Financial advisor William (Bill) Dendy, operating in Dallas as Elite Financial Management (EFM), Inc., has joined Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. (RJFS), the firm’s independent broker-dealer arm, with more than $415 million in client assets, the companies announced today in a news release.

Dendy was formerly with LPL Financial’s broker-dealer and corporate registered investment advisor (RIA) platforms. Under his new affiliation with Raymond James, Dendy is both president of EFM and is an RJFS registered principal.

His team at Raymond James includes operations manager Julie Chapman; client concierges and RJFS registered representatives Kibb King, John Thompson and Todd Pace; client concierge and RJFS relationship manager Eamon Devlin; RJFS branch associate Madison Montgomery; and recent addition Bruce Lewin, a financial advisor who was formerly with B. Riley.

Dendy has more than two decades of professional experience in investments and financial planning. He began his financial services career with Shearson Lehman Hutton and later transitioned to Prospera Financial Services before launching EFM in 2004 as an independent financial advisory practice. 

He is not only a financial planner, but also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with an M.B.A. degree in finance from SMU’s Cox School of Business and a Juris Doctor degree in law from SMU’s Dedman School of Law.

In the news release, Dendy explained why he chose to switch from LPL to Raymond James during the COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying recession.

“Though it might sound intimidating to think about making a move during this time of uncertainty, it was one of the smartest decisions I could have made,” Dendy said. “I felt confident in our decision to move and wanted to be able to start taking advantage of the strong support and depth of resources at Raymond James.”

Headquartered in St. Petersburg, Fla., Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., is a wholly owned broker-dealer subsidiary of Raymond James Financial, Inc., a multinational independent investment bank and financial services company.