Cetera Financial Group has acquired a minority stake in CCR Wealth Management, a Westborough, Mass.–based hybrid firm with $2.5 billion in client assets. The firm, which is run by veteran advisor David Borden, uses Cetera Advisors, one of Cetera’s independent broker/dealers, for brokerage business.
The deal represents a newer option for Cetera-affiliated advisors, where Cetera will make strategic, minority investments in wealth management practices.
“We are selective in the firms we support with this type of investment and are proud to partner with David—a proven and respected industry leader,” Cetera CEO Adam Antoniades said in a statement. “It’s compelling to see how Cetera’s growth solutions have attracted even more capital to CCR’s highly impressive assets. Moreover, it’s tremendously rewarding to offer advisors an additional path, outside of our succession and buyout solutions.”
Borden has grown his firm over the years from a two-person team to now more than 35 employees. CCR Wealth Management joined Cetera Advisors in 2000, and the firm said his affiliation has driven “considerable asset growth” since then. “The investment represents the next step in the evolution of the firms’ partnership,” Cetera said in a statement.
Cetera has invested in other practices, including the Costanzo Financial Group, a $500 million firm, which Cetera purchased in March 2022; BAR Financial, a $4 billion super office of supervisory jurisdiction (OSJ) it acquired in January 2021; and MAGIS, an RIA with about $500 million, which it bought in March 2021.
Advisor Group, another network of IBDs, recently entered the M&A market for registered investment advisors for the first time, with the firm making a minority investment in Signature Estate & Investment Advisors, a Los Angeles–based hybrid RIA, alongside Reverence Capital Partners, the b/d network’s majority owner. Advisor Group CEO Jamie Price said it was the first of many strategic investments in growing RIAs the company plans to make in the coming years.