Jorge Bastarrachea has joined Raymond James to strengthen its international financial advisory business in Miami. The executive leaves Citi after several years to join the Brickell office, in a market that has become one of the main hubs for managing Latin American wealth.
Miami’s wealth management market continues to attract talent specialized in international clients. Jorge Bastarrachea is the latest example: the executive himself announced his arrival at Raymond James & Associates as Director and International Financial Advisor, following several years at Citi.
Bastarrachea announced the move on LinkedIn, where he expressed his gratitude to the team at Citi for the support, mentorship, and cumulative experience gained during his tenure at the institution, while highlighting his enthusiasm for bringing that background to his new role.
His arrival was also confirmed by Raymond James. In a welcome message, the firm emphasized his commitment to clients, his professionalism, and his experience in guiding individuals toward achieving their financial goals.
The executive specifically joins Raymond James’ Miami/Brickell office, a strategic location for a firm serving both US and international investors.
This movement occurs at a time when Miami has consolidated its position as one of the primary nexus points connecting Latin American capital with United States financial markets. The city concentrates a growing community of business leaders, investors, and high-net-worth families from Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, and other countries across the region.
For wealth management firms, this concentration represents an opportunity that extends far beyond simply onboarding clients looking to invest in the US. Demand includes wealth structuring, international diversification, access to global markets, estate planning, and investment vehicles that allow managing wealth across multiple jurisdictions.
In this context, the profile of advisors with experience handling international clients holds particular value. Major financial institutions compete not only through their investment platforms, but also for talent capable of building long-term relationships with families whose wealth and business activities may be spread across several countries. Bastarrachea’s move to Raymond James fits directly into that dynamic.
Miami: Increasingly Central to Latin American Wealth
The strengthening of teams dedicated to the international segment coincides with a broader transformation of Miami as a financial hub for Latin America.
In recent years, the city has drawn a convergence of Latin American capital, entrepreneurs, and financial professionals, driven by factors ranging from geographic diversification to the need for more international wealth and financial structures.
Brickell, home to the office Bastarrachea is joining, has emerged as one of the primary focal points of this activity. Private banks, investment firms, wealth managers, and independent advisors compete to serve a Latin American clientele that is increasingly accustomed to holding a portion of its assets outside their home countries.
For US institutions, the appeal lies in the fact that a relationship established with a Latin American investor can expand across an entire family structure: investments, businesses, real estate assets, and, ultimately, future generations.
As a result, the movement of specialized professionals between major financial institutions can also be viewed as part of a broader competition for internationalized Latin American capital.
In Bastarrachea’s case, his transition from Citi to Raymond James represents a change in professional platform, but it also reflects the growing importance for US firms of having specialists capable of serving clients who no longer view their wealth strictly within their country’s borders.
The battle for this capital is not limited to Miami either. New York, Texas, and other US markets have gained traction as key destinations for Latin American families seeking diversification and access to global markets.
In this landscape, wealth management firms face mounting competition for two assets that cannot be built quickly: client wealth and client trust. And it is precisely there that the depth of experience brought by financial advisors becomes one of the most critical assets for institutions seeking to expand in the international market.
