Dive Brief:
- Raymond James Chief Accounting Officer Jonathan “Butch” Oorlog will step into the role of CFO for the St. Petersburg, Florida-based company, effective Oct. 1, as part of a series of executive leadership shifts, according to a recent press release.
- The CFO swap follows the wealth management company announcing a CEO succession plan in March, with its finance chief Paul Shoukry poised to take the chief executive seat following the retirement of Raymond James’ current CEO, Paul Reilly.
- Raymond James appointed Shoukry as president effective immediately in March and noted that it was “expected he will become the firm’s CEO sometime during fiscal 2025.” Shoukry will continue to serve as the company’s CFO until he assumes the CEO position, Raymond James said in a securities filing.
Dive Insight:
Oorlog joined the company in 2004 as CFO for the Raymond James Tax Credit Funds Inc., before being appointed as its controller in 2020 and taking on the CAO role in January 2023, according to a press release. His CFO predecessor Shoukry is a 14-year Raymond James alum and has served as Raymond James’ top finance chief since January 2020, according to the March announcement.
Raymond James is tapping its finance chief as its CEO successor as more and more financial leaders make the jump to the top executive chair. In 2023, 8.4% of CEOs at Fortune 500 and Standard & Poor’s 500 companies had moved to the role from a CFO job, CFO Dive previously reported, citing data from Crist|Kolder Associates.
As well as identifying its successors for the CEO and CFO roles, the wealth management company also announced leadership shifts for its private client and investment banking segments.
Raymond James also noted changes to its operations, technology and strategic leadership, announcing in March that Scott Curtis, president of Raymond James Financial Private Client Group, would move into the role of chief operating officer, effective Oct. 1, with Tash Elwyn taking over as president of the private client group.
In May, Raymond James announced Tarek Helal, its present SVP of investments and strategy, would transition to the newly created position of chief strategy officer, while its EVP of Technology and Operations, Bella Allaire, will become its chief administrative officer.
“The board, Paul Shoukry and I are confident that our long-term succession planning process has identified and developed capable and experienced leaders to partner with Paul as we build for the firm’s future,” CEO Paul Reilly said in a statement included in the May release. “Together, those taking on new responsibilities represent over 100 years of experience with Raymond James.”
The company is marshaling its leadership team after it reported record client assets under management for its most recent quarter ended March 31, reaching $1.4 trillion — a 13% jump year-over-year. However, for the month of April, client assets decreased month over month, primarily due to declines in equity markets, Reilly said in a statement included in a Wednesday press release, where Raymond James reported selected operating data for last month.
Raymond James declined to comment beyond the details included in the press release.
