Cetera Financial has partnered with an investment bank specializing in the sale of small businesses to provide the firm’s services to its roughly 12,000 financial advisors across affiliation models.
Cornerstone Business Services, a Green Bay, Wisc.-based investment bank focused on family and privately-held companies, will now be part of Cetera’s service offerings. The goal is for Cornerstone to help advisors with valuations and sales for small business owner clients and “engage in discussions with their clients well before any sale would occur.”
This marks another move by the San Diego-based broker/dealer network to offer services that will draw advisors to their affiliation models in a competitive market for talent. Recently, Cetera announced a partnership with Wealth.com, an estate planning technology company, and added alternative investment model portfolios to its lineup for advisors.
Access to small business merger and acquisition services for clients is also becoming popular among advisors seeking to differentiate their practice. Earlier this year, Merchant Investment Management took a stake in a valuation services firm that works with RIAs both in and out of Merchant’s network of firms. The firm did not disclose how much it invested in the Columbus, Ohio-based WR Valuation.
Also on Tuesday, financial planning software firm RightCapital launched a new product for advisors working with small business owners. The Shelton, Conn.-based firm said advisors can use the software to help small business clients consider cash flows, assets and liabilities, and model out sale strategies.
“With these new capabilities, advisors can provide business owners with greater clarity into their financial future and ensure they are on the right path to achieve their goals,” Shuang Chen, co-founder and CEO of RightCapital, said in a statement.
Another firm, RISR, secured pre-seed funding in 2024 for a platform that helps financial advisors engage with and analyze small businesses for clients. And Capitaliz, an Australian-based startup that entered the U.S. market a few years ago, offers predictive analytics to help advisors determine the monetary impact improvements and investments can make to a business before a sale.
Cetera, for its part, sees its advisors leveraging Cornerstone’s expertise for a sales process in a way that will sync with their investment advice and adjacent tax and estate services.
“Our most value-added service is to do meaningful tax and estate planning before a sale takes place,” said Scott Baker, Cetera’s head of high-net-worth solutions, in a statement.
Cetera already has an advanced planning team to work with clients looking to sell their business in the near term, and otherwise, it touts advisors who can put together a long-term business plan.
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