Tom Taylor, who has been in the industry since the early 1990s, will retire as head of sales and growth at Cetera Financial Group at the end of this year. The firm is currently conducting a search for his replacement.
Taylor has been with Cetera since 1997, after joining Financial Network Investment Corp., which was renamed Cetera Advisor Networks in 2013. He has served in a variety of roles at the firm, including due diligence coordinator, VP president of sales and training, vice president of Cetera's Financial Institutions division, chief administrative officer and chief operating officer. From 2015 to 2021, he was president and CEO of Cetera Advisor Networks, Cetera's largest broker/dealer community, before entering his current role.
“Tom's countless contributions over nearly three decades have been instrumental in making Cetera the powerful industry leader it is today,” Mike Durbin, CEO of Cetera Holdings, said in a statement. “Tom has been a true champion of Cetera's values, and we are grateful for his leadership and the impact he has made on our culture and service to our advisors.”
Taylor's retirement follows a series of changes in Cetera's C-suite in recent months. Last month, Cetera brought in the former President of Life Insurance Company Fidelity Investments Jerry Patterson as head of advanced wealth solutions, a newly created position. Patterson will build Cetera's retirement, life insurance and annuity products.
Cetera also brought Fidelity alum Scott Baker as head of corporate strategy to replace George Karris, who is retiring. Baker was president and chairman of the board for Fidelity Personal Trust Company, responsible for the firm's bank regulated business unit (he previously held leadership roles at Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs).
Durbin also came from Fidelity, serving as head of Fidelity Institutional until December 2022. He joined Cetera in May of last year.
Also in June, Cetera longed for Gwen Weithausa former vice president at Northwestern Mutual, as chief compliance officer for Cetera Investment Services, one of Cetera's firms.
Firm too named Michael Molnar as its new head of corporate development from Avantax, the tax-focused wealth firm it acquired in 2023. Molnar previously led succession planning for Avantax's independent broker/dealer platform and M&A for its employee model RIA.
In May, the firm added five new executives in its advisory solutions team, including graduates from Ally Financial, Commonwealth, LPL and Osaic.