Raymond James Financial (RJF) has named Paul Reilly, currently executive chairman of Korn/Ferry International (KFY) and a RJF board member, to become its president on May 1. After one year, he will succeed RJF Chairman and CEO Thomas A. James as CEO.

RJF, based in St. Petersburg, Fla., announced the change in a press release yesterday. When Reilly becomes CEO, James will continue to work for the firm full time as executive chairman of the board.

Reilly was named to the Raymond James Financial board of directors in 2005, and has served as chair of the audit committee for the past year. He is currently executive chairman of Korn/Ferry, a global provider of talent management solutions, and began his tenure with the company as chairman and CEO in 2001. Prior to that, Reilly was CEO at KPMG International, a firm of more than 100,000 employees with annual revenues of $12 billion. Based in Amsterdam, he was responsible for the overall strategy and implementation of the firm's products, services and infrastructure on a global basis.

"Because he grew up in St. Petersburg, I have known Paul and his family since he was a young tennis player. Since then, he has demonstrated success in academia and international business, as well as, in recent years, as a public company CEO," stated James.

"During his three-year tenure as a board member of Raymond James Financial, he has exhibited high intellect, financial acumen, good decision-making skills, objectivity, and a commitment to the values and tenets upon which Raymond James was founded. I have confidence his work ethic, management skills and integrity will enable him to guide Raymond James to continued success in the future."

In the coming year, Reilly will continue to serve on the RJF board of directors and as part of the succession transition will assume reporting responsibilities and special assignments as dictated by business need.

"The Raymond James Board of Directors and I have been focused on expanding the depth of our management team and addressing the need for a sound succession plan for some time. The addition of Paul as leader of our existing team of very capable managers will achieve that objective. Furthermore, during the transition, I can facilitate that process to assure future success and independence for Raymond James Financial," James continued.

RJF is a Florida-based diversified holding company providing financial services to individuals, corporations and municipalities through its subsidiary companies. Its three principal wholly owned broker/dealers (Raymond James & Associates, Raymond James Financial Services and Raymond James Ltd.) and Raymond James Investment Services Limited, a majority-owned independent contractor subsidiary in the United Kingdom, have a total of more than 5,000 financial advisors serving approximately 1.8 million accounts in 2,200 locations throughout the United States, Canada and overseas. In addition, total client assets are currently $173 billion, of which approximately $26 billion are managed by the firm's asset management subsidiaries.