Cetera COO Tom Gooley to retire in planned leadership transition

Cetera chief operating officer Tom Gooley plans to retire after the first quarter, closing out a tenure that saw the firm digest multiple acquisitions, stand up a multicustodial platform and sharpen its focus on tax-centric and RIA channels.

The move follows more than a year of succession planning with Cetera’s leadership team, the company said Wednesday. Gooley will remain in his post through the end of the first quarter of 2026, with a to-be-named successor expected to overlap with him to support onboarding and business continuity.

Cetera framed the timing of the transition around several in-flight priorities, including the integration of Avantax and post-conversion “service after-care” for advisors and clients coming onto the platform.

Cetera closed its $1.2 billion acquisition of Avantax in late 2023, at the time adding more than $82 billion in assets under administration, a $7.8 billion RIA and a network of over 3,000 financial professionals, while deepening its ties with Fidelity via a clearing and custody relationship.

“Tom agreed to stay through a critical period of transitions and growth to ensure consistency of service and stability for operations for our advisors, partners, and internal teams,” said Cetera Financial Group CEO Mike Durbin in the announcement. He added that Gooley’s leadership helped move Cetera into “a powerful industry position.”

Gooley joined Cetera in October 2020 after roles at Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and LPL, stepping in to oversee service, technology, trading and operations during a stretch of rapid expansion. At Cetera, he helped build out a more customer-centric operating model and led the rollout of the firm’s multicustodial framework, including adding Fidelity’s National Financial Services as a clearing option.

He was also a key player in integrating several large deals beyond Avantax, including acquisitions of Voya’s and Securian’s wealth businesses. The Securian transaction alone brought nearly $50 billion in client assets and the vast majority of Securian’s advisors under the Cetera umbrella, while creating the Cetera Wealth Management Group unit for those teams.

Last year also brought more leadership changes aimed at reinforcing Cetera's RIA channel business. Among other appointments, the firm brought in Envestnet alum Andina Anderson as managing director of digital solutions and head of its RIA Blueprint platform, after which it tapped Jen Hanau from Mariner to lead its new RIA and branches channel. In October, Cetera welcomed Paul Polese as the community leader for RIA Blueprint.

In a statement, Gooley said he was “incredibly proud of the significant success this team has experienced together,” noting that it was driven by “a collective commitment rooted in trust, transparency, and teamwork.” He described Cetera’s culture as one that emphasizes shared ownership and said that focus has “created momentum that will carry Cetera forward far beyond this transition.”

Durbin said the pending handoff is both a recognition of Gooley’s impact and a pivot toward Cetera’s next phase. 

"The foundation we’ve built allows us to deliver the benefits of Cetera’s scale on a by-practice basis, which is part of how we make the big feel small and support each advisor, firm, and financial institution based on what they need to grow and succeed," he said.