Cetera Consolidates Two RIAsCetera Consolidates Two RIAs

Cetera Financial Group has terminated the registration for Cetera Advisors, one of its RIAs, and merged it into Cetera Investment Advisers, according to an announcement. Cetera Investment Advisers will become the primary RIA for “legacy Cetera communities.”

"Through this effort, we are realizing significant cost savings, which we are reinvesting in tools and resources that will help our advisors grow their businesses and benefit their clients,” said Tom Taylor, chief sales and growth officer at Cetera, in a statement.

The RIA Cetera Advisors had nearly $22 billion in total assets and 997 advisory employees, according to its latest Form ADV, while Cetera Investment Advisers has about $104 billion in total assets and nearly 6,000 advisory employees. That's up from $33 billion earlier this year. 

In addition to Cetera Investment Advisers, Cetera has two other RIA entities registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Cetera Advisory Services, and Cetera Investment Management. Cetera Advisor Networks, another RIA it owned, was closed up and consolidated last year, according to public filings.

Over the years, Cetera has been consolidating some of its broker/dealer entities, including Investors Capital Corp., VSR Financial and Summit Brokerage Services, which was converted into an office of supervisory jurisdiction of Cetera Advisor Networks. In 2022, First Allied was shuttered and integrated into Cetera Advisors.

As of December 2023, Cetera had more than 12,000 advisors overseeing more than $475 billion in assets under administration and $190 billion in assets under management.