Craig E. Columbus, JD, MBA

President

Craig Columbus is the President of Cetera Investment Management, an SEC-registered investment adviser owned by Cetera Financial Group. The firm, led by Mr. Columbus since its founding in 2006 as First Allied Asset Management, Inc., oversees more than $5 billion in assets for independent financial advisors and their clients. A frequent guest on financial television and a popular conference speaker, Mr. Columbus shares his macroeconomic insights across a variety of leading platforms.

Mr. Columbus spent the first 10 years of his career working for some of the largest information and research firms in the financial industry, creating buy- side research and innovative analytics. At Primark Corp., he served as the

Vice President of Research for the Financial Information Division and later the President of Primark’s Lancer Analytics unit, overseeing teams of analysts and researchers creating market commentary and building proprietary models for use by institutional investors. Later, Mr. Columbus was the founder and CEO of Scorelab, Inc., an international financial algorithm and research firm venture backed by Primark and ultimately acquired by Thomson Financial. He went on to serve as Executive Vice President and Chief Market Strategist for Thomson’s Wealth Management unit, overseeing research and analytic product development. Throughout these roles, Mr. Columbus became a recognizable Wall Street commentator, appearing as a special contributor every week on CNBC’s Power Lunch for seven years.

Mr. Columbus previously served as both a professor and department chair at Grove City College (Grove City, Pa.), a private liberal arts institution established in 1876. He has also been a research fellow at the Center for Vision and Values, a policy think tank committed to free-market principles. In 2007, Mr. Columbus received the Achievement Award by Penn State’s Smeal College of Business for contributions to the field of finance. He also co-authored the popular financial reform book, “God and Man on Wall Street: The Conscience of Capitalism” (BrickTower). He is an active member of the Pennsylvania bar.

Follow @craig_columbus on Twitter.

Note: Cetera Investment Management LLC is a registered investment adviser owned by Cetera Financial Group®. It provides investment research, portfolio and model management, and investment advice to its affiliated broker-dealers, dually-registered broker-dealers and registered investment advisers.

Cetera Investment Management LLC individuals who provide investment management and advisory services are not associated persons with any broker/dealer.