Cetera Financial Group will be shutting down J.P. Turner, its Atlanta-based broker-dealer acquired in June 2014.

Last month, more than half of the reps at J.P. Turner were invited to join Summit Brokerage Services, another Cetera firm. 

The remaining reps were left in limbo regarding their futures.

J.P. Turner had 291 reps as of year end, according to the latest Financial Advisor magazine broker-dealer survey. But the firm has lost some reps since then, according to industry sources.

“Since they became part of our network, J.P. Turner advisors have voiced a strong desire to transition to the Pershing platform,” said Larry Roth, CEO of Cetera Financial, in a statement. “After extensive review, it became clear that the most expeditious and seamless way for this to happen was to invite a significant number of these advisors to Summit.”

Andy Backman, a spokesman for Cetera, declined to comment on speculation that Pershing LLC, Cetera’s main clearing firm, did not want to take on J.P. Turner and its perceived regulatory baggage.

Turner does a heavy business in non-traded REITs, and has had a number of regulatory issues over the years.

But several sources, who have potential business relationships with Pershing and Cetera and asked not to be named, noted that clearing firms are not liable for supervising brokers at their introducing firms.

“Maybe they’re trying to blame Pershing” for getting rid of unwanted reps, said one recruiter who works with Cetera.

Pershing spokesman Paul Patella declined comment.

Consolidating all of its BD's onto the Pershing platform is a big part of Cetera’s strategy. Last fall, Cetera reached a new pricing arrangement with Pershing, based on the larger scale from its acquired firms.

Cetera has insisted that the BD's it has snapped up, including Summit, VSR Financial, Girard Securities and First Allied, would be allowed to operate at least somewhat independently with unique brands.

“We emphasize that this [J.P. Turner] transition is not part of a broader consolidation strategy,” Roth said.

The changeover to Summit is expected to be completed by the end of October, Roth added.

It wasn’t immediately clear if J.P. Turner reps will have to repaper accounts, but Roth promised a “seamless migration.”

J.P. Turner currently clears through Apex Clearing Corp., based in Dallas.

The action to phase shut down J.P. Turner may not be so surprising given that it had not been performing up to expectations. In March, Cetera reduced by $6 million the $15 million it still owed for the firm, bringing down the total paid in cash and stock to $26.7 million.