Cetera Financial Group, a network of independent broker-dealer firms, is making the Pentameter practice management system and integrated business consulting process available to all of its broker-dealers and advisors, Cetera announced Thursday.
The proprietary practice management platform, which supports the growth and value of the advisors’ businesses, was developed by First Allied Securities, a Cetera Financial Group member broker-dealer. The system will now be available to all of Cetera's 11 b-d firms.
Pentameter provides financial advisors with a centralized reporting dashboard that enables them to assess the strengths and weaknesses of their practices and adopt appropriate business plans as a result of those assessments. Advisors can then use the most appropriate resources within the Cetera network to grow their businesses and build long-term enterprise value, says Cetera.
Pentameter is designed to strengthen the relationship between advisors and Cetera’s Business Consulting team by allowing the consultants to examine the advisors’ business models and offer the needed expertise, Cetera says.
Pentameter uses five criteria to assess an advisor’s practice: business development, operational efficiency, human capital, business management and succession planning. In the future, Cetera plans to roll out additional features to Pentameter that will enable advisors to track their progress using the platform’s real-time financial metrics.
Since First Allied advisors began using Pentameter last year, more than 40 percent of First Allied advisors have used the platform, including more than half of advisors generating $1 million or more in annual revenue. Cetera Financial Group is the retail investment advice platform of RCS Capital Corporation.