Sellers who shown interest
Company Details
Founding and History
Hightower Advisors was founded in 2008, born from a desire to provide financial advisors with the autonomy to serve clients without the constraints of product-driven corporate cultures. Its founders sought to combine the entrepreneurial spirit of independent advisory practices with the institutional resources of larger firms. Over time, Hightower has built a powerful platform supporting advisors while maintaining a steadfast commitment to clients.
Timeline of Key Milestones
- 2008:
- Launch of Hightower Advisors: Created as an advisor-focused platform, the firm set out to redefine wealth management by providing advisors with independence, access to advanced resources, and the ability to act solely in their clients’ best interests.
- 2013:
- Shift Toward Growth: Hightower evolves from a start-up to a thriving enterprise, expanding its network of advisory practices nationwide.
- 2015:
- Introduction of M&A Services: Hightower begins to actively support acquisitions and partnerships, helping advisory firms scale their operations and achieve growth.
- 2018:
- Landmark Growth Achievement: Hightower reaches $50 billion in assets under management (AUM), cementing its reputation as a major player in the industry.
- Ownership Change: Thomas H. Lee Partners (THL) acquires a significant stake in Hightower, injecting capital to fuel expansion and innovation.
- 2019:
- Advisor Transition Services: Hightower expands its offerings to help independent advisors transition seamlessly to its platform, enhancing recruitment and partnership opportunities.
- Technology Enhancements: The firm invests in cutting-edge technology to streamline operations for advisors and clients.
- 2020:
- Resilience During COVID-19: Despite the pandemic, Hightower continues its upward trajectory, acquiring multiple firms and demonstrating adaptability in serving client needs remotely.
- 2022:
- Growth Milestone: Hightower surpasses $100 billion in assets under administration (AUA) and $80 billion in AUM, reflecting its industry-leading capabilities and advisor satisfaction.
- Commitment to Philanthropy: The firm deepens its involvement in community initiatives, aligning with its mission of empowering advisors and clients to make a positive impact.
- 2023:
- Ongoing Expansion: Hightower continues to acquire top-performing advisory firms and build its advisor network, further solidifying its national presence.
Hightower Advisors combines entrepreneurial spirit, fiduciary responsibility, and institutional resources to deliver a unique client experience. By focusing on long-term partnerships and empowering advisors with the tools to excel, Hightower helps clients achieve both financial health and personal fulfillment. Its history of innovation and growth underscores its position as a leader in wealth management.
Hightower Advisors delivers a unique value proposition that integrates personalized service, fiduciary commitment, and access to sophisticated financial resources. The firm’s philosophy is embodied in its "Well-th Stories" campaign, which highlights how financial health enables clients to pursue their personal passions, goals, and values. The "Well-th Stories" initiative captures Hightower’s belief that wealth is not just about numbers but about enabling meaningful experiences. Clients are encouraged to define what "well-th" means to them, whether it’s pursuing a lifelong passion, achieving financial freedom, or leaving a legacy. This narrative-driven approach sets Hightower apart by emphasizing the human side of wealth management.
Hightower takes a client-centric approach, offering comprehensive financial solutions tailored to individual goals and circumstances:
Personalized Wealth Management
- Investment Management: Evidence-based, globally diversified portfolios aligned with each client’s risk tolerance and long-term objectives.
- Financial Planning: Comprehensive plans addressing retirement, estate, tax, and education funding needs.
- Legacy and Philanthropy: Expertise in multi-generational wealth transfer and charitable giving. National Resources with Boutique Service
Clients benefit from the best of both worlds:
- Local Expertise: Personalized attention from trusted advisors who know their communities.
- National Scale: Access to institutional-grade investment solutions, advanced technology, and collaborative advisor networks.
Fiduciary Commitment
As fiduciaries, Hightower advisors are legally obligated to act in the best interest of their clients, ensuring unbiased advice free from conflicts of interest.
Hightower Advisors offers a highly flexible and robust investment program tailored to meet the diverse needs of its clients and advisors. Their Investment Solutions group, led by Stephanie Link, Chief Investment Strategist and Portfolio Strategist, provides support ranging from research and portfolio construction to fully outsourced investment management (OCIO). The team of seasoned professionals, located in New York City and Chicago, ensures clients and advisors receive cutting-edge market insights and customized solutions.
Hightower’s program prioritizes enabling advisors to focus on client relationships while delegating portfolio monitoring, construction, and trading to expert professionals. This structure fosters client confidence, particularly during periods of market volatility, as advisors can prioritize communication over technical investment concerns.
Key Services Offered by the Investment Solutions Group
Due Diligence and Research
- Assists advisors in conducting in-depth due diligence on potential investments and strategies.
- Provides market and economic insights, supporting informed decision-making for clients.
Customized Portfolio Construction
- Develops tailored investment portfolios that align with client goals, risk tolerance, and time horizons.
- Incorporates traditional and alternative assets to diversify and optimize portfolios.
- Direct Client Interaction
- Hightower’s team is available to engage directly with clients to address complex market concerns, enhancing transparency and trust.
Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) Solutions
- Offers a fully managed solution where the team handles all aspects of portfolio management, from asset selection to trading and rebalancing.
- Allows advisors to scale their practices by delegating technical investment responsibilities to specialists.
Locations
Company Videos
Acquisition Model
Minority and Full Acquisition
Direct Rollover Equity
Yes
Max Cash: 90%
Max Equity: 25%
Hightower includes a retention period as part of their deal structure and would be discussed on a case-by-case basis.
This would be negotiated on a case-by-case basis.
Mandatory Points of Alignment
Hightower Advisors is a brand-agnostic firm. While partner firms use Hightower's ADV, firms are welcome to maintain their current branding.
Hightower asks all advisors to adopt their operations so they can better support the local office. This includes marketing, technology, compliance, HR, billing, etc.
Advisors will have control over their calendars.
Partners will have full visibility into the local P&L; however, Hightower will take over all management responsibilities.
Hightower prefers the decisions surrounding the client experience reside with its client-facing advisors.
Hightower has a dedicated growth team that advisor's are encouraged to utilize. Through a systematic approach, Hightower collaborates with its partners to strengthen their organization and optimize their business practices, but this is not a requirement.
Partners can maintain their current strategies within reason, subject to compliance approval and ongoing corporate oversight.
Advisor Value Proposition
For advisors considering selling their practice, Hightower offers a partnership that preserves the legacy of their firm while providing significant benefits:
- Access to Capital: Hightower invests in acquiring practices, providing liquidity for advisors nearing retirement or seeking to scale their operations.
- Comprehensive Back-Office Support:
- Financial Operations: Handles external billing, P&L management, accounting, and custodian relationships. Advisors also receive guidance on budgeting, expense management, and optimizing their financial health.
- Human Resources: Provides end-to-end HR support, including talent recruitment, payroll, employee benefits (e.g., health and even pet insurance), and training programs for staff development.
- Compliance and Regulatory Guidance: Monitors evolving regulations from FINRA, the SEC, and other authorities. Hightower's compliance team ensures risk is minimized while advisors remain informed about industry changes.
- Seamless Integration: Dedicated teams ensure that the transition process is smooth for both advisors and clients, minimizing disruption.
- Legacy Preservation: Advisors retain a say in the future of their practice, with Hightower focusing on cultural alignment and continuity of client service.
- Expanded Resources: Selling to Hightower provides access to institutional-quality technology, marketing, and operational support that elevates the client experience.
- Growth and Scalability
The Hightower advisor engagement and adoption teams work closely with practices to identify opportunities, implement solutions, and refine strategic goals.. This team collaborates with partners to develop best practices, share insights, and provide guidance on client engagement strategies. The planning team facilitates knowledge-sharing and peer-to-peer learning opportunities within the Hightower network, enabling partners to learn from each other’s successes and challenges.
They helped us grow without changing who we are. – Michael Tucci, CEO of Lexington Wealth Advisors.
Technology plays a vital role in enhancing the client experience at Hightower. The company offers a best-in-class, forward-thinking technology platform that integrates various tools and resources. This includes a cloud-based portal that provides a seamless and secure environment for clients to access financial information, monitor investments, and communicate with advisors. The technology platform also supports data-driven insights and analytics, enabling advisors to make informed decisions and provide valuable recommendations to clients.
“A key benefit of becoming a Hightower team has been the assistance of our company’s finance functions. This operates on two levels. First, the firm does all of our external billing, handles our P&L and performs all of the financial accounting that one would expect. In addition, Hightower has a financial team to help us run our team’s internal P&L – to advise us on ways to build out and adhere to our budget, to reduce expenses, improve the bottom line, etc.”
— KEN HOFFMAN, MANAGING DIRECTOR, PARTNER, HWM ADVISORS
When partnering with Hightower, its partner/advisors can expect a significant boost in resources and capabilities. Hightower's focus on delivering exceptional financial planning and portfolio management services is matched by its investment in enhancing the capabilities of its partner offices. This includes expanding services in areas such as estate planning and corporate trust services. Currently, partner offices do tax preparation and family office services at the local level; these are not offered as a centralized resource. Hightower's future plans include adding tax preparation to their central offering.
Hightower has a 30-person marketing team to help advisors grow. Their goal is to provide firms with access to content that they can put their brand on. The marketing team produces three new content pieces per week.
They Helped us grow without changing who we are. Michael Tucci, CEO of Lexington Wealth Advisors
With the support of its growth team, Hightower helps partners identify key fundamentals for their practices. This process includes analyzing existing workflows, evaluating effective management strategies, understanding overall growth trajectories, ensuring that team members have a clear grasp of the value proposition, and assessing client communication strategies. By taking a systematic approach, Hightower collaborates with partners to strengthen their organizational foundations and optimize business practices. Additionally, Hightower offers an internal platform where advisors can pose questions and share best practices with partners from across the country.
AUM Growth
.png)
.png)
