Cetera purges board after being bought by Genstar Capital

Cetera Financial Group said on Thursday morning that it had overhauled its board of directors, with its new board reflecting the recent sale of the large brokerage network to Genstar Capital for $1.7 billion. Gone are Bob Dineen, the former head of Lincoln Financial Network, and Edmond Walters, the former CEO of eMoney Advisors. Both served on the board of Aretec, the holding company that controlled Cetera after it emerged from bankruptcy in May 2016. Mr. Dineen was chairman and Mr. Walters a director. A network of six broker-dealers with close to 8,000 reps and financial advisers, Cetera Financial said in July it was to be acquired by Genstar, a private equity manager. The deal closed last month. The new board closely aligns the two companies. Robert Moore, the CEO of Cetera Financial Group, remains on the board, according to a press release outlining the new board of directors. Replacing Mr. Dineen as chairman of the Cetera board is Ben Brigeman, a member of Genstar Capital's strategic advisory board who advises the firm on the financial services industry. He was formerly a senior executive with Charles Schwab & Co., where he was the head of the individual investor and retail business. Also new to the board are Gary Michel, former chief financial officer of TravelClick, formerly in Genstar's portfolio of companies, and Hal Strong, the former vice chair at Russell Investments. Both are members of Genstar's non-employee strategic advisory board, according to the release. Rounding out the new board are Tony Salewski, managing director of Genstar Capital, and Sid Ramakrishnan, vice president of Genstar Capital. Other Cetera board members replaced include Mary Cranston, Michael Kaufman and David King. The six firms that make up Cetera's independent broker-dealer network are: Cetera Advisor Networks, Cetera Advisors, Cetera Financial Institutions, Cetera Financial Specialists, First Allied Securities and Summit Financial Services Group.