Dennis Zank, president of Raymond James & Associates Inc., visited the firm’s West Des Moines office last week. The company is the No. 8 financial services company in the United States in terms of the number of financial advisers it employs. The Business Record caught up with Zank and spoke to him about why he came, his plans for the St. Petersburg, Fla.-based company and where he thinks the stock market is headed in 2004.

Q: Why did you come?

A: There’s a large customer-appreciation event tonight. It’s an annual event. It’s a way for Raymond James to say thanks for the business to its customers. We’re expecting about 250 people. That means that each broker would have invited about 20 or 30 people.

Q: Where’s the stock market headed?

A: The economy is booming. All indicators are positive. Actual results for corporate profits are beating analysts’ estimates. If we can get a little more comfortable with what’s happening overseas, then we should be in good shape. This is an election year, and there’s a lot of incentive to get things going.

Q: What’s in store in the coming year for Raymond James?

A: We’ll be starting a new marketing campaign. We have a newly created division called Advisor Select. We believe there are individuals who want to establish new branches (of Raymond James), but want the stability of remaining an employee of a large company. We opened the first branch about two months ago in Mobile, Ala. We’re targeting financial advisers, rather than new customers. The reason, I believe, that a client chooses to remain with a financial services company is due to the relationship they have with their financial adviser. If you bring in a financial adviser, the clients will come with them. What I do is provide tools for financial advisers, retirement planning, mutual fund research, trust services. We have a large equity division and do closed-fund research. When our advisers get in a corner, they can call an expert in St. Petersburg. If you keep your financial advisers satisfied, then you’ll keep your clients.

Q: Can you talk about the firm?

A: We were founded in 1962. The company evolved around the tremendous amount of retirees flooding to Florida. In the early days, we were moving them from growth-oriented investments to fixed-income investments. Estate planning, trusts and other services followed. Raymond James & Associates has about 90 branches. Raymond James Financial Services has between 1,700 and 1,800 locations. Raymond James & Associates has a target to hire 102 experienced brokers and train 100 agents. Raymond James Financial Services is looking to hire 300 new advisers.