Avalon’s founder and Principal is Andrew (“Andy”) McVay. Andy established Avalon Financial Advisors to help individuals and families identify and achieve their financial goals.
Education: California State University, Long Beach (CSULB)
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BS) – Finance (1982) Master of Business Administration (MBA) (1985)
University of California, Irvine (UCI)
Personal Financial Planning (PFP) certificate
Qualifications & Experience: Registered Investment Advisor registered with the state of California, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, and Enrolled Agent.
Andy has over 20 year’s finance experience ranging from Financial Analyst/Planner to Chief Financial Officer. The majority of Andy’s career was with a Fortune 150 company where he held a wide variety of finance positions, with his last position there as Executive Vice President, Corporate Controller. In addition, Andy has also held senior financial management positions, including Chief Financial Officer, with small and mid-size companies and has partnered as a financial consultant/advisor to individuals and other businesses.
Andy has advised family and friends over the years on a wide variety of personal financial matters. This passion for helping others better understand financial matters and enabling them to achieve their financial goals culminated in the establishment of Avalon Financial Advisors in 2008.
As a business person, husband and father, Andy understands and appreciates the challenges busy, time constrained, people face in identifying financial goals, evaluating and choosing among the alternatives to reach them, and most importantly, taking the necessary action steps to achieve them. Avalon Financial Advisors frees clients of the most time consuming aspects of this process thereby allowing them to focus more of their limited time on other important aspects of their lives.
Professional Affiliations: National Association of Personal Financial Advisers (NAPFA) Member and former West Region board member. NAPFA is the largest professional association of comprehensive, fee-only financial planners in the United States. NAPFA members agree to conduct their businesses in accordance with NAPFA's Fiduciary Standard and abide by NAPFA's Code of Ethics which is the industry's strongest.
CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER BOARD OF STANDARDS, INC. CFP® certificant. The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards is a professional regulatory organization which promotes ethics, integrity and professional standards in personal financial planning. This gives the public an opportunity to have access to and benefit from competent, ethical financial planning. Individuals who meet rigorous certification requirements are certified by the CFP® Board to use its certification trademark. Certification is a four-part process: Education, Examination, Ethics, and Experience.
Financial Planning Association (FPA) Member. FPA is a membership organization for the financial planning community. Members include individuals and companies who are committed to championing the financial planning process. FPA members are dedicated to supporting the financial planning process in order to help people achieve their goals and dreams. The FPA believes that everyone needs objective advice to make smart financial decisions.
National Association of Enrolled Agents Member. The enrolled agent profession dates back to 1884 when, after questionable claims had been presented for Civil War losses, Congress acted to regulate persons who represented citizens in their dealings with the U.S. Treasury Department. These intriguing beginnings have grown to include the current National Association of Enrolled Agents (NAEA), which is a national association of over 11,000 independent, licensed tax professionals. NAEA members maintain the highest level of knowledge, skills and professionalism in all areas of taxation, so that they may most effectively represent the needs of their clients.