Cetera Welcomes Former Commonwealth Advisors Jim Tucker, Patrick Bria and Their Team Overseeing Approximately $420 Million in AUA
After building their businesses over two decades, the advisors chose Cetera's Summit community for its high-touch service, flexibility and commitment to helping advisors operate their way
SAN DIEGO, Aug. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Cetera welcomes financial advisors Jim Tucker, CFP®, CRPS®, and Patrick Bria, and the Tucker Bria Wealth Strategies team overseeing approximately $420 million in AUA1. Tucker Bria Wealth Strategies joined Cetera through its Summit Financial Networks2 community. Based in Durham, North Carolina, co-founders Tucker and Bria have built their practice together since 2013. The two have been friends since their teenage years in Pittsburgh, and later were teammates on Duke University's varsity swim team.
Tucker Bria Wealth Strategies – a name built around the firm's belief that "Life alters wealth®" – provides individualized financial planning and wealth management to individuals and families navigating life's transitions, from wealth creation and preservation to windfalls such as inheritances and business sales.
The move to Cetera follows more than a decade at Commonwealth Financial Network, a firm Tucker and Bria deliberately chose for its culture of experienced advisors and personalized support. When LPL announced its acquisition of Commonwealth, the partners launched a monthslong search for a new financial services partner, including traditional broker-dealers and RIA models.
Keeping continuity for clients, some of whom have been with the practice since its inception, was central to their search. With Cetera, the firm could maintain its existing custodian, Fidelity's NFS. Another key decision point was Cetera's flexibility, which allowed Tucker Bria to continue using third-party technology that had become integral to their client service model during their years at Commonwealth.
Ultimately, the firm wanted access to a well-established and scaled infrastructure, products, services and AI-powered growth resources – tools designed to augment how advisors already work, not change how they operate – without asking the practice to give up how it runs its business.
"We were deliberate about choosing Commonwealth, and we were just as deliberate about where we went next. We wanted a partner strong enough to provide the compliance, technology and back-office support we didn't want to build ourselves, but flexible enough to let us keep running our business exactly the way we always have," Tucker said. "Summit has a clear reason for being, the same way our previous firm did, and that mattered to us as much as anything else."
The firm's high-touch approach to client service – centered on close, ongoing relationships rather than scale, with regularly scheduled client meetings and financial planning built around each family's specific circumstances – was also at the forefront of their decision-making process.
"We tell our team to love our clients, not because of what they've entrusted to us, but because that's simply the standard we hold ourselves to," Bria said. "Our next-gen advisors are in the room with clients from day one, learning the relationships, not just the technical side of the job. Because of this, our clients know their advisor team is going to be in place for the next 30-plus years."
Tucker Bria's next generation – including Wealth Advisors Josh Polidori, CFP®, CPFA®; Financial Planning Associate Chris Bleeker; and Financial Planning Associate Taylor Clement, CFP® – already serves as the primary point of contact for many of the firm's second- and third-generation clients.
Tucker is also the author of Family, Legacy, Wealth: How to Nurture and Grow Your Family Orchard, a book designed to help families define and pass on their legacy, one that goes beyond money.
Welcoming the Tucker Bria team, Cetera Advisor Channel Leader Tom Halloran said: "Jim and Pat have spent decades building something special together that grew into a client-centered practice with the kind of robust next-gen advisor strategy that doesn't happen by accident. We're thrilled to welcome Jim, Pat and their team to Cetera, and we're eager to help them expand their legacy for many years to come."
About Cetera
Cetera is the premier financial advisor Wealth Hub, empowering independent advisors and institutions with personalized support, flexible affiliation models, and end-to-end growth solutions. Home to approximately 12,000 financial professionals and institutions, Cetera's multi-channel ecosystem enables financial professionals to grow, scale or transition their businesses on their own terms.
Unlike traditional IBDs, Cetera offers true choice – blending modern technology, integrated wealth solutions, and a community-driven culture. Cetera's five-channel model and commitment to long-term advisor value provide a scalable blueprint for consistent, repeatable growth.
As of March 31, 2026, Cetera firms manage approximately $630 billion in assets under administration and $296 billion in assets under management. Its Voice of the Customer program has captured nearly 50,000 advisor reviews, with more than 43,000 five-star ratings, giving Cetera a 4.7 out of 5 satisfaction score.
Learn more at www.cetera.com and follow Cetera on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and X.
Cetera is a network of independent retail firms, including those that are members of FINRA/SIPC: Cetera Advisors LLC; Cetera Wealth Services, LLC (formerly known as Cetera Advisor Networks); Cetera Investment Services LLC (marketed as Cetera Financial Institutions or Cetera Investors); and Cetera Financial Specialists LLC. Entities registered as investment advisers with the Securities and Exchange Commission include Cetera Investment Management LLC and Cetera Investment Advisers LLC. Cetera's principal office is located at 655 W. Broadway, 11th Floor, San Diego, CA 92101.
Avantax Planning Partners, Inc., is an SEC registered investment adviser within the Aretec Group, Inc. (dba Cetera Holdings, an affiliate of CFG). All the referenced entities are under common ownership.
Cetera exclusively provides investment products and services through its representatives. Although Cetera does not provide tax or legal advice, or supervise tax, accounting or legal services, Cetera representatives may offer these services through their independent outside businesses. This information is not intended as tax or legal advice.
1Value approximated based on information provided to Cetera for asset holdings as of April 30, 2026.
2Summit Financial Networks is a region of Cetera Wealth Services, LLC. Securities offered through Cetera Wealth Services, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through Cetera Investment Advisers LLC, a registered investment adviser. Cetera is under separate ownership from any other named entity.
SOURCE Cetera Financial Group
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