CompBrief BY VELARION

Companies Avantax

Avantax (AVTA): executive pay, fiscal 2022

Free brief. Every figure links to the company’s own filing.

Avantax no longer files a proxy statement; its last pay data is FY2022.

All products and prices

CEO total pay$7,914,813CEO Christopher Walters · source
Say-on-pay support89.79%Latest vote · source
CEO vs. named peers64th pct.Of 16 peer CEOs
CEO pay ratio77:1To the median employee

CEO pay, last three years

  • $7,914,813FY2022

CEO total pay was $7,914,813 in fiscal 2022; the brief holds no earlier figure for this CEO.

FY2022: salary $780,000 · bonus $0 · stock awards $4,658,350 · option awards $908,684

Frequently asked questions

Who was the highest-paid executive at Avantax in fiscal 2022?
As disclosed, Christopher Walters (President and Chief Executive Officer) was the highest-paid executive at Avantax in fiscal 2022, with total compensation of $7,914,813.
How does Avantax's chief executive pay compare to its disclosed peer group?
As disclosed, Christopher Walters's total compensation ranked at the 64th percentile of Avantax's disclosed peer group.
What is Avantax's CEO-to-median employee pay ratio?
As disclosed, Avantax's CEO-to-median employee pay ratio was 77:1.
How did shareholders vote on Avantax's executive compensation?
As disclosed, 89.79% of shareholders supported Avantax's executive compensation in the latest say-on-pay vote.
How much does Avantax spend in total on board compensation for fiscal 2022?
As disclosed, Avantax reported total board compensation of $2,295,544 for fiscal 2022.

Answers are drawn only from the figures disclosed in this brief and cited to their location in the source filing. Where a figure required for an answer is not disclosed, that is stated rather than estimated.

Full detail

Every table from the filing. Open any section.

Summary compensation table
Named executive officerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension / NQDCAll otherTotal
Christopher Walters$780,000$0$4,658,350$908,684$1,439,100$0$128,679$7,914,813
President and Chief Executive Officer
Curtis Campbell421,05801,997,773186,5110012,2002,617,542
Former President, TaxAct and Software
Todd Mackay414,61501,248,5120589,456012,2002,264,783
President, Avantax Wealth Management
Marc Mehlman497,11501,100,5370615,000002,212,652
Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Ann Bruder434,6150920,5500481,546012,2001,848,911
Former Chief Legal, Development and Administration Officer

A dash means the company reported no figure in that column; 0 means it reported zero. Figures are as printed in the filing, without adjustment.

Three-year trend — total compensation per named executive

Named executive officerFY2022 totalFY2021 totalFY2020 totalΔ FY2021→2022
Christopher Walters$7,914,813———
Curtis Campbell2,617,542———
Todd Mackay2,264,783———
Marc Mehlman2,212,652———
Ann Bruder1,848,911———

Prior-year totals as disclosed in the corresponding proxy; deltas are computed values with the derivation shown in the register.

Incentive-plan design — the Compensation Discussion & Analysis

Our compensation program is intended to attract, retain and motivate top-talent executives as leaders and compensate executive officers appropriately for their contribution to the attainment of our financial, operational and strategic objectives. In addition, we believe it is important to strongly align their interests with our stockholders interests by emphasizing incentive-based compensation and to discourage excessive or inappropriate risk taking.

CEO STI target (% of salary)150%
CEO LTI target (% of salary)—
Independent consultantMeridian Compensation Partners
Clawback policytrue
Anti-hedgingtrue
Anti-pledgingTrue
Equity grants and outstanding awards

Grants of plan-based awards — fiscal year 2022

ExecutiveAwardGrant dateThresholdTargetGrantedMaximumGrant-date fair value
Christopher WaltersRSU2022-01-03——56,561—$999,998
Marc MehlmanPSU2021-01-041,3612,722—5,44448,125
Marc MehlmanPSU2022-01-0314,14028,280—56,560552,422
Marc MehlmanRSU2022-01-03——28,280—499,990
Christopher WaltersPSU2022-01-0384,842169,683—339,3663,314,582
Todd MackayPSU2022-01-0315,85131,702—63,404619,263
Curtis CampbellRSU2020-01-09——5,785—130,683
Christopher WaltersPSU2021-01-049,72219,444—38,888343,770
Ann BruderPSU2021-01-041,4202,839—5,67850,194
Christopher WaltersOPTION2022-01-03——135,746—908,684
Todd MackayPSU2021-01-041,9453,889—7,77868,758
Ann BruderPSU2022-01-0311,69423,388—46,776456,856
Ann BruderRSU2022-01-03——23,388—413,500
Curtis CampbellPSU2021-01-042,1294,258—8,51675,281
Curtis CampbellPSU2022-01-0316,41732,833—65,666641,354
Todd MackayRSU2022-01-03——31,702—560,491

Vehicle mix — grant-date fair value by award type

Named executive officerTime-vested (RSU)Performance-vested (PSU)Options / SARs% performance-vested
Christopher Walters$999,998$3,658,352$908,68465.7%
Marc Mehlman499,990600,547054.6%
Todd Mackay560,491688,021055.1%
Curtis Campbell130,683716,635084.6%
Ann Bruder413,500507,050055.1%

% performance-vested = PSU grant-date fair value ÷ (RSU + PSU + Options), a computed value with the derivation shown in the register.

Outstanding equity awards at fiscal year-end 2022

ExecutiveAwardShares unvestedExercise priceMarket value unvested
Ann BruderPSU3,137—$80,088
Ann BruderPSU3,856—98,444
Todd MackayPSU3,868—98,750
Ann BruderPSU4,540—115,906
Todd MackayPSU4,755—121,395
Todd MackayPSU5,598—142,917
Ann BruderOption7,47325.24—
Marc MehlmanPSU8,335—212,793
Todd MackayOption9,21425.24—
Christopher WaltersPSU12,440—317,593
Marc MehlmanPSU12,444—317,695
Ann BruderOption12,71411.3—
Todd MackayOption15,67511.3—
Todd MackayPSU17,778—453,872
Marc MehlmanOption20,22415—
Ann BruderOption21,09015—
Ann BruderPSU21,867—558,265
Christopher WaltersPSU23,223—592,883
Marc MehlmanOption23,33814—
Ann BruderPSU23,388—597,096
Marc MehlmanRSU27,221—694,952
Marc MehlmanPSU28,280—721,988
Ann BruderRSU28,388—724,746
Christopher WaltersPSU28,544—728,728
Todd MackayOption28,89115—
Todd MackayPSU31,702—809,352
Christopher WaltersOption34,83311.3—
Todd MackayRSU38,889—992,836
Ann BruderRSU46,776—1,194,191
Christopher WaltersOption55,27223.36—
Marc MehlmanRSU56,560—1,443,977
Christopher WaltersPSU56,561—1,444,002
Todd MackayRSU63,404—1,618,704
Christopher WaltersPSU88,893—2,269,438
Christopher WaltersOption135,74617.68—
Christopher WaltersOption144,45215—
Christopher WaltersRSU194,443—4,964,130
Christopher WaltersRSU339,366—8,664,014
Director compensation
DirectorCash feesStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentiveAll otherTotal
J. Richard Leaman IIIIndependent · Nominating/Governance · Newly elected$97,606$309,694$0$0$0$407,300
Kanayalal A. KotechaIndependent · Audit · Newly elected60,868309,694000370,562
Georganne C. ProctorIndependent · Board Chair · Compensation159,876205,000000364,876
Jana R. SchreuderIndependent · Compensation (Chair)99,591145,000000244,591
E. Carol HaylesIndependent · Audit94,293145,000000239,293
Mark A. ErnstIndependent · Audit92,418145,000000237,418
Karthik RaoIndependent · Compensation70,849145,000000215,849
Tina PerryIndependent · Compensation70,655145,000000215,655
Christopher W. WaltersEmployee director000000

Board fee structure and ownership guideline

Annual cash retainer$70,000
Annual equity retainer$145,000
Per board meeting fee—
Committee chair fees (audit / comp / nom-gov)25,000 / 18,500 / 13,000
Stock ownership guideline$350,000

Total cost of the board

ComponentFY2022
Cash retainers and fees$746,156
Equity awards (grant-date value)$1,549,388
All other compensation$0
Total cost of the board$2,295,544

Computed as the sum of the director compensation table rows above; inputs and formula shown in the register.

Peer group, and who names Avantax as a peer

Companies that benchmark against AVTA

1 company names AVTA as a compensation peer

Each company listed discloses AVTA in its own benchmarking peer group, as disclosed in each company's most recent proxy statement within the last two proxy seasons. Two companies are therefore absent by design: one that named AVTA in an earlier year and no longer does, and one whose own most recent disclosure is older than the last two seasons.

Disclosed peer group — fiscal year 2022

The compensation peer group as the company disclosed it in its own proxy — the reference set behind the percentile above.

Peer reciprocity

The companies Avantax names as compensation peers that name it back in their own disclosed peer groups.

Chief executive pay against the peer group

Most recent fiscal-year chief executive compensation at each disclosed peer, taken from that company’s own proxy statement.

RankCompanyFYChief executiveSalaryStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentiveTotal
1AllianceBernstein Holding LP2025Seth Bernstein$500,000$7,575,070$0$0$15,133,200
2Focus Financial Partners Inc.2021Ruediger Adolf909,1551,727,2134,756,2654,318,00011,911,818
3Ziff Davis, Inc.2025Vivek Shah1,000,00010,078,0780656,00011,767,948
4Prog Holdings, Inc.2025Steven Michaels1,000,0007,424,43201,408,5009,880,430
5Federated Hermes, Inc.2025J. Christopher Donahue787,5002,528,25903,937,5007,982,105
6Avantax2022Christopher Walters780,0004,658,350908,6841,439,1007,914,813
7Shutterstock, Inc.2024Paul Hennessy700,0005,871,6700583,8007,176,468
8WisdomTree Investments, Inc.2025Jonathan Steinberg550,0003,507,589006,704,625
9Virtus Investment Partners, Inc.2025George Aylward650,0003,200,00002,442,0006,309,500
10H&R Block, Inc.2026Curtis Campbell816,3193,850,0980963,7575,762,428
11Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc.2025Jason Gottlieb300,0001,548,40003,570,0005,482,136
12PRA Group, Inc.2025Martin Sjolund746,8293,312,3930827,7814,938,095
13LendingTree, Inc.2025Scott Peyree507,3083,848,9750521,9094,888,692
14Envestnet, Inc.2023William Crager650,0003,520,568004,880,843
15LendingClub Corporation2025Scott Sanborn575,0002,690,86501,004,8134,823,478
—Cowen Inc.——————not in coverage universe

Each peer’s compensation is from its most recently filed proxy; fiscal years differ by company. Each peer’s figures come from its own filings; the subject company is highlighted. Peers whose chief executive compensation is outside our coverage universe are stated as such, never left blank.

Incentive design against the same peers

CompanyAnnual incentive payoutLong-term vehicle mixPSU measures include TSRCompensation consultant
Avantax123.0%PSU 60 · Options 20 · RSU 20Yes — Relative TSR vs Russell 2000Meridian Compensation Partners
AllianceBernstein Holding LPnot disclosedRestricted AB Holding Units 100not disclosedJohnson Associates, Inc.
Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc.not disclosedRSU 100not disclosedMcLagan
Cowen Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Envestnet, Inc.not disclosedRSU 50 · PSU 50not disclosedWillis Towers Watson US LLC
Federated Hermes, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosedMcLagan Partners, Inc.
Focus Financial Partners Inc.190.0%Other 60 · RSU 40not disclosedSemler Brossy
H&R Block, Inc.not disclosedPSU 65 · RSU 35NoCompensation Advisory Partners LLC
LendingClub Corporation116.5%PSU 41 · RSU 34 · Cash LTI 25Yes — Relative TSRFW Cook
LendingTree, Inc.119%RSU 50 · PSU 50NoFW Cook
PRA Group, Inc.not disclosedPSU 50 · RSU 50Yes — Relative TSRPearl Meyer
Prog Holdings, Inc.not disclosedPSU 70 · RSU 30Yes — Relative TSRExequity LLP
Shutterstock, Inc.83.4%not disclosedNoPearl Meyer
Virtus Investment Partners, Inc.not disclosedRSU 50 · PSU 50Yes — Relative TSRMercer
WisdomTree Investments, Inc.127.6%RSU 50 · PSU 50NoFW Cook
Ziff Davis, Inc.52.1%RSU 50 · PSU 50Yes — Relative TSRCompensia

Read from each company’s Compensation Discussion and Analysis: annual incentive payout as a percentage of target, the disclosed long-term vehicle mix, whether performance-share measures include a total shareholder return component, and the retained compensation consultant. “Not disclosed” appears only where the company’s filing does not state the item.

Say-on-pay history and pay ratio
Meeting yearMeeting dateForAgainstAbstainSupportOutcome
20222022-04-2038,636,6824,363,35029,85789.79%Passed
20212021-04-218,418,64932,948,321351,56720.35%Failed
20202020-05-2138,186,0322,578,51136,80993.67%Passed
20192019-05-2340,948,8251,290,97421,59296.89%Passed
20182018-06-0739,913,089935,73538,61697.62%Passed
20172017-06-0133,903,134773,39195,48597.77%Passed

Rows are labeled by annual-meeting year, with the meeting date beside each; the vote held in a given year acts on the prior fiscal year’s compensation.

Say-on-pay — history, company’s computation

Meeting yearMeeting dateApproval — company’s computation
20222022-04-2089.79%a
20212021-04-2120.35%b
20202020-05-2193.67%c

a. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “An abstention has the same effect as a vote against the proposal.”.

b. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “If your shares are represented at the 2020 Annual Meeting but you "ABSTAIN" from voting on any of these matters, such abstention will have no effect on the outcome of that proposal.”.

c. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Abstentions and broker non-votes will have no effect on the outcome of this proposal.”.

Approval percentages are the company’s own reported computations under its own stated standard, not recomputed by Velarion. Where a company does not state a standard, none is assumed.

CEO pay ratio

Ratio (CEO : median employee)77 : 1
CEO total compensation$7,914,813
Median employee compensation$102,798
Insider trades since the proxy

No insider equity transactions reported since the proxy statement.

Sources (52 citations)

Each figure is listed with the filing it comes from, where it appears in that filing, and the value as printed. Any figure can be independently confirmed against the source.

  • Section 01, Christopher Walters. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “2022 Summary Compensation Table”. As printed: 7,914,813. View filing ↗
  • Section 01, Curtis Campbell. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “2022 Summary Compensation Table”. As printed: 2,617,542. View filing ↗
  • Section 01, Todd Mackay. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “2022 Summary Compensation Table”. As printed: 2,264,783. View filing ↗
  • Section 01, Marc Mehlman. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “2022 Summary Compensation Table”. As printed: 2,212,652. View filing ↗
  • Section 01, Ann Bruder. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “2022 Summary Compensation Table”. As printed: 1,848,911. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Christopher Walters RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Marc Mehlman PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Marc Mehlman PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Marc Mehlman RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Christopher Walters PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Todd Mackay PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Curtis Campbell RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Christopher Walters PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Ann Bruder PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Christopher Walters OPTION. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Todd Mackay PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Ann Bruder PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Ann Bruder RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Curtis Campbell PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Curtis Campbell PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Todd Mackay RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 07, pay ratio. DEF 14A. Section “CEO Pay Ratio”. As printed: 77 : 1.
  • Section 08, J. Richard Leaman III. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 407,300. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Kanayalal A. Kotecha. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 370,562. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Georganne C. Proctor. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 364,876. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Jana R. Schreuder. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 244,591. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, E. Carol Hayles. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 239,293. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Mark A. Ernst. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 237,418. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Karthik Rao. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 215,849. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Tina Perry. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 215,655. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Christopher W. Walters. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
  • Section 06, 2022 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2022-04-27. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 89.79%. View filing ↗
  • Section 06, 2021 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2021-04-27. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 20.35%. View filing ↗
  • Section 06, 2020 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2020-05-28. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 93.67%. View filing ↗
  • Section 03b vehicle mix (computed). Computed. RSU / PSU / Options grant-date fair values summed per officer from the grants table; % performance-vested = PSU ÷ (RSU+PSU+Options).
  • Section 09b board cost (computed). Computed. Cash 746,156 + equity 1,549,388 + all other 0 = 2,295,544, summed across the director compensation table rows.
  • AllianceBernstein Holding LP, Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-09. CEO total compensation as printed in AllianceBernstein Holding LP's own proxy. As printed: 15,133,200. View filing ↗
  • Focus Financial Partners Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2022-04-14. CEO total compensation as printed in Focus Financial Partners Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 11,911,818. View filing ↗
  • Ziff Davis, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-26. CEO total compensation as printed in Ziff Davis, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 11,767,948. View filing ↗
  • Prog Holdings, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-26. CEO total compensation as printed in Prog Holdings, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 9,880,430. View filing ↗
  • Federated Hermes, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14C, filed 2026-03-17. CEO total compensation as printed in Federated Hermes, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 7,982,105. View filing ↗
  • Avantax (subject), Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2023-04-03. CEO total compensation as printed in Avantax's own proxy. As printed: 7,914,813. View filing ↗
  • Shutterstock, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEFR 14A, filed 2025-11-20. CEO total compensation as printed in Shutterstock, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 7,176,468. View filing ↗
  • WisdomTree Investments, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-29. CEO total compensation as printed in WisdomTree Investments, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 6,704,625. View filing ↗
  • Virtus Investment Partners, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-07. CEO total compensation as printed in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 6,309,500. View filing ↗
  • H&R Block, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-29. CEO total compensation as printed in H&R Block, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 5,762,428. View filing ↗
  • Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-17. CEO total compensation as printed in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 5,482,136. View filing ↗
  • PRA Group, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-30. CEO total compensation as printed in PRA Group, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 4,938,095. View filing ↗
  • LendingTree, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-27. CEO total compensation as printed in LendingTree, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 4,888,692. View filing ↗
  • Envestnet, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2024-04-05. CEO total compensation as printed in Envestnet, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 4,880,843. View filing ↗
  • LendingClub Corporation, Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-21. CEO total compensation as printed in LendingClub Corporation's own proxy. As printed: 4,823,478. View filing ↗
  • Section 10a, Envestnet, Inc. reciprocity. DEF 14A. Envestnet, Inc. names Avantax in its own disclosed peer group (read from its most recent proxy). View filing ↗