Avantax Welcomes Stephen Whyte and his Four-Generation Tax and Wealth Management Firm with Over $100 Million in Total Client Assets
Tax-focused Financial Professional transferred from Crown Capital Securities to leverage Avantax’s tax-intelligent tools, technology and Home Office’s 40 years of experience supporting tax professionals.
DALLAS – (Dec. 13, 2023) – Avantax®, a leader in tax-focused financial planning and wealth management, welcomes Stephen Whyte, E.A., and his four-generation firm, Whyte & Associates, Inc., formed by Whyte’s grandfather in 1951. The firm includes Stephen’s wife, Jennifer Whyte, his son, Jerry Whyte, and business partner Luis Rodriguez, E.A., all of whom are Financial Professionals.
The Whytes’ firm, in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., processes approximately 1,200 tax returns annually, and has more than $100 million in total client assets, as of August 2023. Whyte and his team transferred to Avantax after his then-broker-dealer, Crown Capital Securities, announced it 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.”
Building off the strong foundation of his tax business, Whyte said he’s looking forward to Avantax helping him move more of his financial planning and wealth management business toward advisory services, when it is in the best interest of his clients.
“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.”
In welcoming Whyte & Associates, Avantax Wealth Management President Todd Mackay said: “Stephen and his family business exemplify our focus on how combining tax and financial planning helps Financial Professionals deliver enduring impacts for their clients. Stephen shared that clients tell him if it weren’t for him and his father advising them to open IRAs, the clients never could have retired. That’s an extraordinary impact on clients’ lives, and we couldn’t be happier to have Stephen, Jennifer, Jerry and Luis join the Avantax family.”
Tax and financial professionals can learn more about Avantax by clicking here.
About Avantax®
Avantax, Inc. (Avantax), a unique community within Cetera Holdings, delivers tax-intelligent wealth management solutions for financial professionals, tax professionals and CPA firms, supporting its goal of minimizing clients’ tax burdens through comprehensive tax-intelligent financial planning. Avantax has two distinct, but related, models within its business: the independent Financial Professional model and the employee-based model. Avantax refers to its independent Financial Professional model as Avantax Wealth Management®. Avantax Wealth Management (AWM) works with a nationwide network of Financial Professionals operating as independent contractors and offers its services through its registered broker-dealer, Avantax Investment Services, Inc., registered investment advisor (RIA), Avantax Advisory Services, Inc., and insurance agency subsidiaries. We refer to our employee-based model as Avantax Planning Partners℠. Avantax Planning Partners offers services through its RIA, insurance agency, and AWM affiliated broker-dealer by partnering with CPA firms to provide their consumer and small-business clients with holistic financial planning and advisory services. Collectively, Avantax had $82.3 billion in total client assets as of September 30, 2023. For additional information, please visit www.avantax.com.