ON THE MOVE: Raymond James hires Wells Fargo adviser team

Jan 5 (Reuters) - Raymond James has opened its first Richmond, Virginia office with the addition of two veteran advisers from Wells Fargo, the firm said on Thursday.

James Schmidt and Bernice "Bernie" Murff are the latest in a string of new hires who have joined the firm from the largest U.S. brokerages. In the past three weeks, Raymond James said it has added 16 new advisers who managed about $1.5 billion in client assets at their previous firms.

"We're positioning ourselves as the premiere alternative to Wall Street, both for advisers and clients," Raymond James & Associates President Tash Elwyn said. "We've married the scope and scale of the wirehouse with the regional firm feel."

Schmidt and Murff together managed more than $90 million in client assets at Wells Fargo and together generated about $1.1 million in revenue last year. They joined Raymond James' employee broker-dealer division in early December.

The two advisers are joined by their client service associate Tameika Aldridge and report to complex manager Tony Barrett.

Schmidt, a 28-year industry veteran, had been with Wells Fargo for more than a decade before moving to Raymond James.

"Regional firms are the place to be for a lot of brokers now because they're tired of problems with the wirehouses, and transition packages are decent," said New York-based financial services recruiter Rich Schwarzkopf.

Raymond James Financial has about 5,400 U.S.-based financial advisers and $268 billion in total client assets. About 1,300 of those advisers are a part of the firm's employee broker-dealer division.