2 Wealth Management Stocks That Beat The Market

Both Companies Are Surprisingly Cheap

April 29, 2025

Wealth managers, financial advisors, mutual funds…

These are all things the personal finance community hates.

Yet, investing in one of these wealth management companies, which is very different from investing with them, would have significantly outperformed the S&P 500 over the past decade.

And that’s not all.

While neither of these companies pays a particularly high starting dividend yield, both have grown their payouts at a rate that outpaces inflation.

So, a long-term investor ultimately enjoyed market-beating performance and inflation-beating dividend growth. Something that would actually give both the companies on today’s list a 5%+ yield on cost since early May, 2015.

So what are these two businesses?

Raymond James Financial, Inc. ($RJF)

  • Forward PE ratio of 13.27

  • 1.46% starting dividend yield

  • 5-year dividend CAGR of 14.95%

  • Payout ratio of 17.77%.

  • 10-year average annual total return of 15.33%.

This is a company trading at a fairly low valuation despite its market-beating performance. Over the past 10 years, S&P 500 ETF $SPY ( ▼ 0.6% ) delivered an average annual return of 12.02%. Meanwhile, Raymond James consistently beat the market by almost 3% per year.

On a split-adjusted basis, Raymond James traded for $38.27 on April 29th, 2015.

Today, Raymond James pays $2.00 per share in annual dividends, giving long-term investors a 5.22% yield on cost. A good reminder that a low starting yield is okay as long as it’s backed by strong dividend growth.

And…

Ameriprise Financial, Inc. ($AMP)

  • Forward PE ratio of 12.66

  • 1.37% starting dividend yield

  • 5-year dividend CAGR of 8.82%

  • Payout ratio of 16.34%

  • 10-year average annual total return of 16.35%.

While measuring a stock off Pandemic lows is a bit unfair, Ameriprise is up over 311% since April 28th, 2020. And like Raymond James, Ameriprise trades at a low valuation even though it’s a proven market-beater.

Over the past decade, Ameriprise outperformed $SPY ( ▼ 0.6% ) by an average of 4.33% per year.

Ameriprise traded for $127.49 per share on April 29th, 2015. And today, the stock pays $6.40 in annual dividends. Thanks to steady, inflation-beating dividend growth, long-term Ameriprise shareholders are enjoying a 5.02% yield on cost.

Now for the million dollar question…

Is there still room to run?

Probably. While the personal finance crowd loves index funds and managing their own money, there are plenty of people who defer their investments to an advisor. These include people who either don’t have the time or interest to learn about finance, and a surprisingly large number of high net worth individuals who believe their time is better spent focusing on other business ventures.

Ameriprise and Raymond James both trade at relatively cheap valuations while maintaining low dividend payout ratios. And, each company has consistently raised its dividend at a rate that outpaces inflation.

If you’re looking for market-beating stocks in an overlooked sector, Ameriprise and Raymond James are both interesting choices.

Disclaimer: This article is for entertainment purposes only. It is not financial advice, always do your own research.