$2.1B Ex-LPL Financial FA Team Bolts for Cetera Financial

Sierra Ridge Advisor Group, an investment practice that oversees roughly $2.1 billion in assets under administration, has ditched LPL Financial to join Cetera Financial Group. 

Roseville, CA-based Sierra Ridge Advisor Group, which includes a 40-member team, was previously part of Next Financial Group, a subsidiary of broker-dealer Atria Wealth Solutions, which LPL bought in 2024. 

The office of supervisory jurisdiction, which is led by co-founders James Slaughter and Giancarlo Foti, joined Cetera after spending only a little over a year with LPL and decided to launch its own RIA on Cetera’s enterprise channel. 

The team plans to expand its footprint to its existing offices in California, Missouri, Oregon, and Wisconsin and to launch its own RIA on Cetera’s Blueprint platform. 

Slaughter and Foti founded Sierra Ridge in 2018, following their move from Waddell & Reed to NEXT Financial Group, which was purchased by Atria Wealth Solutions in 2019. Atria was later acquired by LPL in 2024. 

Slaughter and Foti registered with Cetera on August 14, according to their BrokerCheck profiles.

As part of the firm’s transition to Cetera, the Sierra Ridge team will gain broader access to the firm’s resources, including Growth360, GrowthLine, its proprietary advisor growth engine, and its regional growth team.

“We made a change because we believe that Cetera is the partner that will help us to continue to grow and provide open architecture for our advisors without limiting us, while positioning us for continued success,” Foti said. “As we searched for a new broker-dealer, GrowthLine really stood out to us because that overall growth platform complements marketing services we offer our advisors.”

Recently, Cetera Financial scooped up Durham, NC-based Tucker Bria Wealth Strategies, which manages $420 million in assets under administration and was previously affiliated with Commonwealth Financial Network. 

Cetera Financial and its subsidiaries manage about $688 billion in assets under administration and $330 billion in assets under management, as of June 30. 

Pictured: James Slaughter and Giancarlo Foti