The war for advisor talent continued in earnest this week in the East Coast, with Cetera picking up another Commonwealth team in North Carolina just as Ameriprise welcomes a Florida-based advisor while losing another to Prudential Advisors in New Jersey.
Durham, North Carolina-based Tucker Bria Wealth Strategies, led by Jim Tucker and Patrick Bria, has joined Cetera through its Summit Financial Networks channel, bringing with it approximately $420 million in assets under administration.
The firm's tagline, "Life alters wealth," reflects its focus on financial planning for clients navigating major transitions such as inheritances, business sales and other life events. Tucker and Bria, who have known each other since their teenage years in Pittsburgh and later swam together at Duke University, built the practice together since 2013.
The pair spent more than a decade at Commonwealth before LPL Financial's acquisition last year prompted them to evaluate other options, according to Cetera. Their search spanned both traditional broker-dealer and independent registered investment advisor models before they settled on Cetera's Summit community. Continuity was a central consideration, as the firm said it was able to retain its existing custodial relationship with Fidelity's National Financial Services and continue using third-party technology already embedded in its client service workflow.
"We wanted a partner strong enough to provide the compliance, technology and back-office support we didn't want to build ourselves, but flexible enough to let us keep running our business exactly the way we always have," Tucker said, highlighting how Summit's "clear reason for being ... mattered to us as much as anything else."
Tucker Bria's next generation of advisors, including Josh Polidori, Chris Bleeker and Taylor Clement, already serve as primary contacts for many of the practice's second- and third-generation clients, according to the firm. Cetera reported that its advisor network manages approximately $630 billion in assets under administration and $296 billion in assets under management as of March 31.
Read more: At Cetera, CEO Durbin says that recruiting advisors is strong but remains expensive: analyst
In Boca Raton, Florida, advisor Mitchell Edenbaum has moved his practice to the branch channel of Ameriprise Financial after departing Oppenheimer & Co., bringing more than $145 million in client assets.
Edenbaum, who has spent three decades in the industry, cited the firm's technology platform and what he described as a deep institutional commitment to advisor growth, as well as Ameriprise's strong leadership, as key factors in his decision.
“I'm excited about this next chapter and look forward to leveraging the firm's capabilities to continue delivering exceptional service while growing my business,” Edenbaum said.
He is supported locally by Branch Manager Drew Granauro, Complex Director Dan Landrau and Regional Vice President Mike Rearden, according to Ameriprise.
Ameriprise noted that it has added roughly 1,700 advisors over the past five years, a pace the firm has attributed to continued investment in its advisor support infrastructure.
In Holmdel, New Jersey, longtime advisor Christopher Grella has joined Prudential Advisors' NJ Wealth Partners headquartered in Holmdel, New Jersey.
Grella departed Ameriprise, where he most recently served as a vice president overseeing more than $110 million in client assets. Grella's career has spanned Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Janney Montgomery Scott and MetLife before an extended run as an independent advisor and later at Ameriprise.
"I've built my business on my deeply held values of building confidence, transparency, empathy, and personalized guidance to create lasting relationships and seek better outcomes for clients and their families," Grella said.
According to his BrokerCheck record, Grella is currently registered as an investment advisor and broker at LPL, which in 2024 completed a partnership deal with Prudential to provide operational support thousands of Prudential's retail advisors.
Rob Nigro, managing director at Prudential Advisors, said Grella's emphasis on long-term, generational client relationships aligned with the firm's approach at NJ Wealth Partners, which operates on an open-architecture platform designed for established advisors seeking to scale their practices.
Prudential Advisors supports more than 3,000 financial advisors nationally, according to the firm, while parent company Prudential Financial reported approximately $1.6 trillion in assets under management as of June 30.
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