IBKR vs. RJF: Which Brokerage Player Offers More Growth?

By Nikita Kataruka | September 26, 2025, 1:07 PM

Interactive Brokers Group IBKR and Raymond James Financial RJF are two prominent names within the brokerage and investment services industry that serve retail and institutional clients. Since both firms generate revenues from trading-related activity and client accounts, they have been benefiting of late from heightened market volatility and increased retail investor participation.

Being an electronic trading platform, IBKR is more technology-driven, serving more advanced traders with its comprehensive tools. Its core strength lies in providing low-cost, high-tech online brokerage services. RJF, conversely, is more traditional in its approach. It is more of a diversified financial services company popular for its wealth management, investment banking and asset management divisions.

While both brokerage players — Raymond James and Interactive Brokers — are poised to benefit in the evolving trading market, let us find out which of the two offers better upside potential. In order to understand this, let us break down their fundamentals, financial performance and growth prospects.

The Case for Interactive Brokers

IBKR’s technological superiority remains one of its strongest aspects. The company processes trades in stocks, futures, options and forex on more than 160 exchanges across several countries and currencies. Superior technology usage has kept IBKR’s compensation expenses relative to net revenues (10.9% in the first half of 2025) below its industry peers. Further, the company has been emphasizing developing proprietary software to automate broker-dealer functions, leading to a steady rise in revenues.

The company’s technological superiority, combined with easier regulations to improve product velocity, will likely support its net revenues through higher client acquisitions. Net revenues are expected to strengthen in the quarters ahead, given the company’s solid Daily Average Revenue Trades number and a robust trading backdrop, driven by higher market participation.

Interactive Brokers has been undertaking several product diversification efforts to expand globally. Last month, it introduced Connections, a new feature designed to help investors discover trading opportunities and evaluate investments. Also, it launched zero-commission U.S. stock trading in Singapore. In July, it launched NISA accounts to help Japanese investors build wealth tax-free. Last year, IBKR introduced Plan d’Epargne en Actions accounts to boost its offerings for its French clients. The launch of IBKR GlobalTrader has enabled investors worldwide to trade stocks through mobile applications.

Moreover, IBKR was one of the first brokers to introduce Overnight Trading on U.S. stocks and ETFs nearly 24 hours a day, five days a week. The launch of Impact Dashboard, an innovative, sustainable investing tool, has made the company the first major brokerage firm to allow investors to align their portfolio with their values easily. The introduction of IBKR Desktop, the next-generation desktop trading application for Windows and Mac, marks a new chapter for innovation.

IBKR uses insignificant debt to finance its operations. While the company was consistent with its dividend payment for a long time, it hiked its quarterly dividend 150% to 25 cents per share in April 2024. In April 2025, it once again announced a dividend hike of 28% and a four-for-one forward split of its common stock to make shares more accessible to investors.

The Case for Raymond James

RJF has always focused on providing personalized, comprehensive financial solutions tailored to a wide range of financial goals. The company delivers value through diversified revenue streams that include advisory and management fees, commissions from trades and interest income from lending activities.

In an intensely competitive environment, most of Raymond James' businesses are performing relatively well. The Private Client Group (“PCG”) segment remains one of the best performers. Net revenues in the segment witnessed a compound annual growth rate of 12.7% over the last three fiscal years (2021-2024), with the upward momentum continuing in the first nine months of fiscal 2025.

Moreover, RJF has accomplished several opportunistic deals over the past years, which have helped it expand into Europe and Canada. In fiscal 2023, the company acquired Canada-based Solus Trust Company Limited. In fiscal 2022, it acquired SumRidge Partners, TriState Capital Holdings and the U.K.-based Charles Stanley Group PLC. In fiscal 2021, it acquired Cebile Capital and a boutique investment bank, Financo. These deals, along with several past ones, have positioned Raymond James well for growth.

Management looks forward to actively growing through acquisitions to strengthen the PCG and Asset Management segments. Notably, in May 2024, the company announced that it had forayed into the lucrative private credit business through a partnership with Eldridge Industries.

Supported by a robust capital position, Raymond James has been enhancing shareholder value through efficient capital deployments. The company has a track record of regularly raising dividends over the last decade. The last dividend hike of 11.1% was announced in December 2024. In the same month, RJF authorized the repurchase of shares worth up to $1.5 billion.

IBKR & RJF: Price Performance, Valuation & Other Comparisons

So far this year, shares of Interactive Brokers have gained 47.1%, whereas the RJF stock has rallied 10.7%. Hence, in terms of investor sentiments, IBKR has the edge.