Cetera was established in February 2010 when Dutch multinational banking and financial services corporation
ING Group sold three broker-dealers to private equity firm
Lightyear Capital. The three broker-dealers—Financial Network Investment Corporation, founded in 1983, Multi-Financial Securities Corporation, founded in 1981, and PrimeVest Financial Services founded in 1984—were rebranded in September 2012, becoming Cetera Advisor Networks, Cetera Advisors, and Cetera Investment Services (marketed as Cetera Financial Institutions and Cetera Investors), respectively. That same year, Cetera purchased the tax and accountant-focused Genworth Financial Investment Services and rebranded it as Cetera Financial Specialists. In April 2014, RCS Capital Corporation purchased Cetera among its acquisitions of other independent broker dealers and registered investment advisers, including First Allied Securities in September 2013; Investors Capital Holdings Ltd., and Summit Brokerage Services, and JP Turner & Company in June 2014; Girard Securities in March 2015 and VSR Group in May 2015. In May 2016, Cetera completed a transformation into an independent, privately held organization under its parent company, Aretec Group, Inc. Through this restructuring process, a new board of directors was established. In May 2017, Cetera announced the launch of its advisory platform, My Advice Architect. The platform has since grown to host more than $100 billion in assets. In July 2018,
Genstar Capital announced its intention to acquire the majority interest in the Cetera Financial Group. The transaction was completed in October 2018. In May 2023, Mike Durbin was named chief executive officer of Cetera Holdings, the holding company of Cetera Financial Group, and a member of Cetera’s board of directors. ==Mergers and Acquisitions==