Are they in Tampa? I met an advisor who was very sharp at another well known and pretty solid FMO. He had been with the Tampa outfit and was not complimentary. He did a lot of business for them and gave them a lot of ideas. My impression is he knew his stuff across the board including ETFs, online bonds, managed money, putting together portfolios, etc. I mention this because he was a bright guy. His suggestion was hook up with a local CPA looking for extra business and pay him something to do your clients taxes.
There are two FMOs, USA Tax Advisors and Freedom Tax Advisors, both based out of Florida. I believe Steve Hand is the Chief at the former, and Jonathan Jackson the Chief at the latter. Something about Jackson used to work for Steve Hand, they had a falling out, Jackson started his own group.'
I think the basic premise of both is the same, what you said - get a CPA do do the taxes and refer the client to you.
Yes. The guy I met also had a falling out. He is a not Jackson but an indep rep and a very bright guy. He moved to a pretty well known FMO/IMO whom he liked. This is where I met him. I have not decided on an FMO yet but I will this coming week.
He said the CPA approach is a good one. I think they teach - run an ad in the paper or find a local CPA and get a CPA to do the client's taxes for free. I need to check my notes but he paid the CPA $50 or $100 or maybe more per year. The idea was if you have a $20K plan/commission - you can afford to do their taxes for 10 years. Something like that. I hope this helps.
There are two agent that I work with over there and they have done big premium using there system, right around $15mm. They have done about $5mm with me. They really like the opportunity that the the USA Tax systems provides for getting in front of clients. Although, these agents tell me that you are not supposed to sell anything outside USA Tax or they will cancel your contracts.
I can across a good system that I am doing a little more research on. I will share it after my research next week if it all the "t" are crossed and "i" are dotted.
I have met and spoke with a couple USA Tax producers on a company trip. Sounds like they are happy with the company. I guess the story is that USA Tax was around first and taught Jackson the model and he started his own deal. Sounds like USA has a good business model and does a lot of business with a limited amount of producers.