Cetera: 1,000 Advisors Complete New Growth Program

One thousand, or roughly one in eight, of Cetera Financial Group’s 8,000-plus advisors have taken the broker-dealer’s Growth360 assessment since the program was introduced by the firm in the fall, the firm said Tuesday.

Three key growth metrics have emerged so far: digital marketing, segmentation and community presence, it added.

Financial professionals who have used the growth evaluation tool reported having “greater clarity on the best opportunities to grow their practices, and receive customized and tangible resources and guidance to capture those revenue-driving initiatives,” according to the company.

When launching the Growth360 peer-based benchmarking methodology and strategic framework, the company had said it will help advisors expand their practices and enable Cetera affiliates to learn from and incorporate the business strategies used by their fastest-growing colleagues by pairing advisors with specific growth partners.

A New Pact

To “further enhance” the Growth360 program, Cetera also said Tuesday that it partnered with ActiFi, a provider of advisor success solutions to the financial services industry.

The ActiFi partnership will provide “direct integration” into Salesforce so that advisors and Cetera growth officers are engaged in “growth opportunities” on a real-time basis, Cetera said.

ActiFi also enables “active road mapping,” which Cetera said will allow an advisor to directly — or in collaboration with a Cetera growth officer — develop an action plan based on the most effective way to capitalize on a “top growth opportunity.”

The ActiFi integration will also enable “ongoing accountability and comprehensive reporting to make sure Cetera is continuously evaluating and improving” the Growth360 experience for advisors, it added.

Finding a ‘Missed Opportunity’

“As a part of my Growth360 consultation, I uncovered a missed business opportunity — Community Presence,” Anthony Grassi, an advisor with BG Wealth Advisors, which is affiliated with First Allied Securities, said in the announcement.

“I’ve always been active in the community near my home, but with the help of my Growth Officer, I realized I wasn’t leveraging the connections I had made to grow my business. I am now doing some work to ensure my community involvement strengthens my brand awareness and supports growth through sponsorship and team activities.”

Meanwhile, by going through Growth360’s brief questionnaire, Amy Wolff, whose specialized practice, AJW Financial, has been affiliated with Cetera Advisor Networks since 1998, said she was able to “quickly drill down to our opportunities for growth — one of which was better leveraging social media.”

As part of Growth360, Cetera is providing its Growth Line program to help its advisors improve their digital marketing strategies, it said.

The Growth Line program evaluates an advisor’s digital properties, including websites and social media profiles. A comprehensive report provides detailed recommendations, and Cetera provides personalized support to improve a financial professional’s digital presence, it said.

Cetera also delivers a comprehensive brand refresh, including new creative assets and website updates, as part of the process, “optimizing an advisor’s online footprint to achieve maximum growth,” it said.

The Growth360 program “successfully identifies how financial professionals compare to peers who may be growing faster in certain areas of their business and provides a clear roadmap to improve,” according to Michele Dillon, head of business consulting, education and training at Cetera.

Cetera oversaw $344 billion in assets under administration and $120 billion in assets under management as of Sept. 30.

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