Cetera Welcomes $300 Million Skafco Team

Industry veterans Rod Skaf and Wayne Niles affiliating with Cetera's branch community

LOS ANGELES, May 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cetera Financial Group, one of America's largest networks of financial professionals, announced today that Skafco, a financial planning team that manages approximately $300 million, has affiliated with Cetera. Led by industry veteran financial professionals Rod Skaf, CFP^®, and Wayne Niles, the team joins Cetera from Mass Mutual and is based in Dublin, OH. Skafco is affiliating with Cetera's branch community, Cetera Investors, which was formed through a 2019 acquisition and has posted exponential growth in less than three years.

Skaf, an experienced and credentialed financial planner, has been a trusted strategist to clients since 1996, providing life-long planning services. A civil engineer by trade, he splits time between Dallas and the team's home office in Dublin. Skaf actively supports the Syrian American Medical Society.

Niles has more than 32 years of financial services industry experience. He focuses on the investment management aspects of the business, working with family business owners and executives using a comprehensive, integrated financial planning process. 

"After months of careful contemplation and due diligence, we are excited to affiliate our practice with Cetera," Skaf and Niles said. "The resources and support that Cetera provides stand out in so many areas that are important to the long-term health and success of our practice. Cetera's digital strategies and marketing expertise will help us grow our business in new ways, and the integration process has made our onboarding much smoother than we could have anticipated. We are energized about our future and the Cetera branch community culture, and are proud to call Cetera home."

"We welcome the Skafco team to Cetera and look forward to collaborating to offer our Advice-Centric Experience^® to clients, helping them achieve their version of financial wellbeing," said LeAnn Rummel, president and CEO of Cetera Investment Services. "The Skafco team shares our client-first values and mindset, and this affiliation represents a complementary partnership on many levels. We look forward to helping the team succeed in all aspects of their business and feel confident their practice will thrive at Cetera for years to come."

Skafco is the latest recruiting win for Cetera, which attracted several high-profile advisors and practices in the first quarter of 2022. Hays Breard, a $327 million Baton Rouge-based practice, joined Cetera from LPL in March. In addition, Mark Joyner joined AdvisorNet – one of the largest regions within Cetera Advisor Networks – managing $250 million in assets. In January, InTouch Wealth Advisors, led by industry veteran financial professionals Jason Benedetti, Gus Dekavallas and Larry Ritter, joined Cetera as part of Wilde Wealth Management, managing nearly $200 million. Lewis Financial Group, which oversees nearly $150 million in assets and is led by Kate Lewis, joined one of Cetera Wealth Partners' largest OSJs from Voya Financial Advisors.

Click here for more information about Cetera's tools and resources for financial advisors. 

About Cetera Financial Group®
Cetera Financial Group (Cetera) is a leading financial services firm whose purpose is to enable the delivery of best-in-class financial advice to as many Americans as possible. Cetera empowers its financial professional communities to help clients achieve their version of financial wellbeing through the Advice-Centric Experience^®. Cetera proudly serves independent financial professionals, tax professionals, banks and credit unions in providing wide-ranging financial planning and wealth management services.

Cetera oversees approximately $353 billion in assets under administration and $122 billion in assets under management, as of December 31, 2021.

Visit www.cetera.com, and follow Cetera on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

"Cetera Financial Group" refers to the network of independent retail firms encompassing, among others, Cetera Advisors LLC, Cetera Advisor Networks LLC, Cetera Investment Services LLC (marketed as Cetera Financial Institutions or Cetera Investors), Cetera Financial Specialists LLC, and First Allied Securities, Inc. All firms are members FINRA/SIPC. Located at: 655 W. Broadway, 11^th Floor, San Diego, CA 92101

Individuals affiliated with Cetera firms are either Registered Representatives who offer only brokerage services and receive transaction-based compensation (commissions), Investment Adviser Representatives who offer only investment advisory services and receive fees based on assets, or both Registered Representatives and Investment Adviser Representatives, who can offer both types of services.

SOURCE Cetera Financial Group