Cetera Financial Group Acquires The SFI Group, a Minneapolis Practice With About $200 Million in AUA

Cetera Financial Group acquired the assets of The SFI Group, a Minneapolis wealth management practice managing approximately $200 million in AUA, the company said in a PR Newswire announcement on November 3, 2026. The practice is led by founder and lead advisor Terry Sonnenfeld.

Cetera's Deal for The SFI Group

Cetera Financial Group is a privately held independent broker-dealer and RIA network based in San Diego. The SFI Group is a Minneapolis-based wealth management practice led by Terry Sonnenfeld.

With the transaction, Sonnenfeld, his wife and office manager Tracy Sonnenfeld, and their two-person support staff join Cetera Planning Partners, Cetera's national employee-advisor RIA with approximately $20 billion in AUA. Cetera will retain and continue operating The SFI Group's Minneapolis office as the practice moves onto the Cetera Planning Partners platform, giving the RIA a physical advisor presence in Minnesota.

Sonnenfeld, a Cetera-affiliated advisor for the past several years, said staying inside the Cetera network rather than moving clients to an outside firm was the deciding factor in his succession planning. "This transition keeps us within Cetera and moving into Cetera Planning Partners lets us build into the next generation without losing any of the deep client relationships Tracy and I have spent our careers building," he said.

Tracy Sonnenfeld said the practice never wanted to leave Cetera. "Our clients don't face a lot of changes, and that matters to us as much as it does to them," she said. The two support staff members will continue working directly with clients as the practice's day-to-day point of contact, and Terry Sonnenfeld will keep serving clients while gradually introducing them to a new advisor team.

Cetera Planning Partners' April Launch

Cetera launched Cetera Planning Partners in April 2026 as a unified national employee-advisor RIA combining Avantax Planning Partners and The Retirement Planning Group, with more than 100 advisors and approximately $19 billion in assets under advisement, according to akta.pro company records. The same records list $640 billion in assets under administration and $294 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2025.

Cetera's Recent Advisor Acquisitions

Cetera acquired Doussard Financial, led by former Commonwealth advisor Cynthia Doussard, bringing approximately $235 million in assets under administration, PR Newswire reported in October 2026. Earlier that month, Cetera acquired financial advisor Michele Johnson's Elevated Wealth Solutions practice from LPL, which manages about $80 million in assets, PR Newswire reported. In September 2026, Cetera welcomed John Sloop, John Black and their Palmetto Investment Consultants team, which oversees approximately $305 million in AUA, PR Newswire reported.

Kevin Conard on the Minnesota Presence

Kevin Conard, Head of Cetera Planning Partners, said the transaction gives the Sonnenfelds the resources and bench strength to keep serving families while giving Cetera Planning Partners a physical advisor presence in Minnesota. "We are very pleased they found their long-term home with us," he said.