Cetera Financial Group is unexpectedly looking for a CEO — just a year after the 7,700-advisor independent broker-dealer network restructured and sold to a new ownership team.
Robert “RJ” Moore will resign from the CEO role at the end of next month due to “a health issue that has continued to require treatment and, on advice of my physician, now warrants that I cut back on my current commitments which is essential to my overall recovery,” he said in a statement on Feb. 19.
Moore has not disclosed the details of the medical issue, but the firm knows that it’s not a terminal illness, Cetera spokeswoman Adriana Senior said in an email following the surprise
Cetera's advisors have been informed of Moore's impending move, according to Senior, who didn’t respond to a follow-up question asking for details on how the firm broke the news to them. The website Wealth Management
Macroeconomic trends and matters of convenience will move advisors, assets and markets next year in the ever-changing wealth management space.
The firm, which expects Moore to remain an advisor to its board and senior leaders, has retained headhunters Heidrick & Struggles to lead the replacement effort. Moore took over in September 2016 after serving as CFO and president of LPL Financial, where he was succeeded by current LPL CEO Dan Arnold.
Cetera’s outgoing CEO led its six IBDs through their first full year
“RJ has been the leader needed at Cetera during the company's restructuring and remarkable turnaround, and we are grateful that he will be able to continue to be part of the organization in an advisory capacity,” Brigeman said in a statement. “I, and the Board, remain committed to our aggressive growth plans for Cetera.”
Brigeman, who is also a member of Genstar’s Strategic Advisory Board, added that the firm is “confident in the strength of Cetera's leadership to continue to accelerate growth” while providing “world-class services and technology” to its advisors.
Cetera’s six firms, including its two largest IBDs Cetera Advisor Networks and Cetera Advisors, boosted its revenue by 10% year-over-year to $1.78 billion in 2017, the most recent year of available data in Financial Planning’s FP50 survey. Moore’s team later separated the firm’s six IBDs
In his statement, Moore called his upcoming exit “one of the most difficult decisions of my professional career and one that has engendered many mixed emotions” and said he was “truly fortunate” to be surrounded by caring friends, family and colleagues.
“It has been an incredible privilege to have had the opportunity to lead Cetera during this important period of transformation and resurgence,” Moore said. “I have full faith in Cetera's management team, which I believe to be the best in the business, to continue to steer the company to a successful future.”
