Planting the seeds of brand recognition

If Raymond James Financial sprouts into a nationally recognized brand for investment services, it won't be solely because of its name on the Bucs' stadium.

There are also the seeds the St. Petersburg company has been planting in some rather small places.

Places such as Union Bank in Rushville, Ill., Farmers and Mechanics Bank in Mount Airy, Md., and Woodforest National Bank in Channelview, Texas.

They are the latest members of a fast-growing network of community banks across 42 states that have inked deals to sell RayJay's investment products, from insurance and annuities to trust and estate planning.

Raymond James first sensed the opportunity in 1987, pitching itself to small community banks eager to compete with megabanks that offered investment services in-house. Just when it got rolling with partnerships, though, it was derailed by mergermania. Many of the big banks had no need for a Raymond James office in the community branches they were acquiring.

"There were probably about 60 of them" that were closed, said Jim Fulp, president of Raymond James' financial institutions division, the unit in charge of the rollout.

With mergers dying down the past few years, Raymond James has quickly rebuilt its network . . . and then some. Since Jan. 1, the company has added 24 branch sites, giving it 416 bank locations through 253 community bank partnerships.

Last year, the network contributed $64-million of RayJay's $1-billion-plus in revenues. But the company is seeing a big payoff in profits, Fulp said, noting that the fixed overhead costs of opening inside a bank branch makes the venture relatively inexpensive.

The strategy is paying off on the publicity front as well, with the latest round of deals resulting in a front-page story last week in American Banker.

"It was great. . . . I thought it was going to be some little blurb," Fulp said. "Press like that is invaluable to getting your name around."

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