Cetera Financial Group has acquired a minority stake in Prosperity Advisors, a $1.7 billion Kansas City area-based office of supervisory jurisdiction led by industry veteran Paul Ewing. The firm uses Cetera Advisors, one of Cetera’s independent broker/dealers, for brokerage business.
This is the second such deal for Cetera, and this newer option is part of the firm’s partner practice program, where the firm will make strategic, minority investments in wealth management practices. Those practices can then use Cetera’s proprietary growth solutions and technology to grow their businesses.
“This expanded partnership with Cetera activates our potential to reach new heights, better serve clients and expand our services in new ways for years to come,” Ewing said in a statement. “Cetera fully understands our business goals, shares our vision and embraces our client-first approach, and we look forward to close collaboration.”
Prosperity Advisors has over 60 staff members in four locations, including Overland Park, Kan.; Akron, Ohio; Carmel, Ind.; and Toledo, Ohio. The firm, which was founded by Ewing in 1989, has been affiliated with Cetera since 1999.
This deal follows Cetera Financial Group's minority investment in October in CCR Wealth Management, a Westborough, Mass.-based hybrid firm with $2.5 billion in assets, also with Cetera Advisors.
Other independent broker/dealers have made similar acquisitions in the advisory businesses they serve.
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.
In November, LPL Financial acquired one of its own branch offices for the first time. Financial Resources Group Investment Services (FRGIS) is an LPL branch office based in Fort Mill, S.C., working with about 800 advisors and 85 banks and credit unions throughout the country.