Cetera Acquires $225 Million Hawaii-Based RIA
Cetera Holdings, the holding company of Cetera Financial Group – one of the nation’s largest networks of independently managed broker-dealers – announced today that Cetera’s employee-based registered investment adviser, The Retirement Planning Group, has acquired Lee Financial Group Hawaii.
Lee Financial is led by founder, Terry Lee, and delivers wide-ranging investment management and financial planning services to clients in Hawaii and beyond and has approximately $225 million in assets under management, as of March 31, 2024. Through the acquisition, six full-time professionals will become TRPG/Cetera employees.
“We are pleased to welcome Terry, his talented team, and their clients to TRPG,” said Kevin Conard, chief executive officer at TRPG. “The Lee Financial team’s commitment to putting clients first aligns with our core values, and we look forward to many shared successes to come. For independent advisers looking to spend more time on what matters most to them and their business, TRPG can be a partner of choice to help them get there.”
“As we looked to the future for our business, team and clients, we knew finding the right long-term partner would take time as we were very selective in our search and consideration process,” said Lee, who will consult with TRPG moving forward. “Kevin, the TRPG team, and the Cetera team gave us the utmost confidence, and it became clear this choice made sense on many levels for everyone affiliated with Lee Financial. TRPG has welcomed us with open arms, and I know that the team and our clients are set up well for long-term success.”
The acquisition marks the second for TRPG in 2024. In February, TRPG completed its first acquisition since being acquired by Cetera in 2023, acquiring Dightman Capital Group, Inc. TRPG now oversees more than $2 billion in assets.
Cetera Financial Group has been equally active, recently naming a new chief compliance officer for its tax channel, along with completing a minority investment in Wilde Wealth Management, an Arizona-based office of supervisory jurisdiction overseeing about $2.8 billion in assets under administration.
The Retirement Planning Group is Cetera’s employee-based RIA and an SEC-registered investment advisory firm headquartered in Leawood, Kan. TRPG provides comprehensive wealth management services, including retirement planning, portfolio and investment management, tax planning, tax preparation, and filing by its in-house tax team. The firm has more than 2,000 clients and $2 billion in assets under management, as of March 31, 2024.
Cetera Financial Group, which is owned by Cetera Holdings, serves more than 12,000 independent financial professionals and their teams, including tax professionals, banks, and credit unions in providing financial planning and wealth management services. Cetera oversees more than $505 billion in assets under administration and $213 billion in assets under management, as of March 31, 2024.
