Cetera CEO sees 'even bigger things' ahead as private equity firm reinvests

The chief executive of Cetera Holdings sees a bright future for its financial advisor wealth hub.

Mike Durbin says that the closing of a reinvestment in Cetera Financial Group by private equity firm Genstar Capital will help drive forward the business.

"Genstar's partnership has propelled growth for Cetera for several years, and we look forward to even bigger things to come in the next chapter together," he said. "This reinvestment provides fresh capital to empower our strategic plans and allows us to thoughtfully reinvest in the Cetera business to drive continued growth and success. We are grateful for this vote of confidence by Genstar and are more optimistic than ever headed into 2024."

Durbin will be aiming for the kind of exponential growth that Cetera has enjoyed since Genstar made its initial investment in the firm in 2018. Since then, it has added 5,000 advisors (to around 12,000) and more than doubled its employee head count (to 2,800) with assets under administration growing from $242 billion in 2018 to $475 billion in 2023.

Last November, Cetera saw a significant boost to assets under administration and head count when it completed its acquisition of Avantax.

Investment has been made by Cetera in technology and programs to support its independent advisor and financial institution clients.

For the financial industry focused Genstar, the reinvestment in Cetera Financial Group continues a successful few years according to managing partner Tony Salewski.

"The first chapter of Genstar's partnership with Cetera has been an exciting journey, and we thank the leadership team for tremendous growth and value creation,” he said. “We are excited to re-underwrite Cetera as a new investment, led by our latest fund, Genstar XI. This next chapter will see the further expansion of the business and the Wealth Hub strategy."