Recession Weary Advisors Branch Out

Financial Advisor Magazine:

Financial advisors who want to be independent are becoming more open to the idea of branching out into areas that are recession proof, such as tax preparation, according to two advisors who have successfully taken that route.

“Financial advisors are shell shocked and are looking for other venues,” said Joseph Fontana, vice president of franchise development for Smart Tax, a tax preparation service founded in 2005 and headquartered in Brooklyn, N.Y. with offices in New Jersey and Texas. “I firmly believe that one new venue can be tax preparation. The feedback I am getting from other financial advisors to that idea is phenomenal.”

Fontana and Nick Rizzi, founder of Smart Tax, became dissatisfied working for banks and large investment firms.

“People were losing money on their investments. The advisor’s revenue stream was being cut and we did not own our book, so we wanted to go independent,” says Fontana.