February 20, 2019 — 12:24 PM MST by Brooke Southall

Brooke’s Note: There is something mercenary about the way that the former insurance broker-dealers get bought, sold, spruced up and staffed. The (formerly ING) Cetera and (formerly AIG) Advisor Group entities are equal parts grand rafts of human financial advisory potential and leftover insurance broker culture that meant not only selling but favoring the brand on their business cards. As such they are catnip for private equity firms who surmise that even marginal improvements can yield enormous gains in value. But when they install mercenary CEOs, they not only expect results, they expect results yesterday. Against that backdrop, Robert Moore is out at Cetera. The official reason and the industry-buzz reason for his planned exit next month differ in their specifics.

Just like that, CEO Robert Moore’s abrupt departure from Cetera–for a suddenly disclosed, unexplained health reason–has cast a dark cloud over the independent broker-dealer’s ambitious expansion plans, which he was hired to lead in 2016.

Moore, 63, was touted as a white knight who would lead the star-crossed broker-dealer to new glory after Cetera’s parent company,  RCS Capital, emerged from bankruptcy in 2016. It was acquired two years later by venture capital firm Genstar Capital for a whopping $1.7 billion.

Dan Arnold aced out Robert Moore for the CEO’s job at LPL, which set in motion Moore’s hiring by Cetera.

But in a sharp turn of events, the company made the surprise announcement Tuesday (Feb. 19) with a short news release.

It failed to provide any details about Moore’s health crisis, or why the decision to step down came, seemingly, out of the blue. Some reports said he is not suffering from a terminal illness.

Moore had this to say in a statement: “Recently I have been dealing with a health issue that has continued to require treatment and, on advice of my physician, now warrants that I cut back on my current commitments which is essential to my overall recovery.”

At the moment, Moore’s unspecified health problems and that backstory leading to his departure remain a mystery. But at least one inside source has told RIABiz there is far more to the story.

The post Perspective on Cetera Part 1 of Her Story first appeared on Kevin J Palmer Scottsdale.

Reasons are surfacing, but comment from the broker – dealer have been terminated, about Moore’s recently departure, raising questions about him being discharged by the firm or not.  Coming to light are allegations that First Allied Securities unduly fired advisors to prepare for future acquisitions.

There are reports that Cetera’s private equity owner Genstar was in talks to merge with Lightyear Capital’s Advisor Group but negotiations broke down ahead of Robert Moore’s departure. The pace of Cetera’s technology roll outs in the wake of the Genstar acquisition was a continuing problem for the CEO.

On the other hand, Cetera under Moore, had flat growth and declining advisor retention from the hangover for advisers who spent years in the security industry living through troubled history under previous owner Nicholas Schorsch, which ended in bankruptcy. Possibly agents jumped ship because bonuses or equity grants that many expected, will likely never came to pass.

More as this story develops.

The post Robert Moore’s Departure Still a Mystery first appeared on Kevin J Palmer Scottsdale.