Cetera Financial Group, a financial advisor Wealth Hub, has announced a strategic partnership with Vanilla, an estate planning platform for financial advisors, to integrate comprehensive estate planning tools for its network of over 12,000 advisors and institutions.

This collaboration enables Cetera’s extensive network of advisors to access Vanilla’s platform, which aims to streamline complex workflows, visualize planning scenarios, and facilitate more engaging client conversations around legacy and wealth transfer. The partnership is designed to support advisors in providing holistic wealth management experiences, particularly for multi-generational clients.

Scott Baker, Cetera’s Head of High-Net-Worth Solutions, stated, “Estate planning is a key component of a comprehensive wealth management experience, particularly for multi-generational clients. Vanilla further expands the tools Cetera can offer its affiliates as part of how we support them in service to families throughout their financial journey, especially when managing significant, complex asset transfers.”

Through Vanilla, Cetera advisors can invite clients to use the Vanilla Document Builder to create state-specific estate planning documents such as trusts, wills, powers of attorney, and advance healthcare directives. The platform also offers the Vanilla Estate Health Check for quick client assessments and provides access to the Vanilla Attorney Network, which includes over 100 legal professionals across all 50 U.

S. states. These features are intended to facilitate deeper client discussions and connect with future generations.

Gene Farrell, CEO of Vanilla, commented on the partnership, “This partnership enables more holistic planning experiences for both advisors and clients. With Vanilla, advisors can increase retention, deepen trust, and perhaps most importantly, use estate planning strategies to help clients gain clarity and peace of mind around their long-term plans.”

The integration of Vanilla into Cetera’s advisor network reinforces Cetera’s commitment to meeting advisor and client needs, especially as the importance of estate planning continues to grow. For Vanilla, the collaboration advances its objective of helping more advisors incorporate estate planning into their core service offerings by reducing traditional barriers related to complexity and overhead.