Cetera Snaps Up $1.4B RIA in Kansas

Cetera Holdings said Tuesday that it acquired The Retirement Planning Group, an independent registered investment advisor that manages about $1.4 billion in assets.

TRPG’s 40 employees, including 14 advisors, served about 1,825 high-net-worth individual investors, families and retirees as of April 30, said the parent of Cetera Financial Group.

In addition to holistic financial planning services, TRPG offers clients tax solutions, along with payroll and bookkeeping services.

TRPG is led by CEO Kevin Conard and is headquartered in Leawood, Kansas, but has offices in St. Louis and Denver.

Financial terms of the transaction weren’t provided. The transaction closed May 5, a Cetera spokesperson told ThinkAdvisor by email.  “TRPG considered other options and offers over the course of a 5-year period. They ultimately chose Cetera for several reasons, including the ability to have a seat [at] the table, remain independent, maintain their brand, to continue to move at the speed at which they’re moving.”

“This acquisition is synergistic on many levels and represents our commitment to constantly identify and deliver multiple options that give advisors a depth of choice and flexibility to affiliate their business with Cetera as they see fit,” according to Mike Durbin, Cetera Holdings CEO.

“To that end, we anticipate close collaboration as we continue to define a new affiliation model through our Wealth Hub that marries the principles of independence with the support and resources of employee services,” he said in statement.

As TRPG “looked to the future of our business, we quickly realized that Cetera delivers on all the areas that are most important to our business and our clients,” according to Conard. “This partnership sets us up for a bright future as we continue to attract advisors seeking to focus more on taking care of their clients and less on the operational aspects of running a business.”

The transaction represents the latest growth milestone for Cetera, which has completed multiple investments in advisory practices in recent months.

Those investments included minority investments in NetVEST Financial and Prosperity Advisors. In January, Cetera announced it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the retail wealth business of Securian Financial Group. In May, Cetera announced that it had appointed Mike Durbin as CEO of Cetera Holdings.

Cetera had more than 8,000 financial professionals who oversaw about $330 billion in assets under administration and $116 billion in assets under management as of March 31, the company said Tuesday.

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