About Us
At Cross Border Wealth Advisors, we are a multilingual company with a unique set of skills and qualifications. Our founder, Victor Gersten, is both an Enrolled Agent, who can represent taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service, and a Certified Financial Planner®, trained in investment, retirement, tax, estate planning, and risk management.
We work with an international finance lawyer and have other strategic partnerships, including a special relationship with Charles Schwab. In order to have access to certain Schwab related products and services, we have to maintain specific standards and abide by certain guidelines.
At the same time, we are an independent advisory firm with fiduciary responsibility. This means that we are legally bound to work only for you, the client and not in the interest of any investment bank or third party.
For more about what it means to be a fiduciary, fee-only, independent advisor,
Victor Gersten, Our Founder
Victor founded Cross Border Wealth Advisors in 2020. With 16 years of experience and two master’s degrees in business and finance from San Diego State University and College for Financial Planning, he is an Enrolled Agent with the IRS and a Certified Financial Planner®. Along with running CBWA, Victor teaches finance on the university level.
Raised in Mexico City by a single mother, he is dedicated to making trustworthy financial planning accessible. Having lived in Italy, Spain, Mexico, and the United States, Victor understands what it’s like to live an international lifestyle and is dedicated to helping clients make it work for them.
You can read more about Victor’s background on his LinkedIn profile.
Partners
Our Strategic Partners Helping to Serve You
In order to bring you cutting-edge investment research, we partner with First Ascent, an SEC-registered investment advisor. They strategically manage your portfolio through trading and rebalancing, account administration, and performance reporting. First, Ascent helps us invest according to your needs and values while maximizing the return on your investments.
When it comes to planning and preparing your taxes as efficiently as possible, we work with XY Tax Solutions. This network of CPAs, Enrolled Agents (EAs), and other tax professionals gives me access to specialized expertise that helps me to help you. You can work directly with them for tax services as well.
Affiliations
Cross Border Wealth Advisors is an independent, fee-only, fiduciary firm. We have several affiliations that help us help you. The following associations illustrate the rigid training that our founder must have and sustain in order to be a Certified Financial Planner™ and an Enrolled Agent with the IRS.
You will see that they reflect how we are an independent financial advisory company, that we work as a fiduciary only for our clients and not for other companies, and that we are committed to the values of equity and equality.
The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) is the US’ leading professional association of Fee-Only financial advisors - highly trained professionals who are committed to working in the best interests of those they serve.
Certified Financial Planner™ professionals have attained the standard of excellence in financial planning by meeting education, experience and ethical standards, and as part of their certification, they have made a commitment to CFP Board to serve your best interests today to prepare you for a more secure tomorrow.
The San Diego Equality Business Association supports small businesses in San Diego while advocating for mainstream acceptance of diversity. SDEBA is one of the largest specialty chambers in San Diego County and the second oldest LGBTQ and supportive chamber in the US.
The XY Planning Network is the leading organization of fee-only financial advisors who are focused on working with Generation X and Generation Y clients. They focus on connecting consumers with the best-in-class financial advisors.
FeeOnlyNetwork.com elevates the visibility of fee-only financial advisors, individually and collectively. Fee-Only advisors are only compensated by the client and never make commission by selling financial products, or receiving kickbacks from brokerage firms.
The core mission of the NSA is to help tax and accounting professionals become more successful.
