From economic events to financial news, the media often turn to Raymond James for analyses and commentary. And you can, too. Our relationship with Raymond James, as well as other professionals in the legal and accounting community, enables us to provide you with thought capital from industry experts and other tenured specialists. We’re pleased to work with some of the best and brightest in the industry. Our access to these professionals allows us to leverage their expertise in order to help us serve you well.
Scott J. Brown, Ph.D.
Chief Economist
Senior Vice President, Equity Research
As Raymond James’ chief economist and senior vice president of the firm’s Equity Research department, Scott Brown provides economic and statistical analysis to Raymond James financial advisors, their clients, portfolio managers and institutional clients through daily, weekly and monthly written commentary, along with intraday “Hot News” alerts.
Scott joined Raymond James Equity Research in July 1995 after two years as an economist in the firm’s Fixed Income Research department.
Before his arrival at Raymond James, he was manager of economic research at Pacific First Bank in Seattle and had previously been director of economic research at First Imperial Advisors in San Diego. He also worked as an economist for the San Diego Gas & Electric Company.
Scott earned his doctorate in economics from the University of California at San Diego, where he studied time series analysis and forecasting under Nobel laureates Robert F. Engle and Clive W.J. Granger. Scott also holds a Master of Science degree in statistics from the University of Illinois and a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics from the University of California at Irvine.
Scott serves on the Economic Advisory Committee of the American Bankers Association and is a member of the Bond Market Association’s Economic Advisory Committee. He has also served as a member of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors for the state of Florida.
Kevin H. Giddis
Senior Managing Director
Head of Fixed Income
Kevin Giddis joined Raymond James in April 2012 when Morgan Keegan was acquired by Raymond James. He serves as a senior managing director and head of the Fixed Income division of Raymond James. Kevin oversees the Fixed Income division’s sales, trading and research operations, which provide support for institutional and retail financial advisors.
Kevin joined Morgan Keegan in 1998 as head of the Fixed Income Retail Trading Desk. In 2008, he was named head of Fixed Income Sales, Trading and Research, prior to being named president of the Fixed Income Capital Markets division in 2010. He was a member of Morgan Keegan’s Executive Committee, the firm’s Credit Committee, Regions Bank’s Economic Forecasting Committee and Regions Bank’s Traded Markets Open Committee.
Prior to joining Morgan Keegan, Kevin was senior vice president and head of Taxable Fixed Income Trading at Principal Financial Securities in Dallas. He previously served as vice president and head of Dealer Desk at Hibernia National Bank in Dallas. Kevin was also an institutional salesperson at Deposit Guaranty National Bank and Howard Weil & Co. in Jackson, Mississippi. Kevin earned a B.S. degree in finance from the University of Southern Mississippi.
Kevin serves on the Board of Trustees of St. George’s Independent School. He also serves on the University of Southern Mississippi Athletic Foundation Board. He makes regular appearances on Bloomberg Television, Fox Business News and CNBC, and is frequently quoted by MarketWatch, Investors Business Daily, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, CNN Money and The New York Times. He was one of eight forecasters selected by Barron’s to predict interest rates for 2007.
Nicholas L. Lacy, CFA
VP, Consulting Services
Director of Institutional Research
Asset Management Services
With more than 14 years of industry experience, Nicholas Lacy joined Raymond James in 2006. He directs a team of researchers who, among other activities, are responsible for setting the asset allocation policy for Asset Management Services’ (AMS) discretionary (Freedom) and non-discretionary models. Nicholas is a voting member of the AMS Investment Committee, which is the decision-making body for AMS solutions including Freedom and separately managed accounts.
Nicholas earned a Bachelor of Science degree in finance and a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of South Florida. Additionally, he holds an MBA from the University of Tampa, Chartered Financial Analyst charter, and is a member of the CFA Institute, Investment Management Consultants Association and Financial Analyst Society of Tampa Bay.
Rebecca Zwerin
Assistant Vice President, Internal Consultant
Asset Management Services
In her role as vice president, internal consultant for Asset Management Services, Raymond James Financial, Rebecca Zwerin specializes in the delivery of the investment management consulting process including: investment policy development and review, asset allocation, manager search and selection, and ongoing due diligence.
In 1995, Rebecca joined Raymond James Financial and has spent her entire tenure in the Asset Management Group. She began her career working with Eagle Asset Management and transferred to the Consulting Services department in 2004.
Rebecca is a member of the Institute of Investment Management Consultants. She is a graduate from the University of Missouri-Columbia, is a Registered Advisor and holds both Series 7 and Series 66 licenses.
Pat Daxon, CFA™, CFP®
Vice President, Wealth Solutions – Wealth, Retirement & Portfolio Solutions
In his role, Pat Daxon is responsible for technical financial planning and wealth management support for the associates and financial advisors of Raymond James. He joined Raymond James in 1996 and assumed management responsibility of the Financial Planning Group in 2009. Pat is the director of the firm’s Institute of Finance and has management responsibilities for the Wealth Solutions and Retirement Plan Consulting departments.
Pat received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree in finance from Stetson University in 1989 and his Master of Business Administration from the University of South Florida in 1991. In addition, Pat earned his Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) designation in 2000 and his Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®) charter in 2002. He is a member of the CFP Board’s Business Model Working Group, the Financial Planning Association (FPA) Advocacy Committee, SIFMA’s Wealth Strategies Roundtable and the Tampa Bay Society of Financial Analysts.
