Cetera has hired John Pierce, a veteran recruiter for Stifel Financial, as its new head of business development. Pierce was with Stifel for four years before abruptly leaving that wealth firm in February.
“John shares in this belief and brings a fresh perspective to financial professional acquisition strategies through proven sales methodologies and a history of championing innovation in the marketplace,” according to Tim Stinson, head of Wealth Management and Recruiting at Cetera, which has some 7,000 affiliated independent advisors.
Pierce worked at Stifel from late 2016 to early 2020, according to his FINRA BrokerCheck record.
He started his career at Merrill Lynch in 1993 and stayed their through 2006. From 1998 to 2004, he had five regulatory disclosures, including three settlements made by Merrill (in two cases to “avoid costs”) and two denied allegations.
Pierce worked as a recruiter for Ameriprise Financial from 2008 to 2014.
“I’ve always been of the belief that great stories lead to quality recruiting and Cetera has a great story to tell,” said Pierce, in a statement.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Pierce recently completed a doctoral degree in education. For the degree he completed a study that “validated the value of external coaches and internal mentors in financial services … , provides a road map for the industry to solve an aging demographic problem and may address diversity as wealth creation and distribution moves away from Caucasian males.”