Two veteran Virginia wealth managers have moved their practice to Raymond James & Associates, adding more than $1.2 billion in client assets to the firm's employee advisor channel. Samuel "Sam" Mintz, CFP, and Stephen "Steve" Gow, CFA, have joined as managing directors and will lead the Mintz & Gow Group of Raymond James in Richmond, Virginia. The pair previously operated at Truist Investment Services and are accompanied by client service associates Cheryl Franz and Donna Minkeson-Shaw. Courtland Williams, Mid-Atlantic regional director for RJA, confirmed the move.
The team serves families, business owners, and nonprofit organizations, offering financial planning and investment guidance to high-net-worth clients. Raymond James ended its fiscal year with a record 8,943 advisors, a 2% year-over-year increase, and the firm says it expects continued momentum with healthy pipelines of advisor commitments heading into the coming year. The Richmond recruits follow a $700 million advisor team that joined RJA in Beachwood, Ohio, as reported by InvestmentNews earlier this week.
Mintz brings more than 24 years of financial services experience. A graduate of the University of North Carolina Wilmington with a bachelor's degree in finance, he holds the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER designation. Gow's path to wealth management was less conventional: before becoming a financial advisor in 2014, he spent 12 years overseeing options, retail over-the-counter trading, and exchange-traded fund operations at BB&T Scott & Stringfellow, now part of Truist Investment Services. He earned a bachelor's degree from Wake Forest University and an MBA from the College of William & Mary, and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
The complementary credentials—Mintz's planning focus and Gow's markets background—reflect a broader trend of firms pairing deep planning expertise with institutional investment experience to attract and retain sophisticated clients. "Our work starts with understanding what each client wants to accomplish and building our approach around those priorities," Mintz said. "At Raymond James, advanced technology and private wealth capabilities give us the resources to support the sophisticated needs of high-net-worth clients within a people-first culture."
Williams welcomed the addition. "Sam and Steve bring an impressive combination of experience and expertise to Raymond James," he said. "We look forward to supporting the continued growth of their practice and providing the resources they need to pursue their long-term vision."
The Richmond hire is the latest in a sustained Raymond James recruitment drive that has seen the firm pull talent from across the wirehouse and regional broker-dealer landscape. Earlier this year, the firm brought on breakaway teams from Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley whose combined assets exceeded $1 billion, and it added a $420 million Edward Jones team in Virginia late last year, further deepening its footprint in the Mid-Atlantic. For more on recent moves, see similar recruiting wins and other team additions.
Industry observers note that the pairing of a CFP and a CFA is increasingly common as firms seek to offer both holistic planning and sophisticated investment management. The trend is evident across the independent broker-dealer space, where rival firms are also adding veteran teams to bolster their high-net-worth capabilities.
