Genstar Re-ups Investment in Cetera Financial Group

Genstar Capital-backed Cetera Financial Group has re-upped its investment in the wealth management firm after originally investing in it in 2018.

The firms did not disclose the amount of fresh capital. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2023.

The capital will come from the San Francisco-based private equity firm’s two newest funds, Fund XI and Fund X, which closed in April with $11.7 billion and $12.6 billion, respectively. Genstar will remain Cetera’s majority investor and lead partner.

“This reinvestment from Genstar affirms Cetera’s proven ability to create value,” Cetera Holdings CEO Mike Durbin said. “Secular tailwinds and continued economic growth underpin confidence in Cetera’s future.”

Durbin joined Cetera in May after serving as president of Fidelity Investments’ institutional investing group. Durbin was appointed to Cetera’s board of directors, but Cetera Financial Group CEO Adam Antoniades retained his position and board membership.

According to Antoniades, since 2018, Cetera has grown from 7,000 advisors and 1,300 staff supporting $242 billion in assets under management to 9,000 advisors and 2,000 employees supporting $374 billion in assets under advisement.

Genstar’s latest investment in the wealth manager comes less than a month after Cetera announced its $1.2 billion acquisition of tax-focused wealth manager Avantax.

Cetera, through its parent firm Cetera Holdings, announced the acquisition of the Retirement Planning Group LLC for $1.4 billion in June.

Moelis & Co. LLC and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC served as financial advisers on the transaction, while Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP served as legal counsel to Cetera and Genstar.