Page 31 - Investment Advisor - December 2023

sionals, $424.8 billion in AUA and $163.6 and manages about $1.4 billion in assets. overall mass affluent clients,” explained
billion in AUM. The RIA offers clients holistic financial Roth. The platform helps professionals
Cetera CEO Adam Antoniades empha- planning services, as well as tax solutions look at both tax-efficient investing and
sized the custodial relationship Avantax and payroll and bookkeeping services. retirement distribution strategies, along
has with Fidelity when highlighting the Avantax will “significantly build out with estate-planning issues, he says.
significance of the deal: “This acquisi- Cetera’s capabilities in tax and wealth “The tax orientation and especially
tion will establish a strategic relation- management … ,” Durbin said in a state- this technology, assuming it gets inte-
ship between Cetera and Fidelity, which ment. “This acquisition will activate this grated across Cetera, is going to give
will enable Cetera to expand further potential and represents an important [the firm] a head start” in this area, Roth
into a multi-custodial platform, enhanc- milestone in Cetera’s growth trajectory.” added. In other words, the Avantax deal
ing Cetera’s capabilities to provide tools Avantax officially changed its name brings Cetera “a tax capability that [can]
and functionalities for its affiliated advi- earlier this year, after selling its TaxAct serve all its clients” and should give it a
sors,” he said in a statement. software. Its independent broker-dealer competitive edge.
How will the multi-custodial platform and RIA used to do business as HD Cetera, according to Durbin, aims to
help Cetera? “It allows Cetera to more Vest Financial Services and 1st Global further expand its “wealth management
easily acquire other Fidelity-using inde- Advisors, respectively. and tax expertise as a core component
pendent broker-dealers,” Chip Roame, Avantax has built “a high-quality plat- of its [five-year] growth strategy.” Like
head of Tiburon Strategic Advisors told form to evaluate [clients’] tax needs, Roth, Durbin sees the Avantax deal as “a
ThinkAdvisor in an email. “I bet there is not just high-net-worth individuals but terrific start.”
lots more to come here!”
Cetera currently works with BNY
Mellon Pershing for clearing and cus- lPl Financial Adds More services, Assets
tody services, according to its most
recent regulatory documents. It also LPL Financial recently narios and one- to three-year
has some self-clearing operations. In announced a new tax plan- illustrations,” the firm said.
2018, the firm sold a majority stake to ning service using the firm’s With the new service,
Genstar Capital, which Roame says is “a in-house tax professionals advisors can now “offer
savvy investor in the broader wealth and to help advisors better serve sophisticated tax planning by
investment management market.” clients’ tax management leveraging LPL’s tax profes-
With Cetera now poised to have a rela- needs. Noting the rapid pace of change sionals without hiring their own, which
tionship with both Fidelity and Pershing, in tax rules and their complexity, LPL can be a potential growth driver by add-
the firm would have a “powerful com- said its new service “enables advisors ing a valuable service that clients aren’t
bination” of custodians “that should to have tax planning discussions with getting elsewhere,” the company said.
serve it well,” said Larry Roth, head of clients more confidently.” LPL Financial had $1.24 trillion in
RLR Strategic Partners, who was CEO of The new service helps advisors pro- advisory and brokerage assets as of
Cetera from 2014 to 2016. “It seems that actively address what LPL said is a ques- Sept. 30, when its advisor headcount
the strategic drive [behind] this deal is tion on every client’s mind: “Am I paying stood at 22,404.
very thoughtful and powerful.” more than I have to in taxes?” The ser- “LPL’s Tax Planning Services can serve
A key force behind Cetera’s growth vice pairs LPL’s tax professionals with as an extension of the advisor’s team,”
strategy is Cetera Holdings CEO Michael advisors to consult and create proposals said Kraleigh Woodford, LPL senior vice
Durbin, who joined Cetera in May to improve their clients’ financial out- president, planning and advice services,
after spending over 14 years at Fidelity comes, the firm said. in a statement. “We believe that there
Investments as an executive and senior The tax professionals can help advi- is an opportunity for financial advisors
advisor. The recently hired executive is sors identify clients who would benefit to differentiate themselves by offering
likely to “lead Cetera to buy more IBDs from the service, create a detailed analy- in-depth strategies that can proactively
and also to diversify into other business- sis of their tax situation and offer road- preserve and enhance client portfolios.”
es,” such as deals with RIAs, firms with maps to maximize investment outcomes With Tax Planning Services, “advisors
employee advisors, product companies and improve tax efficiency, LPL said. can now confidently deliver customized
and retirement businesses, explained Chip LPL’s in-house tax professionals can tax analysis and planning services to
Roame, head of Tiburon Strategic Advisors support advisors “through an entire clients directly, instead of referring tax-
Cetera bought its first RIA in early range of services, from addressing ad related issues to accountants or other tax
June: The Retirement Planning Group of hoc technical tax issues to providing specialists,” explained. “We believe advi-
Leewood, Kansas, which has 14 advisors detailed, customized tax planning sce- sors who can increase their value propo-

December 2023 Investment AdvIsor 29