Tax-focused advisor says 'most' broker-dealers 'don't understand' his business  

A tax-focused team of financial professionals has switched firms to further their practice and expand the advisory services they offer.

Whyte & Associates, Inc., based in Cucamonga, California, is run by Stephen Whyte. and includes Whyte’s wife Jennifer Whyte, son Jerry Whyte, and business partner Luis Rodriguez. The firm was founded by Stephen’s grandfather in 1951.

The decision to switch to Avantax was made following the announcement that Whyte’s previous firm, Crown Capital Securities, was being acquired by LPL Financial.

“Over the years, I’ve learned how broker-dealers work; most don’t understand our tax business and we’ve experienced some who treat tax clients like second-class citizens, but that’s not how we do business here,” Whyte said. “Not valuing my tax clients was, if you will, the straw that broke the camel’s back of my decision to look for a broker-dealer who values the tax focus as much as I do, and we found that with Avantax because they lead with taxes. I’m just disappointed we didn’t find Avantax sooner.”

EXPANDING CAPABILITIES

While the tax side of Whyte’s practice remains an essential pillar of the business, he is also eyeing expansion of the services he and his team offer.

“I’ve been passionate about my tax business from day one because it’s the core of our family business’ legacy. But I’m also excited to expand our advisory business with Avantax tools that work with my tax-planning systems,” Whyte said. “Our family business is the perfect example of marrying tax and financial planning because we’ve gone through so many industry changes over the years. Having Avantax help us offer more advisory and financial planning services along with our tax business is like putting a twin-turbo on a Porsche.”

Avantax was recently acquired by Cetera in a deal that added $82 billion AUA and 3,111 financial professionals to the independent wealth firm.