Inside Cetera’s New $19B Employee-Advisor RIA
The new advisory practice, dubbed Cetera Planning Partners, combines Avantax Planning Partners and the Retirement Planning Group to expand services.
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Cetera Financial Group has launched a new registered investment advisor that will combine Avantax Planning Partners and the Retirement Planning Group into one new entity, dubbed Cetera Planning Partners. The employee-advisor model RIA will support over 100 advisors and approximately $19 billion in assets under advisement, all housed within Cetera’s recently established RIA and branches channel led by ex-Fidelity and Mariner executive Jennifer Hanau.
The move comes nearly three years after Cetera bought Avantax, formerly Blucora, and about three months after its purchase of Avantax-affiliated Darnall Sikes Wealth Partners. While the 2023 Avantax purchase wasn’t the biggest wealth management deal of its day, it was considered one of the more telling with respect to the long-term trajectory of the RIA industry. Increasingly, advisors (and their clients) are seeking access to integrated planning capabilities across tax, estate and retirement planning. At the same time, an aging advisor population is seeking succession planning pathways that meet their needs and those of their staff and clients. Cetera Planning Partners was built to meet this moment, Hanau told Advisor Upside.
“The advisor and RIA landscape is evolving rapidly, and advisors are increasingly looking to spend more time with clients and less time on running a business,” Hanau said. “We believe this is a moment to lead, bringing scale, stability and planning depth together in a way the market is clearly demanding.”
A Long Time Coming
Cetera Planning Partners can expect to benefit from in-house specialists across financial planning, tax, investments, estate planning, insurance, trust services and retirement plans, Hanau said. They will also have access to established CPA firm relationships and a multi-custodial platform built within Cetera.
“We’ve been intentionally building a modern employee‑advisor RIA platform as a key growth engine for Cetera,” Hanau said.
From the CEO. In a separate statement, Cetera Financial Group CEO Mike Durbin said advisor sentiment is increasingly aligned with the RIA model, propelled by accelerating client demand for financial planning and advice that goes beyond portfolio management. He said Cetera is in a strong position to capitalize on the mega-trend, thanks to its multi-affiliation model and its capital structure. The firm is backed by Genstar.
