Cambridge Taps 3 Execs for New Roles

Cambridge said Monday that it has made organizational changes to its executive structure that include the creation of an Office of the CEO.

As part of the shifts, Cambridge has realigned its business functions into three areas and named three executive vice presidents as presidents: Colleen Bell now heads Innovation and Experience, Jeff Vivacqua leads Growth and Development, and Seth Miller is in charge of Advocacy and Administration.

The Office of the CEO will be led by Cambridge President and CEO Amy Webber, who became the firm’s chief executive officer in 2017 and was made its president in 1998. She succeeded founder and former CEO Eric Schwartz, who continues to serve as executive chairman of the board of directors.

The idea for having an Office of the CEO was Webber’s, she told ThinkAdvisor in an interview  Monday. “By creating the Office of the CEO, I am giving myself the ability to talk about strategy and the big picture with someone other than myself or myself and Eric,” she explained.

At the same time, she’s “bringing in three really talented leaders that have been with our company for a long time to that higher level, visionary discussion earlier than we would normally do so,” Webber said, noting that Bell, Vivacqua and Miller have each been with the company for over 10 years.

This is also “all about continuity of leadership for us,” she explained, adding: “Our goal is to remain internally controlled, in charge of our own destiny [and] keep Cambridge moving with the same culture, core values and commitment that we’ve always had to our clients.”

Although “I have no intentions of going anywhere … at north of $1.5 billion [in yearly revenue], it’s probably time that I don’t have two very important roles and I hand off the baton on one of those roles,” Webber added. “If you keep loving what you’re doing, which I certainly do, assuming that my health holds up or whatever, I plan to be here for a really, really long time.”

While “some of this is just preparing for something that may never happen, if something does, one or more of these three [executives] or these three together, I am 100% confident … they’ve got this company. It’s in good hands. They can run it,” she said.

“As we continue to navigate an evolving landscape and prepare for the many opportunities ahead, it is important that we position Cambridge with a leadership structure that is strongly aligned with our key business functions,” Webber stated in the firm’s official announcement.

Each of the newly appointed presidents are responsible for the following:

• Innovation and Experience (Bell) will focus on driving associate engagement and financial professional satisfaction, while advancing and discovering new ways to meet ongoing needs.
• Growth and Development (Vivacqua) will build strategic opportunities centered around organic growth, acquisitions, recruiting and relationship management, while it enhances and expands the digital resources financial professionals need.
• Advocacy and Administration (Miller) will create an environment to help Cambridge associates and financial professionals succeed by managing internal policies and controls while influencing and navigating industry rules and laws impacting the firm’s business.

The firm is “committed to continuing the growth and success Cambridge has experienced over the past 40 years, and look forward to serving our financial professionals and their clients across generations for years to come,” Webber said.

“We are fortunate to have experienced, dedicated leaders and I believe this new structure will be instrumental in fulfilling our purpose and future goals.”

Cambridge continues to be made up of two main businesses: Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, its large corporate RIA, and Cambridge Investment Research, an independent broker-dealer that’s a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Securities Investor Protection Corp. The company now manages about $150 billion in client assets.

(Pictured: Amy Webber)