Cetera Financial Group said it recruited 1,000 new advisors and a record $19 billion in assets under administration on a gross basis year to date through July, which includes 400 advisors that joined through its acquisition of Foresters Financial’s U.S. broker/dealer and advisory business. The firm declined to provide net figures.
The firm reported a net loss of 300 reps from 2017 to 2018, which President Adam Antoniades attributed to “new entrants that have not been successful in the profession.”
Earlier this year, Wealthmanagement.com reported that Cetera’s head of business development, Michael Murray, who left LPL last May to help implement Cetera’s next growth initiative, had been lifted out of Chief Marketing Officer Michael Zuna’s group to report directly to Antoniades. Observers said the move was a sign of the firm's heightened focus on recruiting advisors to the platforms after a year that saw a net loss of advisors, according to sources close to the company.
Much of this year’s growth comes from the addition of Foresters, rebranded Cetera Investors, which operates as a distinct division of Cetera Investment Services, the firm’s self-clearing b/d.
Growth also came from Cetera Advisor Networks, the firm’s b/d for offices of supervisory jurisdiction, or “regions” as Cetera calls them, with new regions joining or advisors joining existing teams, according to a Cetera spokesperson.
The recruiting numbers do not include Summit Brokerage, which is being rolled up into Cetera Advisor Networks as a region.