Cetera Appoints Avantax President Todd Mackay to President of Cetera Solutions

Todd Mackay

Cetera Financial Group announced that Avantax Inc.’s President Todd Mackay has been appointed as president of Cetera Solutions. In this role, Cetera said Mackay will drive end-to-end platform strategy and lead advice delivery across the organization. He will steer the company’s growth across various business lines with oversight for all digital products and investment products and services for Cetera advisers and end-clients. Mackay will also serve as a member of Cetera’s executive leadership team.

The promotion of Mackay follows Cetera’s acquisition of Avantax, a tax-focused brokerage house, for $1.2 billion last fall.

“Todd is an established and talented leader whose vision will help propel Cetera through its next growth phase in service to our financial professionals and their clients,” said Mike Durbin, chief executive officer of Cetera Holdings. “In his years at Avantax, he has proven his unique ability to connect with the Avantax community and strategically lead the organization through instrumental change.”

During Mackay’s tenure at Avantax from 2020 to 2024, the company said he led it to record levels of recruited advisers and assets, drove advisory asset flows to the highest levels in the company’s history, created an organic growth engine through various sales enablement programs and platforms, and developed highly successful new-affiliation and succession models through Avantax Planning Partners.

Mackay worked at Avantax and its predecessor firms for about a decade, including as the president of TaxAct, a tax preparation platform run out of Blucora. Blucora rebranded as Avantax in 2019.

“This appointment is yet another example of the ongoing and successful assimilation with Avantax and represents an important win for the entire Cetera organization that positions us extremely well for the future,” added Durbin.

Andy Watts, CFP, will assume Mackay’s former role as Cetera’s tax channel leader, overseeing Avantax and Cetera Financial Specialists with a combined community of more than 4,000 independent financial professionals. Ron Krueger will continue in his role as the leader of the Cetera Financial Specialists community.

Earlier this year, Cetera named Michael Molnar its head of corporate development. Molnar had previously led corporate development, mergers and acquisitions, and succession planning for Avantax.

“It’s been a true honor leading Avantax, and I’m incredibly proud of the growth and accomplishments the Avantax community achieved thanks to our amazing financial professionals and our devoted home office team,” Mackay said. “I will continue working with Avantax in my new Cetera role, which is important to me because I value the many relationships created over the years.

Cetera expects no significant changes to the operations of Avantax’s home office in Dallas, or Cetera Financial Specialists’ home office in Schaumburg, Ill.

“Our Avantax and [Cetera Financial Specialists] financial professionals, accounting firms, and home office staff are in excellent hands with Andy Watts as their leader,” concluded Mackay.

Cetera Financial Group, which is owned by Cetera Holdings, serves more than 12,000 independent financial professionals and their teams, including tax professionals, banks, and credit unions in providing financial planning and wealth management services. Cetera Financial Group refers to the network of independent retail firms encompassing, among others, Cetera Investment Advisers LLC, a registered investment adviser, and the following FINRA/SIPC members: Cetera Advisors LLC, Cetera Advisor Networks LLC, Cetera Investment Services LLC (marketed as Cetera Financial Institutions or Cetera Investors), and Cetera Financial Specialists LLC. Cetera oversees more than $521 billion in assets under administration and $224 billion in assets under management, as of June 30, 2024.

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