Cetera Financial Group said it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the retail wealth unit of St. Paul, Minn-based Securian Financial Group Inc., which oversees $47.4 billion in assets under administration and $24.8 billion in assets under management.
The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2023, pending regulatory approval. Financial terms were not disclosed.
It’s the third such deal involving a major financial services company for the El Segundo, Calif.-based Cetera in recent years. In 2019, it bought the $12 billion AUM U.S. broker-dealer and advisory business from Toronto-based Foresters Financial. And in 2021 it acquired Voya Financial Advisors' broker-dealer unit, a deal that added about 810 financial advisors, $37 billion in assets and 130 employees.
This latest agreement calls for Cetera to acquire certain assets related to Securian Financial Services Inc. – Securian Financial broker-dealer, registered investment advisor and insurance agency – as well as the equity of Securian Trust Company NA., the release said. It also noted that Securian Financial’s staff of more than 1,000 professionals across 30 independent firms will integrate as Cetera Wealth Management Group, within the Cetera Advisor Networks community.
The deal also allows Securian Financial to distribute its individual life and annuity products through Cetera’s affiliated financial professionals.
Employment offers will be extended to the management team and all eligible employees who support Securian Financial’s retail wealth business, the release noted. “Securian Trust Company, NA, will become a standalone Cetera entity and will continue to serve its existing advisors and clients, and expand to serve those in Cetera’s other businesses,” the release said.
“We have long admired Securian Financial’s commitment to their managing partners, their powerful independent operating model and dedicated community of independent financial professionals,” Cetera CEO Adam Antoniades said in a statement. “Our Wealth Hub, which uniquely brings choice and flexibility to our financial professionals as well as best-in-class growth capabilities, is complementary and synergistic to Securian Financial’s operating model, and we envision untapped growth potential for the independent financial professionals joining the Cetera network."
Chris Hilger, Securian Financial’s chairman, president and CEO, said the transaction “allows Securian Financial to increase our strategic focus and accelerate growth in our priority markets, while at the same time continue our commitment to the retail wealth business through our strategic partnership with Cetera.”
He added. “Cetera delivers on all important aspects of our acquisition partner selection criteria, including community focus, differentiating scale, and industry-leading technology choice and product platforms. Most importantly, Cetera is a great cultural fit, valuing our unique operating model and commitment to accelerating growth for financial professionals.”
Cetera, an independent broker-dealer network with five IBDs in its network, has more than 8,000 financial professionals and oversees about $322 billion in assets under administration and $115 billion in assets under management, as of Dec. 31, 2022.