More senior executives leave rebranded SoCal B-D, Realta

Realta Equities Inc. of San Diego is watching more senior executives recently hired from top-tier rivals follow last month’s departure of CEO Kevin Keefe, an industry veteran who previously worked at LPL Financial and Osaic, formerly Advisor Group. 

In the past few weeks, Realta’s chief financial officer, Tim Bowman, and head of recruiting, Paul Tyler, also left the firm. Meanwhile, Abbey Eastham, head of advisor relations, has also moved on. 

It’s not clear if other Realta executives may follow. It’s also not clear whether those three executives listed above resigned or were let go.

What’s clear is that their time at Realta was short: Bowman worked at Realta for a little more than a year while Tyler started at the company just last fall. Eastham worked at the firm for just four months.

Small broker-dealers are at a distinct disadvantage in the marketplace for financial advisors, one recruiter noted.

“For a smaller firm to have an impact and grow, the only way to do that is to recruit,” said Jodie Papike, CEO of Cross-Search, a recruiting firm. “The small firm must have a really clear value proposition or distinct feature that no one else has in the market. It must stand out and spend some money. If they don’t do that, it’s shrinking.”

Realta, formerly Coastal Equities, was sold to real estate investor Ryan L. Hanks in 2022 and then rebranded two years later. It was obviously targeting senior management from top-tier rivals: Bowman and Eastham formerly worked at Cetera Financial and Tyler previously was with Ameriprise Financial.

Now at Yorkville Advisors, Bowman did not return a call Tuesday afternoon to comment.

Tyler and Eastham, who landed at another San Diego area broker-dealer Independent Financial Group, both declined to comment.

Changes in the position of CFO at financial firms in particular are closely watched because they are linked to the oversight of financial reporting. Meanwhile, widespread changes in senior management at a firm the size of Realta, with about 120 financial advisors, may signal a bumpy ride in the near term.

"We are confident that our recent organizational changes will align the firm more closely with our long-term growth strategy," a Realta spokesperson said on Tuesday. "Our ownership group and seasoned home office team remain committed to the continued delivery of a seamless service experience to our financial advisors.” 

According to the firm’s BrokerCheck profile, Alexander Baltovski is currently the firm’s “outsourced” CFO. Liz Legacy is “interim” CEO, according to BrokerCheck. It’s not clear who is managing the broker-dealer’s recruiting or business development.

The registered investment advisor, Realta Investment Advisors Inc., has about $800 million in client assets, according to its Form ADV.