Long-time financial advisor’s succession plan tied to ensuring his clients experienced a smooth transition while retaining tax-intelligent financial planning and wealth management

Avantax® Inc. (Avantax), a unique community within Cetera Holdings and a leader in tax-focused financial planning and wealth management, has acquired SEP Financial Services, founded by veteran independent financial advisor Stephen E. Plain, who’s been affiliated with Avantax for 25 years.

Plain chose to evolve his relationship with Avantax as the core to his succession plan, which involves his practice and clients transitioning to Avantax Planning Partners℠ (APP), the employee-based model of Avantax.

“I’ve been a CPA for 40 years so when I was looking at succession planning what was most important to me was that my clients continued to receive comprehensive tax-focused financial planning, and that the transition would be as smooth and easy as possible for my clients,” Plain said. “I talked with other advisors who transitioned to APP, and they said it was very smooth. Plus, because APP is a bigger organization with more people, there are instances where APP can provide clients with even more services than an advisor can as a sole proprietor, and that’s good for my clients.”

Plain, who had approximately $40 million in client assets under administration as of September 2024*, said his long-standing relationship with Avantax’s Home Office team helped make his succession plan decision easier while helping ensure his clients would continue to get the financial advice and support they need.

“Advisors think a lot about getting into business, but they spend less time thinking how they’ll get out of the business and what that means for their clients. Avantax offers its advisors webinars, coaching and other resources for succession planning and that all helped me prepare for this moment,” Plain said. “APP creates the opportunity for Avantax advisors to have smooth transitions, and from my standpoint, it’s been seamless. It’s not just you by yourself – Avantax had a team of five or six people helping me, taking care of everything that needed to be done, from due diligence to onboarding, marketing and compliance.”

Avantax Wealth Management President Andy Watts commended Plain’s succession planning and his consultation with peers who had chosen a similar path with APP.

“The Avantax Community is distinguished by how our Financial Professionals share their experiences, best practices, and in the case of succession planning, decisions that helped ensure their clients would be served as the advisor intended,” Watts said. “We’re pleased to have helped Steve enter this next chapter with APP and the Avantax Community.”

Tax and financial professionals can learn more about Avantax by clicking here.

*Value approximated based on asset-holding details provided to Avantax.

About Avantax^®

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., Member FINRA, SIPC, 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 affiliated broker-dealer, Avantax Investment Services, Inc., and partners with CPA firms to provide their consumer and small-business clients with holistic financial planning and advisory services. Collectively, Avantax had $92.8 billion in assets under administration as of Dec. 31, 2023. For additional information, please visit www.avantax.com.

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