Office address: 655 W. Broadway, 11th Floor, San Diego, CA 92101
Website: cetera.com
Year established: 2010
Company type: financial services
Employees: 11,400+ (2025)
Expertise: independent broker-dealer services, registered investment adviser services, wealth management platforms, retirement plan advice, financial planning, bank and credit union investment programs, tax and advanced planning support
Parent company: Aretec Group, Inc. (dba Cetera Holdings; majority-owned by Genstar Capital)
Key people: Michael Durbin (CEO), Jeffrey Buchheister (CFO), Tom Gooley (COO), Lisa Gok (chief legal officer), Jenifer Kerr (CHRO), Michael Zuna (chief marketing and communications officer), Joseph Neary (chief risk officer)
Financing status: private equity-backed
Cetera Financial Group (CFG) is a wealth management network that supports independent advisors, banks, and credit unions nationwide. It offers broker-dealer and RIA platforms, planning tools, and practice support from its main base in San Diego. The company works with about 11,400 financial professionals and oversees around $640 billion in client assets as of 2025.
CFG traces its story to independent firms launched in the early 1980s. Cetera Advisors and Cetera Financial Specialists started in 1981, followed by Cetera Wealth Services in 1983 and Cetera Investment Services in 1984. These businesses later formed the backbone of a single network built around independent financial advice.
In 2010, Lightyear Capital brought three ING broker-dealers together and introduced the Cetera brand. Those firms were later reintroduced as:
During this period, CFG also added Genworth Financial Investment Services in 2012 and First Allied Securities in 2013. CFG then moved under RCS Capital in 2014 before emerging from RCAP's bankruptcy in 2016 as an independent company under Aretec Group.
Genstar Capital took a majority stake in Cetera and its broker-dealer network in 2018 to support long-term growth. Under Genstar's backing, CFG acquired Foresters Financial's US broker-dealer in 2019. It then added:
As 2025 closed, CFG trimmed costs with another workforce reduction after an earlier 5 percent cut. In that same year, Cetera Financial Institutions expanded its bank channel by adding Peoples Bank and Trust and Alma Bank.
These days, CFG operates as a national wealth hub with affiliated professionals in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Its four broker-dealers and related RIAs support an Advice-Centric framework that helps advisors show clear value on a client's balance sheet.
Through this structure, Cetera Financial Group links independent advisors, banks, and credit unions under a shared focus on practical, personal financial guidance.
CFG's offerings support independent advice at scale with focused technology, practice support, and institutional programs:
Overall, these offerings let advisors and institutions tap a large platform while keeping local control. Cetera Financial Group also stresses flexible affiliation options and broad field support so practices can adapt as they grow.
Cetera Financial Group describes a culture focused on turning financial goals into reality. Its four core values are:
CFG says that its workplace focuses on supporting clients' financial goals and backs employees with pay and benefits for life outside work:
According to Cetera Financial Group, diversity of backgrounds and views is central to better ideas and outcomes. The Cetera Inclusion & Impact Council guides actions to reach underserved investors and build a more inclusive advice profession.
Mike Durbin is CEO of Cetera Financial Group and a member of its board. He previously led Fidelity Institutional at Fidelity Investments. Durbin holds an MBA from NYU Stern and a BBA from Notre Dame.
Durbin is supported by a seasoned leadership team that includes:
Cetera states that its leaders are expected to stay visible and accessible to advisors and institutions. They do this by focusing on growth, risk control, and direct field support.
In late 2025, CFG recruited Guided Financial Strategies from LPL with about $250 million in assets. The Connecticut practice joined Summit Financial Networks for its service culture and community structure. This hire reflects Cetera Financial Group's broader push to attract experienced advisors who want scale with personal attention.
On the regulatory side, FINRA fined three Cetera Financial Group broker-dealers a combined $1.1 million in January 2026. The penalties tied back to past lapses in low-priced securities supervision and anti-money laundering controls. Cetera called the issues "historical" and said it had already fixed them and strengthened its compliance programs.
'We feel over the moon with this transaction,' LPL's CEO Rich Steinmeier said.
The six models, offered in partnership with Envestnet, are designed to help advisors manage affluent and institutional client relationships.
The buyer, Equitable, is looking to grow right now.
Cetera is leaning on Summit Financial and its veteran leader Marshall Leeds to reel in those advisors.
'Advisors always tell you it's not about the money when it comes to recruiting, but when you see money like that, it's about the money,' one executive said.
The cuts involved a few dozen workers in Stifel's IT department, mostly in St. Louis, according to a report.
'This is about as fiercely competitive an environment for a group of advisors as I’ve ever seen,' says one senior industry executive.
Inside Mike Durbin and Cetera's quest to make 'big' feel 'small.'
Wealth.com and Shaping Wealth have also tapped other industry heavyweights to beef up their own advisory boards.
Longtime Commonwealth marketing executive Sarah Howes has been hired to spearhead advisor marketing at Farther, and 16 ex-Commonwealth advisors totaling $1.7 billion AUM are set to follow her to the technology-focused RIA.
Wells Fargo has also added more than $800 million in new AUM with recruitments from UBS, Osaic, and Merrill Lynch.
It is not clear how many employees will be affected, but none of the private partnership's 20,000 financial advisors will see their jobs at risk.
Cetera's policy advocacy leader explains how gig worker protection proposal might hurt independent financial advisors, and why it's "a complete outlier" in the current legal landscape.
Most notably, two chief compliance officers have also recently left the firm.
The latest team to join Cetera, led by a 29-year veteran professional, arrives with roughly $380 million in AUA from OSJ Private Advisor Group.
