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Cetera Financial Group CEO to Retire

Career Moves November 07, 2024 at 04:15 PM
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What You Need To Know

  • Adam Antoniades will step down from his executive role at year-end.
  • He will be replaced by Mike Durbin, who now leads Cetera Holdings.
  • The firm's growth strategies won't change with the transition, according to the duo.
Headshots of Cetera executives Adam Antoniades and Mike Durbin

Cetera Financial Group, a network of independent advisory firms, said Thursday that CEO  Adam Antoniades will retire at the end of the year.

Antoniades will be replaced by Mike Durbin, CEO of Cetera Financial Group's parent company, Cetera Holdings, and a former Fidelity executive who came on board in May of last year. Durbin will lead both entities effective Dec. 31, overseeing the their ongoing business growth and shared strategic direction.

In an interview with ThinkAdvisor ahead of the announcement Thursday, Antoniades said he's confident that this is the right time to step away, giving him more time to focus on friends and family. But he also looks forward to remaining active in his support of Cetera as a board member.

"There are many chapters in every exceptional organization," Antoniades said. "I am proud to have served as both a turnaround and expansion CEO, guiding the company through crucial phases of growth and transformation.

"Mike is a proven leader who will guide the next chapter, driving the company forward into even greater opportunities for accelerated growth and success," he addded.

Antoniades, 59, has spent 35 years in the financial services industry, having served as the co-founder and CEO of First Allied Securities (now a part of Cetera) from 1994 though his move to Cetera in 2014.

At that time, Antoniades was named president of Cetera Financial Group before moving on to become CEO in 2019 — following the firm's acquisition by private equity firm Genstar Capital.

Growth History

Under Antoniades' leadership as CEO, Cetera has grown significantly. From 2019 to the end of 2024, Cetera will have acquired nine companies, boosted assets under management by 200% and increased total revenue by almost $2.8 billion.

It wrapped up its $1.2 billion acquistion of Avantax a year ago.

The company has also enhanced its advisor offering to include proprietary platforms like AdviceWorks and Growth 360, Antoniades said, allowing it to better serve advisors and becoming a destination for advisors seeking growth-oriented resources, tools and support for business success.

Overall, the firm is now home to roughly 12,000 financial professionals and their teams, while Cetera Financial Group oversees more than $521 billion in assets under administration and $224 billion in assets under management.

Its operations include RIA Cetera Investment Advisers and broker-dealers Cetera Advisors, Cetera Advisor Networks, Cetera Investment Services (marketed as Cetera Financial Institutions or Cetera Investors), and Cetera Financial Specialists.

In a recent discussion with ThinkAdvisor, Durbin said that Cetera was enjoying "tremendous momentum" following some big-ticket acquisitions and its year-end 2023 recapitalization via Genstar.

Durbin said that Cetera would continue its acquisition push, but the focus is also on helping its advisor force grow books of business the old-fashioned way — by winning more clients and offering more services to those already working with the firm.

In the end, Durbin emphasized, it's a great time to be in the financial advisory business, but firm leaders need to remain diligent and committed to ongoing innovation.

Industry Evolution

Antoniades said his retirement as CEO comes at a time of significant change and opportunity.

On the one hand, he said, there has never been more need or demand for the services of independent financial planning professionals who can help clients pursue both their immediate money goals and their long-term plans for retirement and legacy giving.

Despite this, the number of financial advisors has essentially held steady for many years, and that seems likely to remain the case as many financial advisors plan to retire in the next five to 10 years.

This makes it important for the industry to attract young people and job changes, Antoniades explained, but it's also important to help advisors do their work more efficiently.

"We can help ensure our advisors remain successful and that clients get the support they need by investing in technology and providing resources that allow advisors to serve more clients in a more personalized way," he said. "That's going to remain a big strategic priority under Mike's leadership."

Antoniades noted that Cetera will remain committed to its multi-affiliation model, through which the firm "strives to make the big feel small" for its independent advisor force.

"Ultimately, I'm very confident about what we have built here at Cetera and the future opportunity we have," Antoniades said.

"I like to say that, what we are doing here in the independent advisor space really reflects the American Dream. It's about giving our advisors the ability to control their own destiny, to do well for their clients and to earn a good living along the way," he added.

Pictured: Adam Antoniades and Mike Durbin

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