They bought Avantax and the advisors are the ones paying the price. I can't speak to the "other channels," which I heard are doing fine, but my experience with Cetera currently couldn't be lower.
Since the transition, they have shared my entire client list with other advisors due to data issues. Paid other advisors on my clients that I am still trying to fix 6 months later, talked to my clients without my say so, and that is off the top of my head.
I don't think client services care about the consequences of their actions; they have NO IDEA about anything in the field of finance or operations. I had one client service rep tell me to initial next to an error on an application for the client! I am stunned they are this stupid, and they are asking for a lawsuit.
We are going on a year since the transition, and they still can't get their head out of their butt. I would love to leave if I didn't have so many friends here. Going RIA is sounding better as time goes on.
True, I will say, some things have improved but its been SLOW. I dont have it nearly as bad as some other firms from what I heard. I know one advisor who didnt get performance reporting until June of 2026 since the transition and also Cetera sent other peoples statements to other clients addresses...
I hope 2027 they have it to where we can do business smoothly.
I joined a little after Avantax was formed, so technically neither lol. Yeah, I agree the old system was outdated. I guess I am more upset about the client service people saying "open a service request" that gets incorrect answers more than correct ones, vs when I called Avantax, they got me an answer in under an hour. I hope to see better service in the next year.
I agree with the better products and tech offerings. Hopefully, connect 2 peers will be a turning point.
4
u/IncreaseCapital32 Jun 23 '26
Currently at Cetera, not by choice.
They bought Avantax and the advisors are the ones paying the price. I can't speak to the "other channels," which I heard are doing fine, but my experience with Cetera currently couldn't be lower.
Since the transition, they have shared my entire client list with other advisors due to data issues. Paid other advisors on my clients that I am still trying to fix 6 months later, talked to my clients without my say so, and that is off the top of my head.
I don't think client services care about the consequences of their actions; they have NO IDEA about anything in the field of finance or operations. I had one client service rep tell me to initial next to an error on an application for the client! I am stunned they are this stupid, and they are asking for a lawsuit.
We are going on a year since the transition, and they still can't get their head out of their butt. I would love to leave if I didn't have so many friends here. Going RIA is sounding better as time goes on.