Raymond James Is Turning Commonwealth’s Northeast Into A Recruiting Corridor

Wealth Management

Aug 18

Raymond James added two more Commonwealth Financial Network practices on the East Coast in August 2025, but the combined $387 million in client assets was only part of the significance. Father-son advisors Ray and Joe Croteau brought more than $180 million to Raymond James Financial Services in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, while five advisors operating as Buffalo Financial moved approximately $207 million from Commonwealth in Depew, New York. Both practices joined Raymond James’ independent advisor channel within days of each other.

The InvestmentNews report arrived less than two weeks after LPL Financial closed its $2.7 billion acquisition of Commonwealth. LPL acquired a business supporting approximately 3,000 advisors and $305 billion in assets, while preserving Commonwealth as a separate company during a transition expected to culminate with advisors moving onto LPL’s platform in the fourth quarter of 2026.

That timing makes the Croteau and Buffalo moves more useful as a regional strategy story than another recruiting scoreboard. Raymond James was not merely picking up individual Commonwealth advisors scattered around the country. It was adding practices in Massachusetts, Commonwealth’s home market, and nearby New York while building a recognizable Northeast destination for advisors reconsidering what they wanted after the sale to LPL.

The pattern later became much larger. Raymond James eventually recruited 18 former Commonwealth teams representing close to $4.5 billion in previously managed client assets, while later research on 2025 Commonwealth departures identified Raymond James as the largest broker-dealer destination for advisors who left.

The August 2025 moves therefore captured something early: Commonwealth’s acquisition created a national recruiting opening, but Raymond James was learning how to turn that opening into regional density.

TL;DR

Raymond James added more than $387 million from Commonwealth: Croteau Financial brought over $180 million in Massachusetts, while Buffalo Financial added approximately $207 million in western New York.
Seven advisors joined across the two practices: Ray and Joe Croteau joined in Fitchburg, while Jeremy Beck, Matthew Pitrola, Jacob Wood, Tyler Sacco and Matt Wojick moved with Buffalo Financial in Depew.
Croteau Financial brought succession depth: Ray had more than 32 years of industry experience, while his son Joe had joined the business and holds the CFP designation.
Buffalo Financial brought a broader advisor bench: The practice included advisors at several career stages plus four support professionals, creating a deeper team structure than a solo-advisor move.
Both practices emphasized culture and flexibility: Croteau cited high-net-worth capabilities and personalized service, while Buffalo Financial pointed to Raymond James’ relationship-focused culture, technology and operational support.
The moves followed LPL’s Commonwealth acquisition: LPL closed the transaction Aug. 1, 2025 with approximately 3,000 Commonwealth advisors managing $305 billion.
Raymond James later became the leading Commonwealth destination: NJ Financial News’ review of later departure data showed Raymond James capturing the largest share of Commonwealth advisors who moved to another broker-dealer.
The Northeast became strategically important: Massachusetts carried symbolic weight because Commonwealth is headquartered in Waltham, while western New York gave Raymond James another local practice serving the broader Northeast.
Osaic was building through a different channel: The same InvestmentNews roundup reported Osaic’s affiliation with Blaze Credit Union, whose wealth program managed $840 million and whose credit union served nearly 250,000 members.
Compound Planning represented a third growth model: The tech-enabled RIA crossed $4 billion in AUM after adding 17 advisors across 10 states and 640 clients in 2025.

Two Commonwealth Exits Became A Northeast Cluster

Advisor recruiting is usually described one practice at a time. That makes sense because each team has its own clients, contracts, economics and transition process, but the geographic pattern can matter just as much as the individual asset total.

Croteau Financial joined Raymond James in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, while Buffalo Financial joined in Depew, New York, just outside Buffalo. Both practices moved from Commonwealth into Raymond James Financial Services, which supports independently owned practices using Raymond James’ brokerage, advisory, technology and wealth-management infrastructure.

The Northeast already mattered deeply to Commonwealth. The company’s headquarters in Waltham made Massachusetts part of its cultural and operational center, while decades of independent-advisor growth created established practices throughout New England and neighboring states. LPL therefore did not acquire only a collection of advisor contracts. It acquired regional communities with relationships to Commonwealth employees, technology and peer networks.

Raymond James could challenge those communities more effectively if it developed visible local examples of advisors who had already moved.

Recruiting Gets Easier When Advisors Can Call A Nearby Peer

An advisor evaluating a national platform will listen to the recruiter, but another advisor who has already completed the transition can provide a different level of credibility. That peer can explain how account conversion worked, whether client assets transferred smoothly, how service teams responded and whether the platform felt different after the recruiting period ended.

Regional density makes those conversations easier.

A Massachusetts Commonwealth advisor considering Raymond James can look at Croteau Financial. A western New York practice can look at Buffalo Financial. Another large Massachusetts practice could later examine Pioneer Valley Financial Group, which eventually joined Raymond James with more than $660 million in client assets.

NJ Financial News’ later coverage of Raymond James’ $4.5 billion Commonwealth run showed how powerful that repetition became. Once enough teams moved, Raymond James no longer had to pitch itself as an untested Commonwealth alternative. It could point to a growing alumni network of advisors who had already made the same decision.

That changes the recruiting conversation from theory to evidence.

Croteau Financial Is A Succession Story Hidden Inside A Platform Move

The $180 million Croteau Financial move deserves attention for reasons that have little to do with its size.

Raymond “Ray” Croteau had more than 32 years of financial-services experience when he joined Raymond James. He had been affiliated with Commonwealth since 2010 and built a practice serving families, individuals, business owners, corporate executives and retirees. His son Joe joined Commonwealth in 2019 and entered Raymond James as a partner in the family practice with six years of industry experience and the CFP designation.

Office Manager and Senior Client Service Associate Susan VanHillo also moved with the practice. Her current biography says she has worked with Croteau Financial for more than 16 years, providing continuity across the platform transition.

That combination gives Raymond James something more durable than an established senior producer. It gives the firm a practice with a next-generation advisor already inside the business and longtime support staff who know the client base.

Father-Son Teams Lower One Type Of Succession Risk

A platform recruiting a veteran advisor has to consider what happens when that advisor eventually retires. If the practice depends heavily on one individual and lacks an internal successor, the assets can become mobile again when retirement approaches.

Croteau Financial already has a potential generational transition structure.

Ray remains the founder and owner, while Joe serves as a partner. Their current Raymond James site continues presenting both advisors together, which gives clients an opportunity to build relationships with the next generation before any eventual retirement event.

That can benefit Raymond James because the platform is not merely competing to retain the practice today. It has an opportunity to support the business through a future transition from one generation to another.

Succession is becoming increasingly important in advisor recruiting because mature practices carry two forms of value. They have current assets and revenue, but they also have relationships that could remain on the platform for decades if leadership passes cleanly to younger advisors.

High-Net-Worth Capability Was Part Of Croteau’s Decision

Ray specifically cited Raymond James’ high-net-worth capabilities and the freedom to provide personalized service when explaining the move.

That combination is strategically useful because it connects two priorities that can sometimes work against each other.

Independent advisors often want freedom over client relationships and practice design. High-net-worth clients increasingly require sophisticated resources, including lending, estate coordination, alternative investments, business-owner planning and complex portfolio support.

A platform wins when it can provide those institutional capabilities without making an independent practice feel like a standardized corporate branch.

That is the balance Raymond James was selling to Croteau Financial.

Buffalo Financial Brought A Different Kind Of Value: Bench Depth

Buffalo Financial’s $207 million move had a different team structure.

The practice included five advisors: Jeremy Beck, Matthew Pitrola, Jacob Wood, Tyler Sacco and Matt Wojick. They were supported by Business Coordinator Trish Del Prince, Administrative Assistant Dawn Esslinger, Marketing Consultant Haley Travers and Client Service and Research Assistant Gavin Beck.

Beck brought 22 years of financial-services experience and had spent the previous eight years at Commonwealth. Pitrola had five years in the industry and served as president of the practice, while Wood and Sacco represented younger advisors and Wojick had begun his financial-services career with Buffalo Financial in 2025.

That mix makes Buffalo Financial a useful contrast with a conventional recruiting story built around one veteran producer.

A Five-Advisor Practice Can Create Its Own Internal Growth Engine

A broader advisor bench can help a practice segment clients more effectively, develop younger professionals and distribute relationship responsibilities across several people.

That becomes important as practices grow.

A founder or senior advisor can eventually reach a capacity limit. Adding more households without developing other advisors can reduce service quality and make succession harder. A multi-advisor practice has more ways to assign relationships according to complexity, generation or client type.

Buffalo Financial already had several advisors at different stages of their careers when it joined Raymond James. That creates opportunities for mentoring, internal succession and organic growth that do not depend entirely on recruiting another established team.

The support staff adds another layer. Transitioning $207 million in client assets requires substantial account work, communication and operational coordination. A practice with dedicated administrative, client-service, marketing and research roles can distribute that workload more effectively than a smaller advisor-only team.

Technology And Operations Were Explicit Parts Of The Pitch

Beck said Raymond James’ culture, technology and high-touch operational support made the platform attractive for Buffalo Financial’s continued independence and growth.

That explanation helps distinguish the practice from Croteau Financial.

Croteau emphasized high-net-worth capabilities and freedom. Buffalo Financial put more visible weight on the operating platform around the practice.

Those differences matter because Commonwealth itself was known for strong advisor service. A competing firm trying to recruit Commonwealth advisors could not reasonably assume that basic broker-dealer infrastructure would be enough. It needed to convince practices that another platform could preserve a high-service culture while adding capabilities the team considered useful.

Raymond James was therefore competing against Commonwealth’s historical service reputation as much as against LPL’s future platform.

LPL’s Acquisition Changed The Meaning Of Staying At Commonwealth

LPL officially closed its Commonwealth acquisition Aug. 1, 2025. The company said Commonwealth supported approximately 3,000 advisors managing $305 billion and that Commonwealth leadership would remain responsible for preserving the advisor experience while the firm operated as a wholly owned portfolio company.

LPL also planned to transition Commonwealth advisors onto its own platform in the fourth quarter of 2026. Later company updates continued saying it was tracking toward approximately 90% asset retention.

Those promises created a rational case for staying.

LPL could offer enormous scale, substantial technology investment, broader platform economics and a stated commitment to preserve Commonwealth’s culture. Advisors who trusted that plan could avoid an immediate move and wait for LPL to execute.

The acquisition simultaneously changed the psychological cost of leaving.

An Acquisition Removes The Comfort Of Doing Nothing

Before the sale, a longtime Commonwealth advisor could remain affiliated without making a new strategic decision. The company, platform and culture were familiar.

After LPL bought Commonwealth, staying meant accepting a future change.

The advisor now had to evaluate LPL’s ownership, technology, service structure and eventual conversion. That makes inactivity less neutral because the existing platform is already changing underneath the advisor.

Raymond James could exploit that moment without arguing that LPL was a bad firm. It simply had to present another future that some advisors preferred.

NJ Financial News’ Commonwealth retention analysis later showed the scale of that re-evaluation. An AdvizorPro and Muriel Consulting report found that 653 Commonwealth advisors left between April and December 2025, with 64% moving to another broker-dealer and 36% moving into the RIA channel. Among broker-dealer destinations, Raymond James captured the largest share.

The acquisition did not produce one uniform advisor response.

It forced thousands of separate platform decisions.

The Northeast May Have Been Especially Vulnerable To Peer Effects

Advisor departures can become contagious without any wrongdoing or formal coordination.

One team leaves and reports a good transition. Another advisor calls them. A second practice moves, giving recruiters another local reference. Support staff and industry contacts begin comparing platforms, while clients hear that familiar advisors in the region are moving.

That does not mean every advisor follows the crowd. It means the perceived risk of leaving can decline when respected peers demonstrate that the transition is manageable.

Massachusetts was particularly important because Commonwealth’s identity had deep roots there.

The Croteaus were not anonymous brokers in a distant market. Ray had been with Commonwealth since 2010 and had spent decades building a central Massachusetts practice.

Pioneer Valley Financial Group later became an even larger Massachusetts example when the $660 million practice joined Raymond James. NJ Financial News’ coverage of the Pioneer Valley move showed how the Commonwealth-to-Raymond James pipeline continued developing in the state.

Buffalo Financial created a parallel reference point in New York.

Together, the practices helped Raymond James turn a national M&A event into a visible regional recruiting story.

Raymond James Was Selling Independence Without Asking Advisors To Reinvent Their Businesses

Croteau Financial and Buffalo Financial were already independent practices before joining Raymond James.

They did not need a platform to teach them what independence meant. They needed a new national infrastructure provider.

Raymond James Financial Services gave them a structure in which the local practices remained independent of RJFS while securities and advisory services were provided through Raymond James entities. Current disclosures for both Croteau Financial and Buffalo Financial preserve that distinction.

That made the move less disruptive at the identity level than a transition into a conventional employee brokerage model might have been.

The local brands could remain.

The advisor teams could remain.

The ownership mentality could remain.

The national firm underneath the practices changed.

That Continuity Was A Useful Commonwealth Recruiting Argument

Commonwealth had built much of its reputation around independent advisors who valued service, autonomy and practice ownership.

Raymond James could approach those advisors with a model that did not require them to abandon those principles.

The message was not, “Give up independence for our scale.”

It was closer to, “Keep the independent business and use a different large platform behind it.”

NJ Financial News’ analysis of Raymond James’ Commonwealth recruiting run later showed why that positioning worked. Raymond James could offer substantial scale without being the company that had purchased Commonwealth, giving advisors an alternative large-firm destination during the integration period.

Raymond James Was Also Building A High-Net-Worth Recruiting Case

The Croteau announcement explicitly referenced Raymond James’ high-net-worth capabilities, and that detail deserves attention because larger independent practices increasingly need resources once associated mainly with wirehouses and private banks.

A practice serving business owners, executives and affluent retirees may need much more than investment products.

Complex client relationships can involve concentrated stock, business succession, estate strategies, charitable planning, alternatives, lending and liquidity around business sales.

An independent platform that cannot support those needs may eventually lose larger clients even if the advisor relationship remains strong.

Platform Depth Matters More As The Practice Moves Upmarket

Raymond James had approximately $1.64 trillion in total client assets as of June 30, 2025 when the Croteau and Buffalo moves were announced.

Scale by itself does not guarantee a superior high-net-worth experience. It does give the firm more economic capacity to invest in specialists, technology, investment products, lending and private-wealth resources.

For Commonwealth advisors, that created an interesting comparison.

LPL could argue that its acquisition would bring Commonwealth advisors onto an even larger platform with significant technology and product resources.

Raymond James could argue that advisors could gain substantial institutional depth immediately without waiting through the Commonwealth conversion.

The competition therefore was not large platform versus small platform.

It was large platform versus large platform, with culture and operating model determining which version of scale felt more attractive.

The Later Data Shows Raymond James Was Capturing A Specific Advisor Persona

By 2026, Commonwealth departure data provided a clearer picture of where advisors went.

NJ Financial News’ analysis of the advisor losses found that 64% of Commonwealth advisors who left in 2025 stayed within the broker-dealer channel, while 36% moved to RIAs. Raymond James captured 32.8% of broker-dealer-bound departures, ahead of Kestra, Cambridge, Cetera, Osaic and other firms.

That destination mix is important because it suggests many departing Commonwealth advisors were not rejecting the broker-dealer framework itself.

They were rejecting a particular future within it.

Raymond James Fit Advisors Who Wanted Familiar Independence With Different Scale

The advisors moving to Raymond James could retain several characteristics of the Commonwealth model:

locally owned practices,
independent-contractor affiliation,
advisor-led client relationships,
established national infrastructure,
broad wealth-management capabilities,
centralized compliance and operations,
and recognizable peer communities.

That helps explain why Raymond James outperformed many other broker-dealer destinations.

A Commonwealth advisor who wanted to move into a stand-alone or supported RIA had several other options. An advisor who wanted to remain inside a major independent broker-dealer but did not want LPL had a narrower group of obvious alternatives.

Raymond James occupied that lane particularly well.

The Conversion Clock Gave Early Movers A Different Client Story

LPL’s planned fourth-quarter 2026 Commonwealth conversion created another consideration for advisors deciding when to move.

An advisor who left early could transition clients directly from Commonwealth to the chosen destination.

An advisor who stayed through the LPL conversion and later decided to leave could potentially expose clients to another platform transition not long afterward.

That does not mean moving early was automatically better. LPL could argue that staying avoided an unnecessary transition and allowed advisors to gain access to its expanded capabilities once conversion was complete.

The timing simply changed the client conversation.

Advisors Had To Think About Transition Fatigue

Clients generally care less about broker-dealer M&A than advisors do.

They care about whether statements arrive, online access works, distributions continue, account titles remain correct and the familiar advisory team is still available.

Every platform transition creates opportunities for confusion.

Advisors therefore had to consider whether they believed strongly enough in another destination to move before the LPL conversion or whether waiting offered the smoother client path.

Croteau Financial and Buffalo Financial made the decision early.

Their clients faced the Raymond James transition in 2025 rather than waiting to see what the Commonwealth-to-LPL conversion would require later.

The Croteau And Buffalo Moves Also Show Why Team Structure Matters In Recruiting

Asset figures dominate recruiting headlines because they create a simple comparison.

Team composition can tell more about the long-term value of the recruit.

Croteau Financial brought a senior founder, next-generation partner and longtime operating professional. Buffalo Financial brought five advisors spanning several career stages plus four support professionals.

Those structures provide different forms of continuity.

What Raymond James Actually Added

Practice

Pre-Move Assets

Advisor Structure

Long-Term Strategic Value

Croteau Financial

$180M+

Father-son advisor partnership

Built-in generational continuity and succession potential

Buffalo Financial

$207M

Five-advisor team

Broader capacity, internal development and team-based growth

Combined

$387M+

Seven advisors plus support staff

Greater Northeast density and Commonwealth recruiting credibility

The combined $387 million is meaningful.

The practices’ operating structures may be more meaningful because they give Raymond James businesses capable of continuing after individual advisors retire or shift responsibilities.

That is increasingly what national firms want to recruit: durable advisory enterprises, not just portable production.

Osaic Was Growing Through A Completely Different Distribution Channel

The same InvestmentNews roundup included another substantial asset win, but Osaic’s $840 million Blaze Credit Union relationship should not be treated as comparable to Raymond James recruiting Croteau Financial and Buffalo Financial.

Blaze Credit Union formed in 2024 through the merger of Spire Credit Union and Hiway Credit Union. Spire already had an Osaic relationship, while the combined institution subsequently affiliated Blaze Wealth Management and Blaze Retirement and Investment Services with Osaic. Blaze oversaw approximately $4.2 billion and served nearly 250,000 members, while the wealth operation managed approximately $840 million.

The relationship included eight advisors and expanded Osaic’s institutional channel.

That is not conventional advisor recruiting.

It is distribution recruiting.

One Institutional Relationship Can Create Thousands Of Future Leads

A credit union partnership gives Osaic access to an institution that already has members, deposits, lending relationships and local trust.

The national platform can provide securities infrastructure, technology and advisor support while the credit union remains the client-facing financial institution.

That creates a growth model with different economics from recruiting an independent practice.

Raymond James gained existing advisor books from Commonwealth.

Osaic gained infrastructure responsibility behind a financial institution capable of generating future wealth referrals from a much larger member base.

Both strategies grow assets, but they do so through different funnels.

Blaze Also Arrived While Osaic Was Expanding Through M&A

InvestmentNews reported the Blaze relationship at roughly the same time Osaic completed its acquisition of CW Advisors, a Boston-based fee-only RIA with approximately $14.5 billion in client assets, 150 professionals and 18 offices. Osaic CEO Jamie Price described the deal as an important part of the company’s long-term growth strategy and supported-independence vision.

That made Osaic’s growth unusually multidimensional.

It was expanding through independent advisors, institutional relationships, RIA acquisitions and its broader consolidation strategy rather than relying on a single recruiting channel.

The contrast with Raymond James is useful.

Raymond James’ Commonwealth success showed how a strong independent-contractor proposition could exploit disruption at another broker-dealer.

Osaic was building scale by assembling different forms of distribution under the same broader wealth organization.

The long-term question for Osaic is whether those channels can remain distinct enough to serve different advisor and institution needs without creating the kind of integration strain that often accompanies consolidation.

Compound Planning Was Showing A Third Growth Engine: Advisor Plus Client Acquisition

Compound Planning provided the third major growth story in the InvestmentNews roundup.

The New York-based RIA crossed $4 billion in assets under management in August 2025 after adding 17 advisors across 10 states and 640 new clients since the beginning of the year. Compound said its AUM had increased 269% since the September 2023 merger that created the current business.

The company credited a combination of organic and inorganic growth plus its technology-focused model. Its proprietary dashboard had more than 10,000 users, while Compound positioned the platform around giving clients a consolidated view of their financial lives and advisors one system for managing those relationships.

That model differs from both Raymond James and Osaic.

Compound is an SEC-registered investment adviser recruiting advisors into a tech-enabled digital family-office model.

It is not primarily selling a traditional independent broker-dealer relationship or an institutional credit union program.

Three Announcements, Three Different Ways To Manufacture Distribution

The original InvestmentNews roundup becomes more useful when the three growth stories are compared directly.

Platform

2025 Announcement

Primary Growth Mechanism

Strategic Asset

Raymond James

$387M+ from two Commonwealth practices

Independent advisor recruiting

Advisor books, teams and Northeast density

Osaic

$840M Blaze wealth relationship

Financial institution affiliation

Credit union distribution and member base

Compound Planning

Crossed $4B AUM

Advisor recruiting plus organic client growth

Technology platform and HNW client acquisition

Each company was competing for wealth assets, but each was trying to control a different point in the distribution chain.

Raymond James wanted the advisor enterprise.

Osaic wanted the institutional wealth relationship.

Compound wanted advisors and end clients inside a vertically integrated RIA and technology experience.

That is a more useful way to understand the modern wealth-management market than putting every announcement under one generic “advisor moves” label.

Raymond James’ Commonwealth Momentum Eventually Became Financially Visible

The Croteau and Buffalo announcements arrived early enough that their broader impact could still have been dismissed as a short-term reaction to the LPL transaction.

Later evidence made that interpretation harder.

Raymond James’ fiscal 2025 recruiting results reached record levels, with approximately $407 million in recruited trailing 12-month production at advisors’ prior firms and roughly $58 billion in recruited client assets, according to later company disclosures summarized by NJ Financial News.

The firm’s momentum continued into fiscal 2026. By the June 2026 quarter, Raymond James reported domestic Private Client Group net new assets of $21.7 billion, equal to 5.5% annualized growth, while client assets under administration reached a record $1.92 trillion. The company continued citing robust financial-advisor recruiting as a contributor to Private Client Group results.

Those figures include far more than Commonwealth advisors.

They show that the recruiting infrastructure capable of winning Commonwealth teams was supporting broader firm growth.

The Challenge Moves From Recruiting To Absorption

Successful recruiting creates its own operating burden.

Every new practice requires advisor onboarding, client paperwork, account transfers, technology setup, compliance support and service capacity. Large teams also expect sophisticated resources immediately because they have already told clients the new platform will improve the experience.

Raymond James therefore has to make sure the very growth validating its recruiting proposition does not weaken the culture and service used to attract advisors.

NJ Financial News’ recruiting outlook analysis identified that execution challenge directly. Raymond James benefited from Commonwealth disruption because its culture and independent-channel model appealed to advisors, but those same advisors will judge the firm on whether the promised service survives a much larger recruiting pipeline.

LPL Can Still Win The Commonwealth Deal While Raymond James Wins Advisors

The advisor departures create an easy temptation to frame the story as Raymond James winning and LPL losing.

The economics are more complicated.

LPL paid approximately $2.7 billion for Commonwealth and continues to target roughly 90% asset retention. Its July 2026 investor materials said advisors were expected to onboard in the fourth quarter and that the firm was still tracking toward that asset-retention level.

Asset retention and advisor headcount retention are different metrics.

Later research showing 653 Commonwealth advisors departing through the end of 2025 implied much weaker headcount retention than 90%, but LPL’s economic target focused heavily on assets. A company can lose numerous smaller advisors while still retain a large majority of client assets if the largest practices remain.

That means both narratives can coexist.

Raymond James can successfully recruit a meaningful number of Commonwealth advisors.

LPL can still retain enough assets for the acquisition to meet its economic objectives.

The competitive question becomes which firm turns the transition into more durable growth over several years.

Clients Should Judge The Move By Continuity, Not The Recruiting Headline

For Croteau Financial and Buffalo Financial clients, the most important question was not whether Raymond James had won another recruiting battle against LPL.

It was what changed in their own financial relationship.

Both practices remained independently branded. Securities moved under Raymond James Financial Services and investment advisory services under Raymond James Financial Services Advisors. Croteau Financial and Buffalo Financial remained separate from the national broker-dealer itself.

Clients should still understand the practical consequences of that structure.

Questions That Matter After A Platform Move

Will the same advisor remain responsible for my relationship?
Will the same support employees continue helping me?
Where will my assets be held?
Will my account number or online access change?
Are advisory agreements changing?
Will fees change?
Can every existing investment transfer?
Are new high-net-worth, banking or lending services available?
Which Raymond James entity provides brokerage services?
Which entity provides investment advisory services?
How will the practice handle succession if a senior advisor retires?

Those questions are particularly relevant to Croteau Financial because its father-son structure already creates a visible generational planning issue, while Buffalo Financial’s multi-advisor model gives clients several potential relationship points over time.

The best platform transition should make those future relationships more durable, not simply move the same assets onto different statements.

Raymond James’ Northeast Wins Became Proof Of A Repeatable Recruiting Strategy

Croteau Financial and Buffalo Financial were not the largest Commonwealth teams to move.

Their importance lies in timing, geography and repeatability.

Both joined Raymond James shortly after LPL closed the acquisition. Both remained independent practices. Both cited features closely aligned with what Commonwealth advisors historically valued: personalized service, practice freedom, culture and substantial support.

Later Commonwealth recruiting only strengthened those original signals.

Raymond James added larger practices, including Pioneer Valley Financial Group with more than $660 million, and eventually accumulated close to $4.5 billion across 18 former Commonwealth teams.

The August 2025 East Coast moves therefore look less like opportunistic hires and more like the early construction of a recruiting corridor.

Once Raymond James had enough Commonwealth practices in the Northeast, the next advisor evaluating the firm could see familiar peers, similar business models and local proof that leaving was possible.

That is how a recruiting event becomes a recruiting system.

Bottom Line: The Commonwealth Deal Gave Raymond James A Market, But Regional Density Made It More Valuable

The original InvestmentNews headline focused on Raymond James adding two more Commonwealth teams on the East Coast. Croteau Financial brought more than $180 million in Massachusetts, while Buffalo Financial brought approximately $207 million in New York.

The two practices were not interchangeable.

Croteau Financial brought a father-son structure that combined a 32-year veteran with a next-generation CFP professional and longtime support staff. Buffalo Financial brought five advisors across several career stages plus a deeper operating team, creating internal capacity for client segmentation, advisor development and future succession.

Their geography made the combination more strategically useful.

Massachusetts sits at the center of Commonwealth’s history and culture. Western New York gave Raymond James another Northeast beachhead. Subsequent recruiting, including the $660 million Pioneer Valley move, gave other Commonwealth advisors additional regional evidence that Raymond James could absorb practices similar to their own.

LPL’s acquisition created the opportunity by forcing Commonwealth advisors to evaluate a future platform they had not originally selected. Raymond James converted that uncertainty into a specific message: advisors could maintain an independently owned practice, gain substantial national resources and avoid waiting for the eventual Commonwealth-to-LPL conversion.

Later data showed that message resonated. Raymond James became the largest broker-dealer destination among Commonwealth advisors captured in the 2025 departure analysis, while its overall recruiting results reached record levels.

The same InvestmentNews roundup showed two other ways to grow. Osaic expanded through an $840 million credit union relationship with Blaze, while Compound Planning crossed $4 billion by combining advisor recruiting, client acquisition and technology-led RIA growth.

Those models are different, but they share one objective.

Every wealth firm is trying to control more reliable paths to future client relationships.

For Raymond James, the Commonwealth acquisition created one of those paths.

The Croteau and Buffalo moves showed how turning that opening into a regional network could make the opportunity compound.

Frequently Asked Questions About Raymond James And Commonwealth Advisor Moves

Who Left Commonwealth For Raymond James In The August 2025 East Coast Moves?
Raymond James Financial Services added two Commonwealth practices representing more than $387 million in combined client assets. Raymond “Ray” Croteau and Joseph “Joe” Croteau joined in Fitchburg, Massachusetts with more than $180 million and continued operating as Croteau Financial. Buffalo Financial joined in Depew, New York with approximately $207 million and included advisors Jeremy Beck, Matthew Pitrola, Jacob Wood, Tyler Sacco and Matt Wojick along with four support professionals. Both practices entered Raymond James’ independent advisor channel while retaining their local practice identities.
Why Did Croteau Financial Choose Raymond James?
Ray Croteau said Raymond James offered high-net-worth capabilities and freedom to deliver personalized service, while emphasizing the firm’s client-first culture. The move allowed Croteau Financial to remain an independently branded practice while accessing Raymond James’ larger investment and wealth-management infrastructure. The father-son structure also makes the platform’s succession resources relevant because Ray is the founder and owner while Joe already serves as a partner and CFP professional inside the practice.
Why Did Buffalo Financial Leave Commonwealth?
Jeremy Beck said Raymond James’ relationship-centered culture offered a strong platform for Buffalo Financial to continue growing independently, while specifically pointing to technology and high-touch operational support. The five-advisor practice had managed approximately $207 million at Commonwealth and provided investment management, financial planning, insurance and business planning. The team’s decision illustrates how Commonwealth advisors were evaluating not only economics after the LPL transaction but also culture, technology, service and whether another independent broker-dealer could better support their future growth.
How Did LPL’s Commonwealth Acquisition Affect Raymond James Recruiting?
LPL closed its acquisition of Commonwealth on Aug. 1, 2025, creating a natural decision point for approximately 3,000 advisors managing $305 billion at the time of closing. Commonwealth advisors could remain through the eventual transition to LPL or evaluate competing platforms before conversion. Raymond James became a major beneficiary because it offered another large independent broker-dealer environment with established resources and local practice autonomy. Later data showed Raymond James captured the largest share of Commonwealth advisors who left for other broker-dealers during 2025.
Did Commonwealth Advisor Departures Mean LPL’s Acquisition Failed?
No. Advisor departures created visible retention pressure, but they do not by themselves establish that LPL’s Commonwealth acquisition failed. Later research showed substantial headcount attrition, while LPL continued emphasizing asset retention and said it remained on track for approximately 90% Commonwealth asset retention. A firm can lose a larger percentage of advisor headcount while retaining a higher percentage of assets if bigger practices remain, so the acquisition should ultimately be judged using client assets, revenue, advisor retention, conversion execution and the longer-term economics of the transaction rather than one metric alone.