Compensation paid to Raymond James by ETP companies
Marketing and support payments
Raymond James provides a variety of marketing and other sales support services to exchange-traded product (“ETP”) companies related to their ETPs for compensation. The services provided by Raymond James to ETP companies participating in the Education and Marketing Support Program (“Program”) include, but are not limited to:
- providing detailed data reporting to the fund company
- providing fund information to financial advisors
- assisting fund companies with strategic planning and business development support
- providing opportunities to be featured in educational marketing campaigns
- providing opportunities for assisting with professional development workshops, study groups, and other educational events and conferences
Raymond James also provides distribution support for prospectuses and promotional materials relating to ETPs that participate in the Program.
Payments to participate in the Program may be structured as a flat dollar fee or a percentage of relevant AUM, and the actual amounts that Raymond James receives will vary from one ETP company to another. These payments are generally not disclosed in detail in a particular product’s prospectus or SAI, but the potential level of fees that Raymond James receives from a particular ETP company in connection with its participation in the Program will not exceed $3 million per year. Additionally, no portion of the payments received by Raymond James is paid to or shared directly with your financial advisor or his or her respective branch office. The payments are paid directly by, or on behalf of, the ETP companies to Raymond James and are not paid directly from the assets of your ETP.
The following ETP companies have agreed to participate in the Program:
- BlackRock iShares
- First Trust
- Invesco
- State Street Global Advisors
- WisdomTree
General promotional activities
Marketing representatives of ETP companies or their affiliated distributors, who are often referred to as “wholesalers,” work with Raymond James financial advisors to promote their ETPs. Consistent with applicable laws and regulations, these ETP companies and their wholesalers may pay for or provide training and education programs for Raymond James financial advisors and their existing and prospective clients. ETP companies may also pay for due diligence meetings, conferences, relationship building events, other occasional activities, and/or provide promotional items that are intended to result in the promotion and sale of their ETPs.
Conferences
ETP companies participate in educational conferences organized or sponsored by Raymond James to provide generalized product information and may pay Raymond James a fee to offset the cost of a conference.
The CBOE Volatility Index® (VIX® Index®) is a key measure of market expectations of near-term volatility conveyed by S&P 500 stock index option prices.