Cetera creates 'traditional' and 'specialty' channels for its six B-Ds

Cetera Financial Group has reorganized its six broker-dealers into two "channels" — traditional and specialty. The traditional channel consists of Cetera Advisors, First Allied Securities and Summit Brokerage Services. Brett Harrison, now CEO of Cetera Advisors, will lead the channel. In a release, the company said it recruited Mimi Bock to serve as president of Cetera Advisors and First Allied Securities. Most recently, Ms. Bock served as executive vice president of national sales and consulting at LPL Financial. Earlier, she served in a number of senior roles at Morgan Stanley, including managing director of global wealth management marketing. She replaces Erinn Ford at Cetera Advisors and Kevin Keefe at First Allied, who had earlier informed Cetera of their respective decisions to transition away from the company, according to industry sources. Summit Brokerage Services will continue to be headed by Marshall Leeds, its CEO. The specialty channel, which encompasses Cetera Advisor Networks, Cetera Financial Institutions and Cetera Financial Specialists, will be led by Tom Taylor. He will continue to serve as CEO and president of Cetera Advisor Networks, while LeAnn Rummel will remain president of Cetera Financial Institutions, and Gregg Ruvoli will continue as president of Cetera Financial Specialists. The specialty channel will continue the firm's focus on supporting large teams of independent advisers, the wealth management programs of financial institutions, and advisers who specialize in tax advisory work. In a related move, Cetera made other management changes. Catherine Bonneau, most recently CEO of Cetera Financial Institutions, was promoted to chief operating officer for Cetera Financial Group, and Tim Stinson, formerly national sales manager for wealth management, was promoted to the new position of head of wealth management. "The launch of our two channels not only furthers our mission to redefine what it means to deliver financial advice, but also reflects Cetera's distinctive ability to serve financial advisers under business and affiliation structures that require a specialty set of resources, expertise and support to help fuel their success," said Cetera CEO Robert Moore.​ "The leadership team announcements are part of our ongoing strategy for aligning the right senior talent with roles and responsibilities that drive the delivery of an advice-centric experience for advisers and clients," he added. (More: As LPL buys broker-dealers, its rivals also benefit)