In a transition that has been years in the making, Amy Webber will take over from Eric Schwartz as CEO of Cambridge Investment Research. Webber will remain as president and Schwartz will become the firm’s executive chairman of the board.
Schwartz wanted to preserve the tight-knit culture that has become Cambridge's trademark.
Webber, president of Cambridge since 2008 and also chief operating officer until 2014, has long been Schwartz' presumed heir apparent. She relinquished her COO title to Ryan Reineke to allow her to focus more on her role as president, and likely to prepare to succeed Schwartz. In 2013, Schwartz began to transfer nearly half of the company's value at the time under his control to company insiders to help preserve the tight-knit culture that has become Cambridge's trademark.
“I am not retiring, but my role has evolved along with the firm and all the talented leaders that we now have in place," Schwartz said in a statement. "Amy continues to report directly to me, with the rest of the firm continuing to report under her as it has for several years.”
MODEL OF STABILITY
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Cambridge's Amy Webber says promotion is next step in complex internal succession plan.
February 20 -
Founder Eric Schwartz is making big plans to preserve the firms independence and viability for the long term -- by giving away control now.
July 22 -
A proposal to deal with RIAs' regulatory advantage over independent broker-dealers.
September 1
In a time of extreme turmoil for the IBD business, Cambridge has been a model of stability — and growth.
Schwartz founded Cambridge 35 years ago and the firm became one of the industry's major players in the early 2000s. According to the
Meanwhile, Cetera Financial Group has been reconstituted after the ill-fated ownership of Nicholas Schorsch and the subsequent bankruptcy of its parent company, RCS Capital; AIG Adviser Group was sold last year to Lightyear Capital and now has a new CEO; and LPL Financial has been buffeted by reports of a possible sale and named Dan Arnold to succeed Mark Cassidy as CEO after years of musical chairs in the company's executive suite.
At Cambridge, Reineke, a senior vice president who has been Cambridge’s chief technology architect for over 13 years, appears to be the heir apparent to Webber; he is now the firm's chief operations and technology officer, reporting directly to Webber while also serving on Cambridge’s executive council.
Seth Miller will become Cambridge’s chief risk officer, in addition to his role as general counsel. Kyle Selberg is the firm's new chief business development officer. Selberg joined Cambridge as head of recruiting in 2008, and has recruited over $470 million in new business, including $80 million in new business last year.
Both Miller and Selberg are senior vice presidents and serve on Cambridge’s Executive Council.
