Robert Moore, Cetera CEO, stepping down for health reasons

Cetera Financial Group said on Tuesday that Robert Moore will step down as its CEO, effective March 31, due to health reasons. Mr. Moore will continue to serve as an adviser to the board and executive management team. Ben Brigeman, board chairman, will serve as interim chief executive while a search for a permanent CEO is conducted, the company said in a statement. Mr. Brigeman will be supported by Adam Antoniades, president; Jeff Buchheister, CFO; and Jeannie Finkel, chief human resources officer. In July 2018, Cetera Financial Group, a network of six independent broker-dealers with about 8,000 brokers and advisers, said that private-equity firm Genstar Capital was buying a majority equity stake in the company. Mr. Moore has been CEO since September 2016, taking over months after the firm had emerged from bankruptcy. "Recently I have been dealing with a health issue that has continued to require treatment and, on advice of my physician, now warrants that I cut back on my current commitments, which is essential to my overall recovery," Mr. Moore said in a statement. Formerly the president of LPL Financial, Mr. Moore left that firm in 2015 after he was passed up to replace then-CEO Mark Casady. He began working at Cetera as chairman in May 2016, shortly after the brokerage network's prior owner, RCS Capital Corp., emerged from bankruptcy under a different name, Aretec (Cetera spelled backwards), and announced that Cetera would be the firm's sole business. Four months later, Mr. Moore stepped down as chairman to become CEO. One of his biggest successes at Cetera was luring Ron Carson, a leading adviser, from LPL in early 2017 to join Cetera. Apart from trying to attract new advisers, Mr. Moore was also focused on rolling out new technology for Cetera's advisers.