Cetera Keeps First Allied Brand After BD Closure
December 6, 2022 By Janet Levaux, ThinkAdvisor Cetera CEO Adam Antoniades says the firm is consolidating some broker-dealers but is not eliminating brands like First Allied Securities and Summit Financial. “First Allied remains a community” within Cetera Advisors, though “it is no longer a separate legal entity,” Antoniades said in an interview with ThinkAdvisor. “Both brands still exist.” The FINRA BD designation for First Allied, which Antoniades co-founded in 1994, expired in mid-September. “It did not make sense to keep [it and Cetera Advisors] as two legal entities,” he added. “Cetera has a number of brands and communities, and includes a registered broker-dealer and an RIA,” the CEO explained. “We are an at-scale wealth hub accommodating choice and flexibility of affiliation for any type of advisor.” The official language for affiliation with the Summit brand, for instance, refers...