeps it separate from the client totals below.
Its Form ADV (Item 5.D) breaks its clients down by type, about 531,617 in all:
Client type | Clients | Assets managed |
|---|---|---|
Individuals | 413,527 | $116.07 billion |
High-net-worth individuals | 99,598 | $288.72 billion |
Banking or thrift institutions | 710 | $1.82 billion |
Pension and profit-sharing plans | 9,726 | $46.10 billion |
Charities | 196 | $1.05 billion |
State or municipal government entities | 117 | $4.82 billion |
Insurance companies | 385 | $2.35 billion |
Corporations or other businesses | 7,358 | $40.02 billion |
According to Item 5.D, high-net-worth individuals are fewer than one in five of these clients yet hold $288.72 billion, about 58% of the assets in the table. The book leans toward larger households, so smaller accounts are worth checking against the fee schedule in Part 2A.
It reports 1,143,145 client accounts, roughly two for every client counted above, 985,700 discretionary (about 86%; the firm can trade without seeking your approval first) and 157,445 non-discretionary (Item 5.F). With several accounts per client and a dual registration, one household can hold a fiduciary advisory account and a Reg BI brokerage account at the same firm. Its main office is in St. Petersburg, FL.
It reports that it or a related person has custody of certain client assets, which brings extra safeguards such as surprise examinations. The specifics are in its Form ADV.
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Confirming the firm is the easy part. Seeing everything you hold is the valuable one.
Confirming Raymond James is registered takes a few minutes. No advisor, however good, sees your whole financial life by default. The held-away retirement plan, a spouse's portfolio and the costs inside a fund show up scattered and unreconciled. This is where Truthifi comes in.
How Truthifi can help
Truthifi links your accounts read-only and shows what you own, how it's allocated, how it's performing and where the risk sits, including single-stock exposure, returns next to a benchmark, a fee breakdown of the fees on each account, by type, and your Truthifi Score. You can share the accounts you choose with your advisor at Raymond James.
You can also bring your own AI. Paid Truthifi plans let you connect an AI assistant that supports MCP sign-in, such as Claude. Truthifi Connect is the lighter membership for people who only want to use their own assistant, while questions about your fees need Monitoring or Monitoring Plus+. What each plan includes and costs is listed on the pricing page.
Ask AI about your Raymond James accounts
Once your accounts are connected read-only, you can ask in plain English:
"What do I own across my Raymond James accounts and everything else, and how is it allocated?"
"What am I paying in fees across all of these accounts?"
Try it with Truthifi: start for free at app.truthifi.com and run a Monitoring Checkup (limits apply).
No commissions, no ads, no advice: Truthifi is not an investment adviser and doesn't give investment, tax or legal advice. Its access to your bank and brokerage accounts is read-only. Start free (limits apply). Monitoring Checkup is free and links up to 10 connections, per Truthifi platform data on plan limits. Plans and limits are on the pricing page → truthifi.com.
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FAQ
Is Raymond James a fiduciary? Yes, when acting as your adviser. Its Form ADV reports that it is also a broker-dealer, and brokerage accounts fall under Regulation Best Interest instead. Ask which capacity covers each of your accounts.
Is Raymond James fee-only? No, it's fee-based. Its Form ADV (Item 5.E) reports commissions among its compensation, alongside advisory fees. The fee schedule and conflicts are in its Form ADV Part 2A.
Who owns Raymond James? Raymond James is owned by Raymond James Financial, Inc., as listed in Schedule A of its Form ADV.
Does Raymond James have complaints or disclosures? Yes. Its Form ADV answers Yes to one or more disciplinary-history questions. Read each item on IAPD, in context. A disclosure is not by itself proof of current wrongdoing.
Is Raymond James legit? The firm is registered with the SEC (CRD #705) and its filings are public on the SEC's IAPD site, which confirms it is a real, regulated firm. Registration doesn't tell you whether it's the right fit or what you'll pay, so read the fee and conflict sections of its Form ADV.
Can AI help me check whether I'm getting good value? Yes. Start free (limits apply): Monitoring Checkup is free and lets you link up to 10 connections. You can also connect an AI assistant you already use (such as Claude). On Monitoring or Monitoring Plus+ you can ask it, in plain English, about the fees on each of your accounts. Truthifi is not an investment adviser and doesn't give investment, tax or legal advice.
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One question for your next Raymond James review: the filing can tell you the firm wears two hats, but only your advisor can tell you which hat applies to each of your accounts. Bring a list of your account numbers and ask for the capacity next to each one.
About this profile
Truthifi built this profile from the firm's own SEC filings (Form ADV and, where filed, Form CRS). Every page is reviewed by the Truthifi Team before publishing. The Truthifi advisor fact packs are an ongoing series checking U.S. investment advisers against their public filings, one firm at a time.
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A note on sources. The facts on this page come from publicly available documents, Raymond James' SEC and FINRA filings, each linked inline so you can verify it yourself (SEC data current as of October 5, 2026). This is general information, not financial or legal advice, and Truthifi is not affiliated with Raymond James. Regulatory records change, so always confirm against the official sources linked above. Spot something that should be corrected? Email us at support@truthifi.com.
Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. It should not be construed as a personalized recommendation regarding any investment, financial advisor, or financial product. All calculations use hypothetical scenarios and historical return assumptions; actual results will vary. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Consult a qualified financial professional for guidance specific to your situation. Truthifi is an investment monitoring platform — not a financial advisor, broker-dealer, or tax professional. Truthifi does not manage assets, recommend investments, sell financial products, or provide personalized financial advice. Truthifi earns no revenue from advisor referrals, product commissions, or AUM fees. Statistics and data cited reflect publicly available sources current as of the article’s publication date. Sources are linked throughout.