By taxclubadmin 
Raymond James has appointed Kirk Bell as president of its independent contractor division, effective April 1.
Bell succeeds Shannon Reid, who left the firm after nearly two decades at the end of 2025 to join Osaic as its president and head of advisor growth and engagement.
Bell has been with Raymond James for almost 26 years, including the last 12 as senior vice president and division director for the central U.S. In his new role, he will lead efforts to strengthen advisor partnerships and drive growth at Raymond James Financial Services, the firm’s independent contractor division. He also joins the firm’s senior leadership team and the private client group’s executive leadership team.
“I look forward to drawing on decades of experience and best practices as I meet advisors and their staff across the country, partner with the firm’s strong leadership teams and work with ICD associates to build on our momentum and continue to be the destination of choice for financial advisors,” Bell said in a statement.
David Sisemore had been serving as the interim president of the independent contractor channel after Reid’s departure. He will continue on as divisional leader until the end of this year, ahead of a planned retirement in December.
Prior to Reid’s departure, the firm lost Alex David, a former Northeast division director at Raymond James’ independent channel, who joined Equity Services Inc., a Montpelier, Vt.-based IBD and RIA owned by National Life Group, as president and CEO.
Raymond James is competing with other broker/dealers, registered investment advisor platforms and custodians to retain and add 1099 advisors. The private client division had 8,943 advisors as of Sept. 30, 2025, across its independent and employee channels, overseeing $1.67 trillion in client assets.
The firm has been winning some advisors from LPL Financial’s Commonwealth into its 1099 channel after that acquisition was finalized in August 2025. This February, it announced the addition of a Massachusetts-based team from Commonwealth, which had been overseeing $682 million in client assets.
In its fiscal first-quarter earnings report, the St. Petersburg-based financial services firm revealed that it increased recruiting– and retention-related compensation by 22%. That helped to draw about $13 billion in clients’ assets from previous companies and trailing 12-month production of $96 million in what CEO Paul Shoukry called a “strong result for a quarter that typically experiences a seasonal slowdown.”